Software engineers in the high technology and financial services sector are highly satisfied with their jobs, despite showing considerably less enthusiasm for their pay levels, according to a survey conducted by the Irish Management Institute and the University of Limerick.
The survey of about 600 workers in 12 leading high-tech multinationals and financial institutions showed that almost 90 per cent of employees felt that their expectations had been met in terms of intrinsically interesting and challenging work.
A total of 82 per cent felt their expectations regarding skill utilisation and development opportunities had been met, while only 65 per cent felt their salary expectations had been fulfilled.
Nevertheless, half the respondents rated interesting work as the most important factor attracting them to a job, with salary levels rated the most important factor by just 19 per cent and the opportunity to develop skills rated most important by 16 per cent.
Perceptions about the fairness of rewards allocation on the job and on career prospects in the workplace were mixed, according to the survey, Irish Knowledge Workers and the Psychological Contract, conducted by Mr Patrick Flood, Mr Thomas Turner and Mr Conor Hannaway under the joint IMI-University of Limerick Research Programme.
A total of 38 per cent of employees perceived that merit was the basis for reward in their companies, while 40 per cent were not sure and 21 per cent believed that merit was not the basis for reward.
The survey showed high levels of commitment and loyalty to their organisations, with 38 per cent reporting very high levels of commitment, 42 per cent a high commitment and 19 per cent a moderate commitment to their organisation.
The survey contains pointers for human resource managers in today's highly competitive labour market for "knowledge workers", such as software engineers and financial services professionals, said Mr Flood, professor of organisational behaviour at the University of Limerick.
The high level of job satisfaction reflected well on human resources policies currently in place in leading companies, he said, but in the current marketplace, with job security no longer a top priority for many employees, there was no room for complacency.
"If you're trying to attract knowledge workers and hold them, you have to pay careful attention to providing interesting work, providing continuous skill development through challenging assignments, and making sure the salary package is competitive - - in that order," said Mr Flood.
"When we began the survey, I was sure salary would be priority for most respondents, but what came up as overwhelmingly important was that people feel they are doing interesting work. The human resources managers we've talked to confirm this," he said.
Mr Flood said that despite the high satisfaction ratings of most employees, and their perception that they had a good deal, the propensity to leave their organisation was still moderately high. "The message to firms is, `don't rest on your laurels'."
