Band 6+: As most people spend a major part of their adult life at work, job satisfaction is an important element of individual wellbeing. What factor contributes to job satisfaction? How realistic is the expectation of job satisfaction for all workers?

Since many adults spend most of their time at work, job contentment is the biggest reason they stay working in a company in return for fulfilling their prosperity. The aspects that could satisfy employees vary among everyone due to their expectations. This essay will first discuss the common elements that contribute to satisfaction in the occupation, and it will then address the question of how likely it is that everyone will feel content with their work.

To begin with, everyone has their own needs that they expect to get from their jobs. Demands like salary fulfilment, working environment, employee benefits, and career development affect employees’ career choices. If the employer can provide what their employees need to do their best at work, the workers will be loyal and feel satisfied to be part of the company. For example, many people in Indonesia want to work in public sector companies, which can give them many benefits to meet their necessity. Not just for the material things like salary and facilities they get from the company, but also the supportive and conducive working environment plus the enormous opportunity to develop their career path. The certainties and stabilities that the company gives the employee are some of the prominent motivations that will lead to job satisfaction.

However, as said earlier, everyone has different expectations for their career life; some people see the satisfaction from the job as not affected by the stability and certainty the company provides. Some believe that to be content with what they are doing in their work lives, they must choose a job that aligns with their passion, such as working on something that aligns with their hobbies. Nevertheless, many people cannot have two things: passionate jobs and well-paid work to fulfil basic needs. In the end, many have to choose one of them, but the consequence is each option has a probability that it cannot fulfil their job satisfaction. That is to say that it is unrealistic that everyone can feel contentment in a career as they have different expectations and needs that sometimes cannot be matched.

In summary, several elements like wages, employee benefits, working places, and certainty in career path can be the reasons for some people to get satisfaction with their occupation. However, to be realistic, not all people can be fully content with their jobs as they have their own hopes for their work life.