Presentation at tje 8th Nordic Conference on Working Life in Tampere 2.11.2016

1. Job satisfaction among public and private
sector employees: an international
comparison
Pauli Forma
Director of working life services
Keva
Presentation in Nordic conference on working life,
Tampere 2.11.2016

2. Background of the study
• The role of the public sector varies in different countries
– Institutions: large, institutional welfare states vs. marginal
welfare states
– Spending: High public expenditures versus low expenditures
– Number of public sector employees: large number of
employees vs. small number of employees
– Working conditions: Well-being of the public sector
employees?
• Well-being of the employees in the public sector can be
influenced by:
– Role of the public sector in the society -> work characteristics
– Budget pressures, restructuring of the public sector
– On the other hand: according to the public service motivation
(PSM) theory, some individuals may have desire to work in
the public sector.
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3. Research questions and studied
countries
The aim of the study is to analyze differences in job satisfaction and self-
rated health in countries which have different types of public sectors.
Research questions:
1) How does job satisfaction and self-rated health among public sector
employees vary between different countries?
2) What is the gap regarding job satisfaction and self-rated health
between private and public sector employees in different countries?
Studied countries:
• Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Norway, Sweden,
Switzerland, United States, Germany, United Kingdom.
• Countries are different when it comes to the size and role of the public
sector.
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4. Data and methods
• It was quite difficult to find a comparative data including a
variable for sector of employment and variables measuring
the well being in working life.
• ISSP (International Social Survey Programme) data was
obtained from DAS (Leibniz Institute for Social Sciences).
• The data was collected in 2012, the theme of the
study was changing family and gender roles.
• Descriptive methods and multivariate regression analysis
(standardized beta coefficients) were used.
• Background-variables which could be used in the analyses
were gender, age and education.
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5. Employment in the public sector in different
countries (% share of the labor-force working in the general
government and public corporations).
0,0
5,0
10,0
15,0
20,0
25,0
30,0
35,0
2000 2008
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Source: OECD statistics.

6. Structure of the labour force in the public and private sector in the
studied countries (Figures for private sector in parentheses).
%-share of
female workers
Average age of
the workers
Average education
in years
Australia 52 (44) 45 (48) 15 (14)
Austria 54 (52) 41 (40) 13 (11)
Denmark 65 (38) 45 (43) 14 (13)
Finland 74 (43) 44 (45) 16 (15)
France 72 (60) 44 (42) 16 (15)
Norway 66 (36) 46 (44) 15 (14)
Sweden 71 (41) 48 (45) 14 (13)
Switzerland 54 (40) 45 (44) 15 (14)
United States 52 (47) 44 (42) 15 (14)
Germany 54 (44) 46 (43) 14 (12)
United Kingdom 65 (46) 44 (44) 13 (14)
62.11.2016 Pauli Forma Source: ISSP 2012.

7. Job satisfaction and self-rated health among
public sector employees, %
0 20 40 60 80 100
Germany
Denmark
Australia
Finland
Norway
Switzerland
United Kingdom
France
United States
Austria
Sweden
Self-rated health
0 20 40 60 80 100
France
United Kingdom
Australia
Sweden
Finland
Germany
Denmark
Norway
Austria
United States
Switzerland
Job satisfaction
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Percentage share of the respondents
saying their health is ”excellent”, ”very
good”, or ”good”.
Percentage share of the respondents saying
”completely satisfied” and ”very satisfied”.

8. Job satisfaction among public and private
sector employees, %
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Public Private
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Percentage share of the respondents saying ”completely satisfied” and ”very
satisfied”.

9. Self-rated health among public and private
sector employees, %
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Public Private
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Percentage share of the respondents saying their health is ”excellent”, ”very
good”, or ”good”.

10. Multivariate regression analysis, beta
coefficients, all studied countries included in
the analyses
Job
satisfaction
Self-rated
health
Age (years) .06*** -.16***
Gender (female) -.02 -.01
Education (years) .02 .09***
Sector of employment (public) -.01 -.04***
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Levels of statistical significance: * p ≤ 0.05; ** p ≤ 0.01; p ≤ 0.001.

11. Multivariate regression analysis, beta
coefficients: Job satisfaction
AU AST SWI DK FIN FRA
Age (years) .12*** -.09* .14*** .08* .10* -.01
Gender (female) .02 .05 -.01 -.03 -.04 -.01
Education (years) .09* .07 .00 .03 .02 .08**
Sector of employment (public) .01 -.02 -.02 -.02 .08* .02
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AU AST SWI DK FIN
Age (years) -.05 .11** .04 .11* .13***
Gender (female) -.05 .03 -.04 .10* .00
Education (years) -.03 .03 .10* .03 -.04
Sector of employment (public) .07* -.04 -.04 .02 .12*
Levels of statistical significance: * p ≤ 0.05; ** p ≤ 0.01; p ≤ 0.001.

12. Multivariate regression analysis, beta
coefficients. Self-rated health.
AU AST SWI DK FIN FRA
Age (years) -.10** -.31*** -.13*** -.12*** -.20*** -.20***
Gender (female) .02 -.01 -.07 .04 -.01 -.07*
Education (years) .08* .09* .15*** .05 .10** .11***
Sector of employment (public) -.05 -.03 -.09* -.04 -.01 -.02
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DEN NOR SWE UK USA
Age (years) -.29*** -.08* -.07 -.14** -.06
Gender (female) .00 .04 .01 .07 .02
Education (years) .17*** .10* .13** .09* .16**
Sector of employment (public) -.04 -.07 -.05 -.09 -.02
Levels of statistical significance: * p ≤ 0.05; ** p ≤ 0.01; p ≤ 0.001.

13. Main findings
1) How does job satisfaction and self-rated health among
public sector employees vary between different countries?
• Job satisfaction of the public sector employees varies between
different countries.
• Only moderate differences were found when it comes to self-rated
health among public sector employees in the different countries.
2) What is the gap regarding job satisfaction and self-rated
health between private and public sector employees in
different countries?
• In some countries, a small gap between employment sectors were
found when it comes job satisfaction and self-rated health.
• However, the gap between sectors of employment was not
systematic.
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14. Conclusions
• In the studied countries, sector of employment divides
not the labour-force when it comes to job satisfaction
and self rated health.
• Individual-level variables like education and age are
more important than the employment sector.
• Because of the limitations of the data, more research
is needed.
• Currently, when public sectors are adjusted in many
countries, it is important to analyse also the quality of
the working life in the public sector.
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15. Limitations of the data and research
design
• Sectors of employment are large and
heterogeneous: there might be interesting
differences behind the averages.
• Only two dependent variables were used: more
specific variables could reveal more detailed
picture about working conditions and well-being of
the employees.
• Job satisfaction is not necessarily a good variable
for measuring well-being at work.
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