Are employees moaning about the lack of a Christmas bonus, or that a pay rise is failing to come to fruition? Then it may be time to point out the old saying that money doesn’t always buy happiness – and a job satisfaction survey proves it.
Top earners may be raking in the cash, but a new job satisfaction survey shows their jobs fail to deliver contentment.
Publication BusinessInsider teamed up with employment website CareerBliss to examine 250 workplace roles in the US and found that some of the highest paid positions didn’t equate to happiness. Lawyers, for example, were found to make an annual salary of $US81,000 but reported levels of contentment equal to workers making less than half that amount.
The findings also showed that people making between $US90,000 to $US100,000 usually have bliss scores (the term given for the job satisfaction ranking) of 3.8 on a five-point scale, with five representing the most satisfied.
The bliss scores are created for the employee reviews of eight factors: work-life balance; relationship with co-workers; work environment; job resources; compensation; growth opportunities; company culture; and daily tasks. CareerBliss also provided the job’s actual average salary and the “predicted” average salary which is what they would expect people in the job to make based on how happy they are.
The following are the 20 top high-paying jobs that have bliss scores below what would be expected for their pay:
1. Attorney
Actual average salary: $US81,000
Predicted average salary: $US35,235
Average bliss score: 3.28
2. Senior product manager
Actual average salary: $US116,000
Predicted average salary: $US74,409
Average bliss score: 3.34
3. Senior manager
Actual average salary: $US112,000
Predicted average salary: $US76,864
Average bliss score: 3.41
4. Director of IT
Actual average salary: $US102,000
Predicted average salary: $US67,413
Average bliss score: 3.53
5. Managing director
Actual average salary: $US129,000
Predicted average salary: $US94,210
Average bliss score: 4.08
6. Principal engineer
Actual average salary: $US113,000
Predicted average salary: $US80,837
Average bliss score: 3.84
7. Solutions architect
Actual average salary: $US114,000
Predicted average salary: $US82,901
Average bliss score: 3.70
8. Managing partner
Actual average salary: $US108,000
Predicted average salary: $US78,661
Average bliss score: 4.27
9. Engineering manager
Actual average salary: $US102,000
Predicted average salary: $US75,757
Average bliss score: 3.53
10. Senior project manager
Actual average salary: $US103,000
Predicted average salary: $US77,055
Average bliss score: 3.62
11. Senior programmer
Actual average salary: $US85,000
Predicted average salary: $US59,356
Average bliss score: 3.86
12. Assistant professor
Actual average salary: $US61,000
Predicted average salary: $US37,529
Average bliss score: 3.05
13. Director
Actual average salary: $US102,000
Predicted average salary: $US78,764
Average bliss score: 3.59
14. Creative director
Actual average salary: $US79,000
Predicted average salary: $US56,509
Average bliss score: 3.75
15. Senior software director
Actual average salary: $US82,000
Predicted average salary: $US59,784
Average bliss score: 3.83
16. Senior engineer
Actual average salary: $US85,000
Predicted average salary: $US63,694
Average bliss score: 3.39
17. Program manager
Actual average salary: $US93,000
Predicted average salary: $US71,349
Average bliss score: 3.52
18. Associate
Actual average salary: $US65,000
Predicted average salary: $US44,217
Average bliss score: 3.25
19. Lead developer
Actual average salary: $US79,000
Predicted average salary: $US58,563
Average bliss score: 3.73
20. Senior buyer
Actual average salary: $US62,000
Predicted average salary: $US41,166
Average bliss score: 3.04