Measuring job satisfaction in surveys - Comparative analytical report
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Job satisfaction and working time/work-life balance
One of the objectives of this report was to assess whether there is a relationship between working time and work-life balance issues and job satisfaction.
First, it should be underlined that there is an unclear relationship between working time and job satisfaction. Secondly, some results from the national correspondents’ contributions indicate that there is a positive relationship between job satisfaction and working time flexibility, but a negative relationship between job satisfaction and overtime work. Thirdly, it seems that there is some relationship between work-life balance and job satisfaction.
Working time
It would be expected that job satisfaction is negatively related to working hours - that people with longer working hours would be less satisfied with their jobs than those working less hours. However, according to the contributions from Denmark and Portugal, there is in fact a positive relationship between working hours and job satisfaction. In other words, people who work more hours are more satisfied in their work (though it should be pointed out that income may mediate this relationship as higher income and longer hours are also correlated).In Denmark’s case, the data from DWECS 2000 reveal that ‘those working long hours report themselves more satisfied with work than those working less hours’ (Table 10). This finding is also supported by the IFKA survey, which concludes that employees working more than 45 hours a week are more satisfied than employees working a standard full-time week of 37 hours.
| Working time per week | Sex | Job satisfaction | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | Some | Little | No | No. surveyed | ||
| 0-29 hours | Men | 72.58 | 23.39 | 2.42 | 1.61 | 124 |
| Women | 69.25 | 24.34 | 3.10 | 3.32 | 452 | |
| 30-35 hours | Men | 66.15 | 28.46 | 3.08 | 2.31 | 130 |
| Women | 69.22 | 26.49 | 3.36 | 0.93 | 536 | |
| 36-39 hours | Men | 70.08 | 24.71 | 3.13 | 2.09 | 1534 |
| Women | 72.07 | 23.44 | 2.74 | 1.75 | 1314 | |
| 40-48 hours | Men | 78.81 | 17.66 | 1.69 | 1.84 | 708 |
| Women | 76.36 | 19.02 | 2.99 | 1.63 | 368 | |
| 49 hours or more | Men | 81.27 | 15.56 | 1.59 | 1.59 | 315 |
| Women | 81.25 | 10.94 | 3.13 | 4.69 | 64 | |
Source: DWECS 2000, cross-tabulation of questions B60 and B15, by sex (Denmark)
The Portuguese contribution points in the same direction, although through a non-representative survey. It reports that men in the ICT and retail sectors working part time are less satisfied with their current job in a number of aspects than those working full time. Women working in these sectors also indicated this variation in satisfaction but not to the same extent as men (see Portuguese national report).
UK researchers found that part-time workers do not appear to be more or less satisfied ‘with their jobs’ than full-time workers. However, female part-time workers are on average more satisfied with ‘pay’ and ‘hours’ than female full-time workers, but are less satisfied with ‘the work itself’. The same research also found that men in mini-jobs (involving between one and 15 hours of work per week) were generally more satisfied with their work than men working 30-48 hours per week (except for satisfaction with ‘hours worked’ but this result was statistically insignificant).
Data from the Austrian special survey of autumn 2004 of the Arbeitsklima index - which focused on job satisfaction in relation to working time, work-life balance and income - reveal that the fewer hours people work per week, the more satisfied they are with their job. People working less than 30 hours per week have a higher index than others working longer hours. In addition, people whose weekly working time exceeds 40 hours have the lowest index record.
In Bulgaria, data from the NWCS 2005 reveal that standard working hours (30-39 and 40-44 hours per week) provide the highest rates of job satisfaction: 78% of workers are completely or fairly satisfied. Long working hours (more than 45 hours per week) increase dissatisfaction to a level of 35%-39%, compared with 19% among those working in the 30-39 hour and 40-44 hour categories.
Data from the MQWL 2004 survey, from the Czech Republic, reveal that job satisfaction does not depend on the absolute length of working hours (no statistically significant correlation was found) but depends instead on the degree to which respondents are satisfied with the amount of time they work (Table 11). Moreover, job satisfaction improves with increasing autonomy in the distribution of their working hours. It seems that those who can influence the spread of their working hours are more often satisfied with their working hours and with their job, regardless of the absolute length of their working time.
| Job satisfaction | Yes | Neutral | No | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Satisfied | 71.6 | 52.1 | 42.4 | 36.8 | 63.0 |
| Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied | 13.8 | 26.5 | 24.0 | 31.6 | 18.1 |
| Dissatisfied | 7.1 | 12.9 | 24.7 | 10.5 | 10.9 |
| Don’t know | 7.4 | 8.5 | 8.8 | 21.1 | 8.0 |
| Total | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
Source: MQWL 2004, No. surveyed=2,007, c= 0.267 (contingency coefficient), p=0.000 (indication of statistical significance) (Czech Republic)
Working time flexibility and overtime work
Some of the national correspondents’ contributions also presented results regarding the possible relationship between job satisfaction and the issues of working time flexibility and overtime. The main trend seems to be a positive relationship between working time flexibility and job satisfaction, while a negative relationship is found regarding overtime work.
The Spanish survey SQLW 2004 on quality of life in the workplace reveals that the more flexibility workers have to decide when to start or leave their work, the more satisfied they are with their job. In contrast, the percentage of dissatisfied workers increases as their flexibility is reduced. Similarly, data from the Finnish QWLS 2003 show that workers who can adapt their working hours to match their own needs are more satisfied than those who cannot avail of such flexibility options.
Regarding overtime work, it could be expected that it would have a negative effect on job satisfaction. Data from the Spanish SQLW 2004 and the Finnish QWLS 2003 point in that direction but the Danish findings indicate the opposite trend.
The Spanish SQLW 2004 data show that the less the workers need to work overtime, the more satisfied they are with their job. Conversely, satisfaction among workers decreases the more they need to work overtime. The Finnish QWLS 2003 survey data also reveal that workers who have to do more overtime work than they would like to are less satisfied with their jobs.
However, data from DWECS 2000 reveal that the more overtime work demanded, the more satisfied men become - 79% of those who ‘always’ requested to work overtime are satisfied to a ‘high degree’ (note that relatively few female respondents can be found among those ‘always’ having to work overtime). This finding raises the question of whether the necessity to work overtime is perceived by the respondents in a traditional sense of requested overtime work or as part of a ‘work as a way of life’ outlook.
Work-life balance
According to the latest data available in Bulgaria, there is a relationship between satisfaction with working conditions and with work-life balance. Some 85% of respondents reporting a very good work-life balance are also satisfied with their working conditions. Among the employees reporting a ‘not very good/not at all good fit’, the proportion of satisfied workers with their working conditions falls to 53% (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Satisfaction with working conditions and with work-life balance in Bulgaria
In the Czech Republic, data from the MQWL 2004 reveal a statistically significant correlation between job satisfaction and the answers agreeing with the sentence ‘In my organisation, employees are able to maintain a healthy balance between their working and family life’ (Table 12). Those respondents who agreed with the statement were more often satisfied with their job (78.3%), whereas respondents who disagreed with it were much less satisfied in their work (31.2%).
| Job satisfaction | Yes | Neutral | No | Don't know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Satisfied | 78.3 | 53.8 | 31.2 | 46.3 | 63.0 |
| Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied | 11.0 | 27.7 | 20.6 | 22.5 | 18.1 |
| Dissatisfied | 4.0 | 11.1 | 37.6 | 16.9 | 10.9 |
| Don't know | 6.7 | 7.4 | 10.6 | 14.4 | 8.0 |
| Total | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
Source: MQWL 2004, No. surveyed=2,007, c= 0.388; a=0.000 (Czech Republic)
In the case of Denmark, the data from DWECS 2000 reveal that the group of respondents stating that work affects their private life ‘in a very bad way’ are the most discontent with work (Table 13). Conversely, among those workers reporting that work affects their private life in a ‘good’ or ‘very good’ way, the levels of job dissatisfaction are almost non-existent.
| How does work affect your private life? | Sex | Job satisfaction | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | Some | Little | No | No. surveyed | ||
| In a very good way | Men | 95.37 | 4.63 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 108 |
| Women | 93.46 | 6.45 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 153 | |
| In a good way | Men | 84.31 | 14.31 | 0.80 | 0.58 | 1,370 |
| Women | 80.26 | 18.54 | 0.81 | 0.40 | 1,489 | |
| Not at all | Men | 65.36 | 30.14 | 2.77 | 1.73 | 866 |
| Women | 64.31 | 30.35 | 2.89 | 2.46 | 692 | |
| In a bad way | Men | 52.00 | 33.18 | 8.71 | 6.12 | 425 |
| Women | 45.35 | 36.06 | 12.68 | 5.92 | 355 | |
| In a very bad way | Men | 40.00 | 20.00 | 0.00 | 40.00 | 15 |
| Women | 21.74 | 34.78 | 13.04 | 30.43 | 23 | |
Source: DWECS 2000, cross-tabulation of questions B60 and B108, by sex, (Denmark)
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