Every year since 1993 we have been surveying job-related attitudes of
Croatian employees in order (1) to learn about their occupational goals
and satisfactions in the period of transition and socio-economic crisis, and
(2) to compare the responses of employees from private firms, state-owned
firms, and government-financed institutions. The data have been collected
through a self-report questionnaire yielding measures of the subjects' general
job satisfaction and attitudes towards specific job aspects (which include
job content, co-workers, management, pay, advancement possibilities, working
conditions, participation in decision, and job security). The questionnaire
has been applied individually under the guidance of trained interviewers.
Over 1000 employees have been questioned thus far. The analysis of data
covering the 1993-1994 period, which we presented at the Gyor Congress,
revealed that pay was the job aspect of topmost importance in that period.
High value was also placed upon good managers, agreable co-workers, and
job security. However, the perceived availability of these job factors
was severely low, indicating a profound deficiency in need satisfaction
of the Croatian work force. This deficiency seemed to be less pronounced
in the private sector: the respondents from the private firms perceived
better job characteristics and expressed more job satisfaction than the
respondents from state-owned firms. The purpose of the present paper is
to extend the analysis over 1995-1996 period in order to check on the
preliminary findings and examine whether any change tendecies are
discernible.
|