Ship loaders 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, ship loaders rate their career happiness 1.9 out of 5 stars which puts them in the None.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy ship loaders 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
Molding and casting worker
2.3
$17k
Stock clerk
2.2
$23k
Janitor
2.2
$4k
Machine feeder
2.1
$8k
Ship loader
1.9
$49k

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

  • Salary: Are ship loaders happy with their salary?
  • Meaning: Do ship loaders find their jobs meaningful?
  • Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as ship loaders?
  • Work environment: How enjoyable are ship loader’s work environments?
  • Skills utilization: Are ship loaders making the best use of their abilities?

Are ship loaders happy with their salary?

Ship loaders rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.1/5. Most ship loaders do not feel that their salaries adequately reflect their work, and are actively unhappy with their income.

We asked ship loaders how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

2.1 out of 5 stars

19 ship loaders

5 Star
5%

5% of ship loaders rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
5%

5% of ship loaders rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
21%

21% of ship loaders rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
26%

26% of ship loaders rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
42%

42% of ship loaders rated their compensation 1 stars

Do ship loaders find their jobs meaningful?

On average, ship loaders rate the meaningfulness of their work a 1.7/5. The majority of ship loaders struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.

We asked ship loaders how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

1.7 out of 5 stars

19 ship loaders

5 Star
5%

5% of ship loaders rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
11%

11% of ship loaders rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
5%

5% of ship loaders rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
11%

11% of ship loaders rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
68%

68% of ship loaders rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as ship loaders?

Ship loaders rated their personality fit with their work an average of 2.3/5. Few ship loaders seem to find that their personalities work mesh well with their career.

We asked ship loaders how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

2.3 out of 5 stars

20 ship loaders

5 Star
5%

5% of ship loaders rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
40%

40% of ship loaders rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
35%

35% of ship loaders rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
20%

20% of ship loaders rated their career fit 2 stars

How enjoyable is a ship loader’s work environment?

As a whole, ship loaders rated their enjoyment of their work environment 2.2/5. Some ship loaders are happy with their work environment, but it does not seem to be a meaningful contributer to career satisfaction for most.

We asked ship loaders how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

2.2 out of 5 stars

20 ship loaders

5 Star
5%

5% of ship loaders rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
25%

25% of ship loaders rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
50%

50% of ship loaders rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
20%

20% of ship loaders rated their work environment 2 stars

Are ship loaders making the best use of their abilities?

Former ship loaders on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 1.9/5. Ship loaders tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.

We asked ship loaders how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

1.9 out of 5 stars

20 ship loaders

5 Star
15%

15% of ship loaders rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
15%

15% of ship loaders rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
15%

15% of ship loaders rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
55%

55% of ship loaders rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars