A shift worker's lot is not a happy one, according to Statistics Canada, which also reports that sales representatives, service employees and factory workers tend to be less satisfied than other employees.
Men in clerical or administrative roles also tend to be unhappier than other working men, Statscan says in its report, Unhappy on the Job.
Night shifts and rotating shifts take a toll, although women who work irregular shifts are more likely to be satisfied than men working these hours, most likely because more women choose these hours so they can look after children during the day, according to the study.
Statscan researcher Margot Shields found that the vast majority of Canadians surveyed in 2002 were satisfied with their jobs, but that 1 in 12 mdash; or 1.3-million workers mdash; were not.
ldquo;Relatively high proportions of men and women who worked in sales or service, or processing or manufacturing or utilities were unhappy on the job.
The same was true for men in administrative, financial or clerical jobs, rdquo; the report says.
ldquo;By contract, comparatively low percentages of men and women in professional positions were dissatisfied. And among men in management, as well as those in farming, forestry, fishing or mining occupations, job dissatisfaction was particularly uncommon.
rdquo;
In a related report released today, Statscan studied the levels of stress and depression in the working population and found that more than one-million adult Canadians had suffered ldquo;a major depressive episode rdquo; in the year before the 2002 survey and, of those, 7 in 10 were employed during the year.
Work-related stress contributed, but was not the only factor, triggering depression in working-aged Canadians, according to the study.
ldquo;The jobs considered to be the most stressful are often referred to as high-strain jobs.
This means that demands are high, yet workers have few opportunities to use their skills and make decisions, rdquo; Statscan said in its report, Stress and Depression in the Employed Population.
The study on job dissatisfaction found clear associations between the amount of job stress workers perceived and their levels of job satisfaction.
ldquo;The study also found that relatively large percentages of workers who were dissatisfied with their jobs rated their physical or mental health as fair or poor, compared with workers who were satisfied, rdquo; Statscan reported.
What are tags?
A tag is a keyword or descriptive term supplied by our editorial staff used to associate related articles with one another. Tags make it easier for you to find other stories that share the same theme or topic with the article you re currently reading.
News RSS