A comparison on job design and job satisfaction among professionals in private companies and the public sector

Abstract

The aim of the article is to compare the assessments of job design and global job satisfaction among professionals in the public sector and private companies. The results are based on data collected in 2018 among nurses, managers and engineers, and 342 responses were received and the response rate was 32%. Job design were measured in four dimensions; task and knowledge characteristics, social characteristics and work context. The results indicate that professionals in private companies assess the work context better than professionals in the public sector, and professionals in the public sector assess the knowledge characteristics more in their work, especially the need for skill diversity and specialized projects. There are also indications that specialists in private companies have better working conditions and facilities in the workplace and less physical demands, while the jobs of specialists in the public sector call for more diverse skills and more specialization. Professionals in the public sector also value the importance of their work more highly than experts in the private sector. There is no difference in job satisfaction between the two groups, nor in the social characteristics of the job, but both groups are on average particularly satisfied with their work. The results of the comparisons provide insight into the complex interplay between job design and job satisfaction of professionals in both the public and public sector, and increasing our understanding of what attracts employees to work in the public sector and the motivation of employees to do good work. The results also indicate that there is a need to improve the work context and reduce physical demands in the work of specialists in the public sector.