site.btaSurvey: Bulgarians Want 20% Higher Pay, Less Stressful Work

Dissatisfaction with working conditions, low pay and high stress at the workplace are the main complaints voiced in a job satisfaction survey conducted across Bulgaria by the Career Show staffing platform and covered by Bulgarian National Radio and other news outlets on September 1.

The survey was carried out among more than 1,000 anonymous respondents working in various economic sectors and places in this country.

Some 82.64% of those polled say they are underpaid, given their experience and skills. Even in the highest-paid sector of information technology, a good 65.3% of employees feel that their wages are unfairly low.

Public and business administration employees are least happy with their pay, with about 90% of them complaining of unfair wages.

As expected, the monthly pay of IT experts is higher than that in any other sector. Wages in the IT domain soar as employees amass occupational experience. The rate of increase is much higher than in the other sectors of the economy, the survey shows.

The second-highest average pay rate is reported in the outsourcing sector. Public and business administration trails the table. Not only absolute incomes are low in this domain, but also the pay rise pace is far slower than in IT and outsourcing.

To the question, "Are you satisfied with the working conditions in your company?", only 22.12% of interviewees answer in the affirmative. The remaining portion of respondents most often say they would like to be paid more money (37.84% of the total) and to have a less stressful working environment (18.01%).

The findings show that the sector of highest satisfaction with working conditions is not the highest-paid one. Over 40% of those employed in human resources management say they are satisfied with the working conditions in their company. In the highest-paid sector, the IT industry, the share is 38.6%.

Interestingly, the outsourcing sector shows one of the lowest degrees of job satisfaction. Only 19.61% of respondents in this domain express satisfaction with their working conditions. This puts outsourcing among the lowest-satisfaction sectors, on a par with public and business administration, and trade and sales.

Asked about the lowest pay rise which would bring them to change their job, the largest proportion (40.49%) of interviewees say they will take another job if it pays at least 20% more than their current one. Another 27.24% of respondents will be willing to switch jobs if the new position ensures a 50% higher income. Fewest of all are those who will take another job for a 5% boost to their earnings.

Among the most important additional benefits that come with working in a given company, respondents single out flexible working hours, regular bonuses and programmes for training and improving skills.

Again, there are some differences between information technology and the other sectors. While flexible working hours are the top advantage in both cases, only IT specialists name extra leave (50.88%) and supplementary health insurance (49.12%) as number two and three, respectively.

The possibility to acquire a stake in the company in which they work seems more important to IT specialists than to employees in any other sector.

Volunteer and charity programmes are least popular among employees in all sectors.