Some employers simply don’t give employees enough reasons to stay. And for the ones that do, happiness and satisfaction can be difficult (if not impossible) to find. But what jobs report the lowest levels of happiness? Before we take a look, it’s important to understand what factors are most likely to cause unhappiness at work.
A Harvard study on happiness (one of the longest running at 85 years) reveals that jobs where people work in isolation—where they either have no coworkers or the position is so fast-paced employees never get to know their coworkers—often lead to the lowest levels of reported job happiness.
1. Pharmacy technician
This job involves working in a pharmacy, locating, packing, and labeling patient medications. This work is then reviewed by the pharmacist on duty. Unhappiness in this job appears to stem from a significant lack of growth opportunity in the field.
2. Project engineer
These employees ensure engineering projects remain on time and within budget. They aren’t usually involved in the actual engineering work, just the paperwork and reporting to higher ups—which likely contributes to their dissatisfaction.
3. Teacher
Despite having one of the most meaningful jobs in the country, teachers rank lowest on the happiness scale. This seems to be largely due to out-of-touch administrators, unreasonable parents, low pay, and chronic underfunding that results in having to cover the costs of their classroom materials.
4. Administrative assistant
Although frequently considered on par with secretaries or receptionists, administrative assistants often tackle many more duties than either one. Handling all the paperwork, clerical responsibilities, and scheduling for a boss creates a high amount of stress. Pair that with typically low pay, and you’ve got a recipe for unhappiness.
5. Cashier
Cashiers are often working when everyone else is out enjoying their weekends and holidays. Add terrible pay, cranky customers, and having to keep a smile on the entire time, and it’s no surprise that this ranks as one of the unhappiest jobs.
6. General manager
Having to be the person who shows up whenever a customer asks the dreaded question, “Can I speak to the manager?” can be extremely stressful. After all, long hours and entitled customers don’t exactly make for a welcoming work environment.
7. Data analyst
These employees spend their days collecting and studying data in order to present their findings to the company. It can be a lonely job where social interaction is limited, and the work itself is often repetitive. This likely contributes to its low ranking in happiness.
8. Customer service representative
As unhappy as you are to be talking to a customer representative, chances are they’re even more unhappy to talk to you. Who can blame them? They spend their days speaking with customers who have a problem that needs solving and are often frustrated—and some people aren’t exactly polite about it.
9. Retail salesperson
This is the person on the floor of the store, walking around and helping customers find what they need. Granted, this role has been greatly reduced thanks to the advent of internet shopping, so the salespeople who are still employed are often undersold by websites. High levels of stress and low levels of pay also contribute to unhappiness.
10. Sales account manager
This role usually involves wearing many hats, from managing customer relationships and overseeing the performance of sales representatives to maintaining sales activities records and making sure team objectives are achieved. If this sounds like a lot of responsibility, well, it is. And the pay doesn’t always reflect the amount of work and stress that goes into being a successful sales account manager.
It can be hard to find happiness in a workplace that doesn’t make its employees feel valued. Avoiding a career that makes you unhappy, whatever the reason, can go a long way toward changing your outlook in every aspect of life. Life is too short to stay in a job you hate.
