Survey Finds Two-Thirds of Network Pros Satisfied With Their Jobs

With the Networld+Interop 99 Spring show in full swing and with more than 50,000 networking professionals descending into the Nevada desert, does it seems that everyone is smiling? The reason could be job satisfaction, say the results of a recent a Web-based industry survey, hosted by International Network Services (INS).

According to the Sunnyvale, CA-based provider of network consulting and software products, two-thirds of network professionals are satisfied with their jobs overall. Although this finding is an improvement over 1998 when only 56% of network pros reported satisfaction with their employment situation, satisfaction levels of network professionals on a number of critical job factors do still lag.

The survey results detail a number of important trends:

• Opportunities to learn new skills, achieve success, and gain advancement, along with the type of work, are rated as the most important contributors to job satisfaction. However, satisfaction ratings fall far behind perceived importance ratings on all four of these measures.
• A major factor in job dissatisfaction is the high percentage of respondents (60%) who do not believe that employees who contribute the most to their employer are the most highly rewarded.
• In terms of pay and other benefits, 40% of respondents are not satisfied with their compensation package. Network professionals who are very satisfied with the non-monetary recognition provided by their organizations are most likely to have high overall job satisfaction, according to INS' research. However, only 11% of respondents fall into this category.
• More than two-thirds of respondents are proud to be part of their organization, but 60% do not believe that their organization is well managed.
• Only 43% of respondents believe that their employers do a good job of motivating employees, and formal training programs do not meet the needs of nearly two-thirds of respondents.

INS network industry surveys conducted over the last 12 months have examined network and systems management total cost of ownership, network operation centers, performance management, virtual private networks, network security, service level management, and Web/Java-based management issues. INS provides professional services for the lifecycle of a network, including planning, design, implementation, operations, and optimization.

For more information, contact Zsuzsa Molnar, director of INS marketing, 650-318-1264.