The most and least meaningful jobs (and how much they pay)

Imagine a world where all your staff were paid handsomely to do something they loved, and which had a significant impact on the world as well.

If you’re lucky enough to claim all your employees already have this opportunity, we offer our congratulations, but if you don’t, the findings of a recent survey may serve to inspire you.

A new study conducted by PayScale looked into the most and least meaningful jobs in the world - and their relation to pay and satisfaction - by asking 374,000 workers if they thought their job made the world a better place.

While the relation between job meaning, salary, stress and job satisfaction was found to be blurry, it highlighted the possibility of having jobs which rate highly in all categories.

“Meaningful work and a high salary aren’t mutually exclusive as we see in the case of surgeons, for example,” Katie Bardaro, lead economist, PayScale said.

READ MORE: 58% of staff think employment is "just a job"

In fact, according to the report, surgeons have the best combination of median pay and job meaning with a national median pay of US$299,600 (S$374,121) and with 94% of respondents reporting high job meaning. More than eight out of 10 (82%) respondents also classified the position as one which holds high satisfaction rates.

This percentage is important, as it shows job satisfaction and meaning don't always have a direct correlation with one another.

For instance, gaming supervisors reported 80% job satisfaction, despite having the lowest score for meaning in the study (22%).

Conversely, only 56% of obstetricians and gynecologists said that their job is satisfying, even though the report stated their median salary was over US$200,000 (S$249,747) per year, and 80% stated their job was meaningful.

READ MORE: Nearly 50% of Singaporeans don't love their job

“When we look at broader job groupings, community and social service workers report the highest average job meaning with an average of 84% saying their work is meaningful,” Bardaro said.

“The three broader job categories with the lowest average job meaning are food preparation and service, legal, and sales, which all have an average job meaning under 45%.”

The most meaningful jobs (median annual pay, USD)

1. ClergyMedian annual pay: S45,40097% of employees report high job meaning

2. Directors of religious activities and educationMedian annual pay: $35,90097% of employees report high job meaning

3. SurgeonsMedian annual pay: $299,60094% of employees report high job meaning

4. Elementary/secondary education administratorMedian annual pay: $75,90093% of employees report high job meaning

5. ChiropractorsMedian annual pay:$58,70093% of employees report high job meaning

The least meaningful jobs (median annual pay, USD)

1. Hosts and hostesses, restaurants, lounges and coffee shopsMedian annual pay: $19,10027% of employees report high job meaning

2. Model makers, metal and plasticMedian annual pay: $51,90027% of employees report high job meaning

3. Gaming supervisorsMedian annual pay: $45,00022% of employees report high job meaning

4. Fashion designersMedian annual pay: $51,20022% report high job meaning

5. Cooks, fast foodMedian annual pay: $17,30022% report high job meaning

Image: Shutterstock