Adhesives & Sealants Industry recently surveyed our print magazine, digital edition and eNewsletter subscribers to find out how satisfied they are with their jobs. I’m happy to report that overall, 70% of respondents indicated that they are highly satisfied with their current job (see Figure 1). Among evaluated individual aspects, the company’s leadership team is rated the lowest on satisfaction (53%); this number is higher for satisfaction with coworkers (68%) and supervisors (63%).

Qualifications and Training

Most respondents (77%) reported that they are qualified for their current role/position, though slightly less than one-quarter (22%) believe that they are over-qualified for their job. Thus, it make sense that fewer than half of respondents (44%) said that they have taken training courses in the past, despite just over half (52%) of respondents’ companies offering training courses and/or tuition reimbursement. A little less than a quarter (23%) of respondents indicated that they are not currently taking courses and don’t intend to in the future.

Improving Job Satisfaction

While a high overall job satisfaction number is good news, we found that 18% of employees in the adhesives, sealants and related industries are actively seeking a new job. The top reasons for this are: seeking a more challenging position (43%), followed by a desire for higher pay (33%).

Employees in the adhesives, sealants and related industries indicated that they receive a number of partially or fully paid benefits from their employers. Some 91% have health insurance through their employer, and 84% receive paid vacation time. The top additional benefits include: paid sick leave, 85%; retirement benefits, such as 401K or pension, 84%; dental insurance, 81%; bonus, 77%; life insurance, 74%; and vision insurance 70%.

While respondents are mostly satisfied with their current job, there’s always room for improvement. Higher pay is again requested, as 37% said that that would make them more satisfied in their job, while 30% indicated that company communication surrounding the organization’s vision could be better. Additional ways companies can improve job satisfaction include more vacation time (23%); offering profit sharing or a bonus (22%); better healthcare benefits (17%); and retirement benefits or an increase in existing benefits (17%). Just 6% of respondents indicated that they are completely satisfied. Figure 2 provides a full breakdown of job satisfaction improvement drivers.