Job Satisfaction and Bad Jobs: Why Are Cleaners So Happy at Work?

Abstract

Our analysis is based on the French DARES Working Conditions survey which contains a very large sample of individuals representative of the French working population. We demonstrate that employees working in the cleaning sector report significantly higher levels of satisfaction than the other employees. This statistical result is robust; it persists when we introduce a large number of control variables. This result is puzzling insofar as it is generally agreed that these workers hold ‘poor quality’ jobs: low pay, an abnormal pattern of work, arduous working conditions. We suggest that cleaners’ expectations and standards are influenced by an adaptation process. Their job satisfaction needs to be considered in the light of their past experience. Their employment history shapes their wants and needs and thus affects the way they evaluate their work.

Too hot to handle? An analysis of chefs’ job quality in Australian restaurants

“…Future research could extend the existing literature considerably by theoretically and empirically articulating the importance of the objective and subjective dimensions of job quality and the significance of life stages (Lené, 2019). Future studies could also examine the experiences of different groups of workers, including permanent residents versus temporary migrants, more explicitly.…”

“…Subjective indicators focus on worker perceptions of the job and the extent to which that job meets their personal needs (Brown et al., 2007; Eurofound, 2012). Some studies have found that workers’ assessments of job quality vary depending on their life stage and their personal circumstances (Knox et al., 2015; Lené, 2019; Pocock and Skinner, 2012). The subjective approach is underpinned by the notion that worker preferences and their alignment with job characteristics are critical.…”

“…Job quality encompasses both material (‘objective’) characteristics, including but not limited to working conditions, and the jobholder’s (‘subjective’) assessment of those characteristics and how effectively they meet their personal needs (Knox et al., 2011). Recent job quality research has indicated that analysing the ‘subjective’ or perceived dimensions may help to explain why workers tolerate ‘objectively’ poor conditions (Lené, 2019). Some studies have flagged that temporality may be important, specifically in terms of how workers’ orientation to the past, present and future may affect their subjective perceptions of job quality (Bailey and Madden, 2017).…”

‘I Get Money for What I Like Doing Best’: The Class Origin of Young Blue-Collar Workers and their Commitment to Work

“…relatively high levels of satisfaction with low-paying jobs implying arduous work) with reference to the workers' life and employment history, such as migration or adaptation to difficult circumstances (e.g. Léné, 2019). 4.…”

Global comparisons of job satisfaction across occupational categories

“…Similarly, we found only two comparative studies across occupational categories. One is situated in France (Léné, 2016) while the other is in Jordan (Al-Zoubi, 2012). Additionally, research on determinants of job satisfaction for specific occupational categories (e.g.…”