Postal service workers 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, postal service workers rate their career happiness 2.4 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 3% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy postal service workers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Office clerk | 2.6 | $37k |
| Forklift operator | 2.5 | $38k |
| Teller | 2.5 | $36k |
| Maitre d' | 2.5 | $25k |
| Shipping and receiving clerk | 2.4 | $37k |
| Postal service worker | 2.4 | $52k |
| Garbage collector | 2.4 | $38k |
| Vehicle cleaner | 2.4 | $29k |
| Postal service clerk | 2.3 | $52k |
| Customer service representative | 2.3 | $37k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are postal service workers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do postal service workers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as postal service workers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are postal service worker’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are postal service workers making the best use of their abilities?
Are postal service workers happy with their salary?
Postal service workers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.0/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most postal service workers having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked postal service workers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
474 postal service workers
9% of postal service workers rated their compensation 5 stars
29% of postal service workers rated their compensation 4 stars
29% of postal service workers rated their compensation 3 stars
16% of postal service workers rated their compensation 2 stars
16% of postal service workers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do postal service workers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, postal service workers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.0/5. The majority of postal service workers struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked postal service workers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.0 out of 5 stars
475 postal service workers
4% of postal service workers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
8% of postal service workers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
17% of postal service workers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
26% of postal service workers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
46% of postal service workers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as postal service workers?
Postal service workers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.3/5. The majority of postal service workers don’t see personality fit as a hinderence in their career.
We asked postal service workers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
502 postal service workers
21% of postal service workers rated their career fit 5 stars
29% of postal service workers rated their career fit 4 stars
23% of postal service workers rated their career fit 3 stars
14% of postal service workers rated their career fit 2 stars
13% of postal service workers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a postal service worker’s work environment?
As a whole, postal service workers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 2.9/5. Some postal service workers are happy with their work environment, but it does not seem to be a meaningful contributer to career satisfaction for most.
We asked postal service workers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
500 postal service workers
13% of postal service workers rated their work environment 5 stars
21% of postal service workers rated their work environment 4 stars
28% of postal service workers rated their work environment 3 stars
18% of postal service workers rated their work environment 2 stars
19% of postal service workers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are postal service workers making the best use of their abilities?
Former postal service workers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.1/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being a postal service worker.
We asked postal service workers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.1 out of 5 stars
499 postal service workers
6% of postal service workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
10% of postal service workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
17% of postal service workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
21% of postal service workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
45% of postal service workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars