CareerBliss recently released its lists for both the happiest jobs in America AND the happiest jobs for recent grads. While the job titles were different from list to list, the job fields were strikingly similar. Can you guess which staffing area came out on top? Yep. Technology.
According to an analysis of more than 25,000 independent company reviews, CareerBliss found the following to be the Happiest Jobs in America for 2014:
- Database Administrator (DBA)
- QA Engineer
- Executive Recruiter
- Underwriter
- Executive Assistant
- Software Developer
- Designer
- Program Manager
- Engineer
- Administrative Assistant
And the Top 10 Happiest Jobs for the Class of 2014 are:
- Java Developer
- Embedded Software Engineer
- .NET Developer
- Medical Technologist
- QA Engineer
- Credit Analyst
- Management Consultant
- Network Engineer
- Data Analyst
- Web Developer
Glassdoor Community Expert Scott Dobroski commented earlier this year about why technology jobs seem to be on top. In addition to “a very handsome average base salary,” he sees that data scientists, in particular, enjoy ‘working on innovative technology, helping others solve problems through data and analytics and challenging work, such as figuring out how to store and take advantage of growing data sets.”
A veteran software developer explained to us why he thinks his job is on the list. “Your supervisors either understand your job function or stay away because they don’t understand what you’re doing,” he said. “They rarely micro-manage your job.”
So we know tech workers are happy. And we also know those of us who recruit them are happy, too. (Did you notice the third happiest job in America is executive recruiting?) Perhaps, though, the reason HR and hiring managers aren’t also on the “happy” list is because staffing these tech workers is becoming increasingly difficult. In Austin alone, the tech market is expected to create 9,000 jobs by 2017—with not nearly as many candidates to fill those jobs. This rise in demand is being echoed across Texas and the nation. San Antonio Express-News reports oil field services companies are stealing technology workers from one another. The Washington Post reports even lumber mills in Oregon are now finding themselves in need of tech workers.
Quite simply, this data tells us: Keeping tech workers happy is imperative. If you don’t, another employer will. How happy is your technology department? Do you have the right combination of salary, innovative work and managerial environment to keep them smiling?
Image Copyright: maridav / 123RF Stock Photo
