Mining machine operators 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, mining machine operators rate their career happiness 2.7 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 11% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy mining machine operators 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Mining machine operator | 2.7 | $60k |
| Machinist | 2.7 | $48k |
| Truck driver | 2.7 | $48k |
| Construction worker | 2.7 | $38k |
| Cargo and freight agent | 2.7 | $47k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are mining machine operators happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do mining machine operators find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as mining machine operators?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are mining machine operator’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are mining machine operators making the best use of their abilities?
Are mining machine operators happy with their salary?
Mining machine operators rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.5/5. The majority of mining machine operators are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked mining machine operators how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
60 mining machine operators
18% of mining machine operators rated their compensation 5 stars
37% of mining machine operators rated their compensation 4 stars
25% of mining machine operators rated their compensation 3 stars
15% of mining machine operators rated their compensation 2 stars
5% of mining machine operators rated their compensation 1 stars
Do mining machine operators find their jobs meaningful?
On average, mining machine operators rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.2/5. The majority of mining machine operators struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked mining machine operators how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.2 out of 5 stars
60 mining machine operators
3% of mining machine operators rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
13% of mining machine operators rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
20% of mining machine operators rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
32% of mining machine operators rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
32% of mining machine operators rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as mining machine operators?
Mining machine operators rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.4/5. The majority of mining machine operators find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked mining machine operators how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
62 mining machine operators
23% of mining machine operators rated their career fit 5 stars
29% of mining machine operators rated their career fit 4 stars
29% of mining machine operators rated their career fit 3 stars
11% of mining machine operators rated their career fit 2 stars
8% of mining machine operators rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a mining machine operator’s work environment?
As a whole, mining machine operators rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.0/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.
We asked mining machine operators how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
61 mining machine operators
11% of mining machine operators rated their work environment 5 stars
28% of mining machine operators rated their work environment 4 stars
25% of mining machine operators rated their work environment 3 stars
23% of mining machine operators rated their work environment 2 stars
13% of mining machine operators rated their work environment 1 stars
Are mining machine operators making the best use of their abilities?
Former mining machine operators on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.5/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being a mining machine operator.
We asked mining machine operators how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.5 out of 5 stars
62 mining machine operators
11% of mining machine operators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
13% of mining machine operators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
19% of mining machine operators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
31% of mining machine operators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
26% of mining machine operators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars