May 30th, 2023, Christien Pheby
In recent years, there have been a great many articles about how younger people in the workplace are seeking a sense of fulfilment over money – or, conversely, about how they’re ruthlessly acquisitive in a way that would make Logan Roy blush.
But which kinds of organisations offer which rewards? We used YouGov Self-Serve to identify which jobs Britons consider to be financially rewarding – and which jobs they consider to be personally fulfilling.
A quick caveat: we’re asking about organisations in certain sectors, not specific positions. So for healthcare, think nurses and receptionists as well as doctors – the kind of person who works in a GP surgery or a hospital, whatever their seniority.
Overall, if Britons think a job would be good for their wellbeing, they’re less likely to think it would be good for their bank account – and if they think a job would have them swimming in riches, they’re less likely to think it would be emotionally satisfying.
More than two in five Britons, for example, consider working for a charity or non-profit personally fulfilling (44%), but just one in twenty said they consider it financially rewarding (5%). Same story with healthcare, which according to Britons is among the most fulfilling (43%), and least well-paid (10%). Education performs worse in terms of both emotional reward (40%) and financial reward (7%).
On the other end of the scale, financial services companies are considered lucrative by three in five Britons (59%), but just 7% think they offer enough meaning to employees. Professional services firms fare a little worse in terms of money (55%), and a little better in terms of fulfilment (11%) – while tech firms rank third in terms of material gains (46%), and are more likely to be considered gratifying (16%) than careers in banking or accountancy.
Other career paths have narrower gaps between the two measures, but most aren’t broadly considered emotionally or financially rewarding. For example, 19% of Britons consider a career in telecommunications to be worthwhile in terms of money, but just 4% would find it satisfying; while 18% vs. 12% say the same of working in the video games industry.
Travel, so often associated with glamour, does worse than average in terms of pay (17%) and fulfilment (11%). Retail performs poorly across both measures: just 7% think there’s money in it, and just 4% consider it worthwhile on a personal level.
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Methodology
YouGov polled 2,000 British adults online on 25-26 May. The survey was carried out through YouGov Direct. Data is weighted by age, gender, education level, region, and social grade. The margin of error is 2% for the overall sample. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Self-serve.