Spain’s Journalists: Happy Professionals?

Today’s blog comes to us from Berbés Asociados, our GLOBALHealthPR partner in Spain.

2013 was not a good year for the media in Spain, according to a new annual study of the Madrid Press Association. Last year, a total of 4,434 journalists lost their jobs and 73 media companies closed. The closings included newspapers, TV channels, magazines, corporate communications agencies, free publications, radio stations, digital press and digital agencies. Of course, for those still employed we must also consider reduced salaries, changes in work conditions (full-time to part-time, for example), underemployed workers and other factors.

Despite this difficult situation, the 4th Adecco Study of Workplace Happiness revealed that journalists who kept their jobs were among the happiest employees in their workplaces in 2013, next to firefighters, teachers, pharmacists and engineers. . Nearly 82% of Spanish journalists affirmed that they are happy with their profession, despite being some of the hardest hit not only by Spain’s economic crisis, but also by the crisis in the industry mentioned in the study.

The study results reveal that, regardless of profession, almost 8 out of 10 Spaniards are happy at their jobs. This is 1.8% higher than in 2012. The study found that the keys to being happy at work were feelings of serving a “true calling”, a positive workplace environment, and camaraderie amongst coworkers.

Thirty-nine percent of those surveyed thought that the secret to workplace happiness has to do with enjoying what they are doing. As journalists work in a profession where they fulfill their calling and attain a high degree of professional achievement, it’s unsurprising that these statistics are as high as they are among journalists.