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| Illustration: Uday Deb |
The most dangerous occupations in America, says a new report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, are those of a fisherman, logger and aircraft pilot. It makes one wonder. Fishing is often considered a hobby; you snooze over a book while waiting for a bite. Or consider the pilot. The airlines have long been telling us that it is safer to fly from New York to Delhi than cross a Mumbai street at midday. So what’s with this data?
Actually, the fishermen in question are commercial ones who go out in boats in rough seas. And the pilots are those who fly small non-commercial aircraft. Their fatality rates are much higher.
At the other end of the spectrum are the education, training and library occupations — the safest jobs. So shouldn’t everybody head for bookish trades? The answer, however, is no. Many people prefer excitement and adventure; a little danger makes it all the more attractive.
“The question you should really be asking is: who are the happiest in their jobs,” says Mumbai-based HR consultant D. Singh. “When people tell me how satisfied teachers are, I remember D.H. Lawrence: ‘What does it matter to me, if they can write / A description of a dog, or if they can’t? / What is the point? To us both, it is all my aunt!’”
It is difficult to rate happy jobs. First, the obvious turns out to be not so. Clowns who are supposed to make you laugh are among the unhappiest people. Who wouldn’t be, if you had to lose your trousers every time you entered the ring?
On the other hand, social workers who deal with unhappiness all the time are a much happier lot; they have to be cheerful or they wouldn’t be able to do their job.
Second, very few people are actually happy at their jobs. “Discontent is the norm,” says Singh. “In India, where most of us need to earn a living, people are forced into jobs; they have very little choice. In the West, you have more opportunity to do what you like; you earn enough to manage. Even low-profile jobs pay adequate salaries.”
There are several reasons why people dislike their jobs (see box). Part of it is people-related; part infrastructure-related. You may dislike your boss or the guy in the cubicle across the aisle. Or you may hate the cubicle world itself and the difficult commute that takes you there. “And some people would rather not work at all,” says Singh.
A curious sidelight comes from a recent survey by YouGov of the UK. Apparently most people hate office parties; they would rather go to the dentist. Tell that to the HR people who push these jamborees in the hope that they will build team spirit and corporate culture. Does it really help to be on your best behaviour with the boss’s wife?
How do you tackle the boss, the boss’s wife and other things you hate? AskMen.com, the site that gives you advice on anything from the world’s best cities for men to the Top 10 tips for throwing a beach party with piranhas, has several answers. Its list:
• Rant, rave and holler (just don’t do it at the office)
• Try posting your gripes on a site like Jobvent.com
• Remind yourself that this isn’t permanent
• Make time for yourself
• Add something fun to the mix at work
• Keep your sense of humour
• Focus on life outside the office
• Be a better worker
• Don’t jeopardise your job
• Organise an activity at work
• Set job-hunting goals for yourself
• Seek professional help.
• Will it work? It may, if you can get the world to understand your predicament.
Perhaps another excursion into poetry is warranted, this time W.H. Auden’s The Unknown Citizen: “Except for the War till the day he retired / He worked in a factory and never got fired, / But satisfied his employers, Fudge Motors Inc… Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd: / Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.'
THE HATE LIST
The top 10 things people dislike about their jobs
1. The 9-to-5 routine
2. The office bully
3. The boss
4. Computers with minds of their own
5. Nursing a hangover and a workload
6. Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines
7. Work colleagues
8. The office seating plan
9. Customer complaints
10. Meetings
