06-08-2007
Hairdressers are among the happiest workers
A job satisfaction league has shown that hairdressers are the happiest with their jobs, coming second only to corporate managers.
The study indicates that being able to show creativity at work and being an integral part of a team contribute to happiness just as much as a high pay packet.
Health and social service managers came in third, while 6 out of the top 10 jobs were management posts, suggesting that a degree of responsibility (or the right to boss people around) contributes to job satisfaction.
The survey included 81 professions. Teachers rose up the table since the previous league was published in 1999, from 54th to 11th. Jobs traditionally held by women fell down the table – these include clerks, childcare workers, secretaries and travel agents.
Sports professionals came in at 8th position, while artists and writers also secured positions in the top ten, confirming the need for some creativity in a job despite potentially low pay scales.
More unsatisfied professionals included architechts at 28, lawyers at 44, customer service workers at 78th, plumbers at 73 and IT support at 66. Least happy out of all workers are those with factory and production line jobs.
Bath University Professor Michael Rose, who carried out the research, said job satisfaction did not come from money alone.
He said: "Individual job satisfaction is made up of a range of factors including material rewards, such as pay and conditions of employment, and symbolic rewards, such as prestige.
"It is also influenced by psychological rewards, such as being able to express creativity, and social rewards, such as having a supportive colleague network.”
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