Machinists are one of the least happy careers in the United States.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, machinists rate their career happiness 2.7 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 11% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy machinists are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Quality control inspector | 2.8 | $48k |
| Logistician | 2.7 | $58k |
| Sheet metal worker | 2.7 | $49k |
| Tool and die maker | 2.7 | $54k |
| Mining machine operator | 2.7 | $55k |
| Machinist | 2.7 | $44k |
| Glazier | 2.6 | $44k |
| Fork lift operator | 2.5 | $35k |
| Metal worker | 2.5 | $33k |
| Machine assembler | 2.4 | $39k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are machinists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do machinists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as machinists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are machinist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are machinists making the best use of their abilities?