Who's most satisfied with their jobs?

Overall, 81 occupations were ranked according to 'satisfaction' in the Industrial Relations Journal. Hairdressers and beauty therapists were placed second in the league table, which was funded by the Economic & Social Research Council.

The rankings were produced by the University of Bath, based on information from the Government's 'Workplace Employment Relations' survey of 2004-2005, which polled 22,500 British employees about their work experiences.

As many as six of the top ten job occupations were management positions, suggesting that a person's level of control over their job and sense of autonomy was strongly linked to how satisfied they felt.

IT professionals had low job satisfaction - ranked in 66th place, despite being paid considerably more than others at the lower end of the table. One in ten IT professionals surveyed earned more than £45k. Usually, earning in excess of £40k had a strong positive effect on job satisfaction, said the researchers.

Their low ranking was put down to them feeling less satisfied with their involvement, sense of achievement, job security and training.

Arts performers and administrators made it into the top ten in terms of satisfaction - ranked 10th - even though they often suffered poor rewards and job security.

Rewarding role?

Professor Michael Rose from the University of Bath 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."

However, he went on to say that the "most important factor" in terms of job satisfaction was a "sense of involvement" - something that management themselves could have a particularly strong influence over.

Professor Rose added that improving job satisfaction across occupations was "complex, but could be done."

"Reducing the deficits that reduce job satisfaction in occupational groups could have benefits for subjective wellbeing - which impacts on health, productivity and social good," he said.

Teaching was one profession that had shown a dramatic improvement in job satisfaction, when compared to a table produced around seven years ago - now ranked 11th, compared to 54th previously. Financial service managers and retail managers had also shown "huge" rises in job satisfaction.

Occupations taking a tumble in the table included records clerks, household services, childcare, secretarial services and leisure and travel services.