Revisiting the hacks vs. flacks job satisfaction debate
By Linda Forrest
Further to my post from a few weeks ago asking if journalist burnout was the reason for the escalation of the hacks vs. flacks war, I’ve done a little bit more digging in order to hopefully gain some insight into what job satisfaction ratings are like in the PR industry. Interestingly, the most recent figures that I could find point to very high job satisfaction amongst PR professionals, certainly higher than those indicated by journalists in the prior study. The International Association of Business Communicators, an association for public relations professionals, conducted a survey in 2006 and published the results last year. According to Communication World, the 2007 Profile salary survey was sent to 724 accredited members of the IABC, 125 of whom responded. Though a smaller sample size than the next most recent survey, conducted in 2002, the results from this study reflect an upward trend in both salaries and job satisfaction. In addition to the salary data gathered, respondents indicated the following:
Respondents to the pulse survey somewhat or strongly agreed with the following statements:
-If I had to do it all over again, I would choose a career in corporate communication (84.8%).
-Corporate communication is more respected by the media now than it was five years ago (63.2%).
-My salary compensates for the number of hours I am compelled to work (70.4%).
-I am satisfied with the opportunities for career advancement at my current company or organization (60.8%).
This analysis, coupled with the salary data collected, would seem to indicate that the PR industry is generally contented and well compensated. Perhaps my assumption that PR flacks can claim some of the same complaints as journalists is just attributed to the grumpy (and most vocal) contingents of both industries, those hoping that indeed the “squeaky wheel gets the grease.” Then again, a small survey is not necessarily representative of the entire industry, but still, it does give us some valuable, if limited, insight into the current state of the PR nation.
Since that original post, we’ve also received word from Simon Owens pointing us to his blog where he’s dug a little deeper into the original study that I referenced and interviewed the researcher who authored the original study on journalist burnout.
