Sheet metal workers are one of the least happy careers in the United States.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, sheet metal workers rate their career happiness 2.7 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 13% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy sheet metal workers are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Electronic assembler | 2.8 | $28k |
| Lawn care specialist | 2.8 | $38k |
| Quality control inspector | 2.8 | $49k |
| Rail transportation worker | 2.8 | $61k |
| Tile and marble setter | 2.8 | $48k |
| Sheet metal worker | 2.7 | $53k |
| Painter | 2.7 | $46k |
| Meter reader | 2.7 | $46k |
| Brickmason | 2.7 | $59k |
| Tool and die maker | 2.7 | $57k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are sheet metal workers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do sheet metal workers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as sheet metal workers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are sheet metal worker’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are sheet metal workers making the best use of their abilities?
Are sheet metal workers happy with their salary?
Sheet metal workers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.0/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most sheet metal workers having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked sheet metal workers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
170 sheet metal workers
10% of sheet metal workers rated their compensation 5 stars
28% of sheet metal workers rated their compensation 4 stars
29% of sheet metal workers rated their compensation 3 stars
18% of sheet metal workers rated their compensation 2 stars
15% of sheet metal workers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do sheet metal workers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, sheet metal workers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.4/5. The majority of sheet metal workers struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked sheet metal workers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.4 out of 5 stars
169 sheet metal workers
5% of sheet metal workers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
15% of sheet metal workers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
22% of sheet metal workers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
25% of sheet metal workers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
33% of sheet metal workers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as sheet metal workers?
Sheet metal workers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.6/5. The majority of sheet metal workers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked sheet metal workers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
185 sheet metal workers
26% of sheet metal workers rated their career fit 5 stars
35% of sheet metal workers rated their career fit 4 stars
22% of sheet metal workers rated their career fit 3 stars
8% of sheet metal workers rated their career fit 2 stars
10% of sheet metal workers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a sheet metal worker’s work environment?
As a whole, sheet metal workers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.1/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.
We asked sheet metal workers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
184 sheet metal workers
16% of sheet metal workers rated their work environment 5 stars
26% of sheet metal workers rated their work environment 4 stars
28% of sheet metal workers rated their work environment 3 stars
16% of sheet metal workers rated their work environment 2 stars
14% of sheet metal workers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are sheet metal workers making the best use of their abilities?
Former sheet metal workers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.8/5. Sheet metal workers tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.
We asked sheet metal workers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.8 out of 5 stars
183 sheet metal workers
11% of sheet metal workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
21% of sheet metal workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
23% of sheet metal workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
22% of sheet metal workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
21% of sheet metal workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars