Engineering news
Engineers are less happy at work than counterparts in other sectors, according to a new survey.
The research, by workforce issues consultancy the iOpener Institute, found that engineers enjoyed less job satisfaction than workers in consulting, biotech, real estate and IT. Perhaps surprisingly, production workers in manufacturing also enjoyed greater job satisfaction than engineers.
“In consulting you enjoy a high degree of autonomy and control which makes for happy workers,” said Jessica Pryce Jones, institute chief executive. “The onus is on employers to empower engineers to get results and retain talent. Engineering organisations can have very hierarchical structures, and they are sometimes seen as part of a ‘hidden sector’.
“It’s time society shouted about the massive contribution that engineers make to it. Society doesn’t work without them.”
According to the iOpener Institute research, in general results for the engineering sector tended to lie quite close to the national average (5), though they were usually below it rather than above. For happiness at work, engineers scored 4.8. By contrast, management consultants scored 5.8. In terms of other negative aspects, employees in the engineering sector were less appreciative of their organisation’s than the average and 12% less interested in their work than the national average, and therefore unsurprisingly 10% less motivated. Despite this, they still registered a 10% higher than average feeling that their work had a positive impact on the world.
Pryce Jones said it was important that engineering firms made the effort to continuously train and upskill workers to ensure they enjoyed job satisfaction. A failure to do so could see them looking around for other opportunities, she said.
She added: “Research shows that when employees aren’t happy at work this can lead to increased sick leave, reduced productivity and also a loss in talent retention – so actually in the current tougher work climate this is something that desperately needs to be addressed by managers.”