The General Social Survey (GSS) at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago found that of about 27,000 respondents, nearly half (47%) were satisfied with their jobs.
According to the survey, clergy, firefighters, transportation ticket and reservation agents, housekeepers and butlers and hardware/building supplies salespeople ranked as the top five jobs where workers reported the highest degree of happiness.
According to survey director Tom Smith, the “least satisfying dozen jobs are mostly low-skill, manual and service occupations, especially involving customer service and food/beverage preparation and serving.”
The top five most gratifying jobs and the percentage of subjects who said they were very satisfied included:
- Clergy, 87%
- Firefighters, 80%
- Physical therapists, 78%
- Authors, 74%
- Special education teachers, 70%.
The five least gratifying jobs, where few participants reported being very satisfied were:
- Laborers, except construction, 21%
- Apparel clothing salespersons, 24%
- Handpackers and packagers, 24%
- Food preparers, 24%
- Roofers, 25%.