A study of Unskilled Workers in Australia

Abstract

Many researchers have expected that there should be a significant and positive relationship between interests and job satisfaction. Yet an examination of 32 previous studies involving more than 15,000 subjects showed an overall correlation of only 0.15 between congruence and job satisfaction. Moreover, there has been a preoccupation with professional careers and only one previous study considered unskilled workers. This article describes an Australian study that used structured interviews and questionnaires to assess unskilled and skilled workers’ interests and satisfaction. There was little evidence of a relationship. Other job components -such as coworkers, pay, conditions, closeness to home and expectations - may be more important in determining workers’ satisfaction than whether or not their interests are congruent with their jobs.