Eine der zufriedensten Berufsgruppen: Entwicklung, Ausmaß und Determinanten der Arbeitszufriedenheit von Sozialarbeiterinnen und Sozialarbeitern

The state of research on job satisfaction of social workers in Germany is not satisfactory, especially with regard to longitudinal and subgroup-specific (e.g., age groups) considerations. Job satisfaction is longitudinally examined in this article, in comparison with other occupational groups and within the occupational group including age and gender comparisons. It can be seen that social workers are among the occupational groups with the highest job satisfaction (rank 8 of 66 occupations), although the high level of job satisfaction is less common among the youngest group (up to 34 years of age). First, descriptively possible determinants of job satisfaction are shown—also longitudinally and in a group comparison. Satisfaction with income is only slightly below that of other occupational groups. Satisfaction with career opportunities, however, is slightly above other occupational groups. Compared to other occupational groups, there is a very strong feeling that one’s own work is important. The values are also comparatively high in terms of satisfaction with the working atmosphere. Other possible determinants of job satisfaction are stress factors and symptoms of exhaustion. The multivariate analysis shows statistically significant effects on the probability of being ‘very satisfied’ with the job for three factors. The ‘hard factors’ of satisfaction with income and career opportunities are comparatively weakly associated with high job satisfaction. Satisfaction with the working atmosphere seems to be much more important here. As expected, stress and exhaustion have a negative effect. The results suggest that organizational measures can have a significant influence on the job satisfaction of social workers, even under given external circumstances.