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Studies

from the no-outsourcing-of-hairdressing? dept

Fri, Mar 19th 2004 10:34am — Mike Masnick
A new study says that only one in seven IT workers is very happy with their job. IT work comes in 19th (out of...?) on the list of "happy professions" well behind hairdressers, plumbers, chefs and florists (a very happy bunch). I don't think this is all that surprising. A lot of people don't become techies because they enjoy the work, but because they think it pays well, or because it seems like a good profession. People say it over and over again - it's important to do a job you like. However, few people actually follow through on that, and then they complain that they're not happy in their job.
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6 Comments

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  • identicon
    dorpus, 19 Mar 2004 @ 10:55am

    Bayesian Inference

    But what if tons of people become florists, because they thought it would make them happy? I bet floristry would quickly become an unhappy profession.


    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    MLO, 19 Mar 2004 @ 11:20am

    Actually

    I switched from administrative assistant to technical work because I was very curious about the computers I was working on and what made them go. Initially I loved what I did and sucked up any and all knowledge that I could

    However, as demands have increased at work and I am forced to not only attend to serious network issues as well as lots and lots of user calls, I find it increasingly stressful and less enjoyable.

    I'm at the point where, once I get home, I dont want to touch a computer, let alone go online and pick up email. Oddly enough what I initially liked doing turned into something that drains me.

    MLO

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Charles W., 19 Mar 2004 @ 3:48pm

    Hate my job, love the work

    I love computers, and working on them, but I hate my job. The work can be interesting, but the stress, and BS from management tends to negate the enjoyment I get from the actual work. Also the problems caused by those people you mentioned that got IT jobs because "it pays well". They never learned the job, they just do it for a paycheck. So those of us who love IT, and know it forward and backwards are constantly fixing problems caused by those "amateurs". I don't yet have a degree, so I don't have much oppertunity for a different job(yet). So I would be one of the unhappy people in the servey, but I enjoy the work.

    Charles W.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    dorpus, 19 Mar 2004 @ 5:57pm

    Dead Techies Rain From the Sky

    I have known plenty of engineering or CS majors who refused to go anywhere near programming, who thought their degrees made them "better" IT professionals than anyone else. I've also found that the way to raise the blood pressure of an engineering major, to make veins the size of telephone chords bulge under his skin, is to accuse him of not being able to write English.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Aonghus, 22 Mar 2004 @ 6:12am

    Are self-employed peopel happier

    I can't help but notice that the professions at the top of the list are probably more likely to be self-employed. Is it the fact that they are more in control of their job what makes them happier?

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]


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