From the linked Economist article:
“The occupations in which people are least happy are manual and service jobs requiring little skill. Job satisfaction tends to increase with the prestige of the occupation.”
Manual jobs are significantly more dangerous than desk jobs, and nowadays pay less. Service jobs actually do require skills, thankyouverymuch, and an elephant’s hide due to the atrocious way customers will treat you. And again, they pay less than a white collar job in an office.
Meanwhile, more prestige generally means better pay, safer and nicer working conditions, and more freedom to make choices while working instead of toeing a line.
So let’s look at an example where this falls apart: college and university teaching in the U.S.
Being a professor used to be more prestigious than being in business (yes, I know I’m dating myself). If you were smart and hard-working, you went on to college and grad or professional school…if you were a “C” student, you went to work in a business somewhere and hoped to work your way up. Professors had guaranteed careers via tenure, which used to be a realizable goal for most PhDs. Sure, maybe the pay wasn’t as great as non-academic careers requiring higher level degrees – doctors and lawyers – but the work was still respected and prestigious. It meant something, to be a professor.
Now, most “professors” are adjuncts. Basically, temp workers. Their hourly earnings, based on actual time spent, comes out to less than minimum wage. No benefits, no guarantee of employment past a 10- or 16-week contract (based on term length). Almost no chance at a tenure-track position, to say nothing of tenure itself. They’re miserable, which they have every right to be.
Job satisfaction isn’t really tied to skill level at all: it’s tied to salary, working conditions, and opportunities for a long term career in which one can use and hone those skills.
