Does Job Satisfaction Differ at Different Levels of Employees? Measurement of Job Satisfaction among the Levels of Sugar Industrial Employees

Abstract

Purpose: The main purpose of the present study is to find comparative job satisfaction scores between different levels of employees (foremen and workers). Design/Methodology/Approach: Researcher has selected sugar industrial sector of Bangladesh as research ground. On the basis of stratified random sampling, 300 respondents have been selected from 5 (five) state-run sugar mills. This study is absolutely based on primary sources of information. To measure job satisfaction, the Job Satisfaction Index (JSI) developed by Brayfield and Rothe (1951) has been used in this study. This study conducted a face-to-face interview with a scheduled of questionnaire for data collection and the core value of workers satisfaction and dissatisfaction that they feel from working in different sugar mills in Bangladesh are placed here. Data were analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science). Findings: The research exposed that a pointedly higher percentage of the foreman was gratified with their existent job but not statistically significant. The study also revealed that some job-related factors have the significant contribution on job satisfaction than those of personal factors for both groups of respondents. Originality/ Value: This paper investigated the impact of job facets and personal factors on job satisfaction of the employees. This study used primary data sources. The study suggested that pay, recognition for good work, participation in decision making, promotion, and good relationship with colleagues were more important as determinants of job satisfaction, so superfluous prominence should be given on these for humanizing workplace pleasure of the workers and foremen of sugar industry.

1. Introduction

Job satisfaction is a widely studied phenomenon. Job satisfaction plays an important role to an employee in terms of health and wellbeing and to an organization in terms of its productivity, absenteeism, and turnover [1]. Job satisfaction describes how satisfied a person is with his job. Moreover, job satisfaction at work is the manifestation of a happy mental state, the result of which is quality work. The calm and relaxed state that is one of the determinants of an employee’s work satisfaction is obtained in different ways at different levels [2]. Job satisfaction is one of the many aspects of loving work and positive emotional response. Satisfaction at work is nothing more than gaining peace of mind [3]. When a person says honestly, I am satisfied with my job, which is the combination of mental, physical, and environmental conditions [4]. Job satisfaction is the feeling of attraction towards work [5]. Job satisfaction is from their work in such a situation when a person meets expectations. Furthermore, job satisfaction is the result of a happy emotional state that achieves quality of work [6]. The issue of job satisfaction of industrial workers is very important for protection of the interest of industrial organizations [7]. Job satisfaction makes workers more productive; bring mental stability and making them interested in working for a long time. As an effect of job satisfaction, the workers/employees consider the organization as their own organization, love it more, become the companion of development and become the partner of misfortune. Lack of job satisfaction causes employees to slow down at work, avoid work, find a way out of the organization, lose compassion for the organization and increase the rate of absenteeism [8]. Labor turnover rate also increase due to lack of satisfaction at workplace. These conditions are not conducive at all for the industrial establishment, the growth of productivity is hampered, and the paces of development slow down. In order to continue the progress and improvement in the organization, the satisfaction of the employees must be given priority. Industrial workers in Bangladesh are more or less dissatisfied, especially those in the private industries-mills-factories, even though, the level of satisfaction of government industrial workers is high [9]. However, the level of satisfaction within different levels of workers/employees varies. In today’s world there is a growing demand for integration of industrial sector restructuring and supply of advanced industrial equipment. Bangladesh is also trying to expand its industrialization program. The sugar industry has begun to reconsider how to revolutionize it by adopting a comprehensive plan aimed at making the industry self-sufficient. As part of the plan, job satisfaction is being considered to accelerate the quality and performance of sugar industry workers. Arrangements are being made to increase the respect of the workers in this industry as an inspiration to maintain their productivity as well as to fully employ their workforce. At this time of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Bangladesh’s sugar industry, like other government industries, is trying to restructure and become more productive. Needless to say, all the institutions of the sugar industry in Bangladesh are government institutions. There is no sugar industry in the private sector. Shamsuzzaman [10] revealed that opportunities for government workers, freedom to work, and the right to form trade unions have resulted in greater job satisfaction than in non-government organizations. We know that the pillar of satisfaction is dignity for industry workers. As a means of increasing the dignity and satisfaction of the workers, in most cases job related factors come to the fore. Workers’ anger, affection, resentment, objections and objections to the job satisfaction indicators (job related factors- Pay, Relation with colleagues, Participation in decision making, Promotion, Recognition for good work, Open communication, Behaviour of boss, Job status, Autonomy in work, Working condition and Job security) within the work environment are giving rise to industrial disputes. In addition to the work satisfaction indicators of job-related factors, demographic factors (age, education, experience and marital status) significantly affect job satisfaction. Employees display higher levels of job satisfaction, and subsequently high performance, lower turnover intentions, lower rates of absenteeism and accidents when the characteristics of their working environment satisfy their needs. As the approach concludes, the current study is premeditated to conduct a research work on measuring the work satisfaction of sugar industry employees; A Comparative study between Workers and Foremen. The main objectives of the study are as follows:

• To compare the overall job satisfaction between workers and foremen of sugar industrial workers in Bangladesh;
• To examine the level of satisfaction of specific personal and job-related factors perceived by workers and foremen.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Job Satisfaction, Personal Factor, and Job Facet Perspectives

Various studies provide strong evidence of a robust connection between job satisfactions, job related factors, and demographic factors [11,12,13]. Thant and Chang [14] found from their study that interpersonal relationship, work itself and recognition are the major job satisfaction determinants. Lange [1] and Minh-Quang Duong [15] found that a significantly positive influenced of demographic on job satisfaction. Shah and Jumani [16] and Siahaan et al. [17] it has found from their research that a strong positive relationship between job satisfaction and salary. Jalal [18] examined the impact of four factors namely employee engagement, employee motivation, work environment, and organizational learning on job satisfaction. Ruben [19] discovered from his research that gender differences have no significant effect on job satisfaction; He further revealed that respondents’ age and experience positively affect the work pleasure. Islam and Akter [20] studied of the employees job satisfaction and found age and experience have great influence on workplace pleasure whereas didn’t found any positive impact of others personal factors i. e. gender, marital status and designation [21]. Radhakrishnan and Mallammal [22] studied on correlation between job satisfaction and work environment; he noted that a comfy work atmosphere enhances employees’ enjoyment of their work. Simarmata et al. [23] and Omar et al. [24] exposed that the effect of employee position and age on job satisfaction levels and other variables like as marital status, gender, experience and education have not found any statistical consequence on job satisfaction. Kóneya et al. [25] and Haleem et al. [26] observed that variables such as management style, salary, working environment, training opportunity, performance evaluation and participation in decision making have a significant influence on the level of job satisfaction [27,28]. Chan et al. [29] found positive association with specific facets of job satisfaction, like salary, supervision, rewords system, operating procedure, fair promotion policy, other financials facilities, opportunities for open communication and colleagues relationships. Hoboubi et al. [30] and Shi et al. [31] found a positive correlation between job satisfaction and productivity indicators. Kampf & Hernández [32] argued the demographic factors have been extensively appraised for determining workforce satisfaction while Baeza et al. [8] found that there is no significant relationship between demographic factors and job satisfaction except gender. Drydakis et al. [33] revealed a substantial connotation between job satisfaction of employees and pay, relationship behavior factors, compensation factors and training and career development factors. Pay and compensation were the most important factors positively related to employee job satisfaction. Babalola et al. [34] has selected three determinants such as salary and fringe benefits, supervision, and training and development for job satisfaction. Zeffane et al. [35] noticed on the fact that employee engagement has a significant positive effect on job satisfaction. He also showed that employees will stay with their organization for a long time and will constantly find smarter, more efficient ways to add value to them. Job factors also have widely been found in determining the satisfaction [36,37]. Abuhashesh et al. [38] argued that employees are more concerned about their satisfaction and their salary and position than any other factor (demographic factor). Sánchez and Puente [39] have found that personal characteristics include personality, culture and demographic characteristics has no influence on job satisfaction. Bakotić [40] found that nature of work, opportunities for advancement, possibility of further education, leadership, coworkers, direct supervisors, “salary and position in the company impact the job satisfaction. De Clercq et al. [41] and Joshi [42] found a significant positive correlation between working conditions and job satisfaction. Job satisfaction of employees varies with different age group [43]. Kim and Cho [44] found a positive relationship between working environment and employee job satisfaction. Compensation plays a significant role in the job satisfaction [45]. Another study identified that job security is main determinant of job satisfaction [46]. Many empirical studies clearly notified the effect of personal factors and job-related factors on job satisfaction [47,48,49].

Hypothesis 1 (H1).

There is no significant influence of the personal factors (such as age, education, experience and marital status) on the overall job satisfaction of the respondents (workers and foremen).

Hypothesis 2 (H2).

Job-related factors have no significant effect on the overall work satisfaction of respondents (workers and foremen).

2.2. Job Satisfaction and Levels of Employee Perspectives

Job satisfaction varies due to the presence of different types of components in different work environments. However, just as it is important to have job satisfaction in the workplace, not all employees have job satisfaction overall [50,51,52]. Several studies showed higher satisfaction among the higher-level employees (foremen) than the lower-level employees (workers). Strenitzerová & Achimský [53] and Steel [54] found that higher levels employees perceived higher level of job satisfaction. Ahmad [55] and Porter [56] also reported that lower-level employees were, in general, more dissatisfied than the higher-level employees. They contended that the causes for the higher satisfaction between the higher-level employees than the lower-level employees were that they enjoyed more opportunities to meet their ego demands, higher status, higher salaries and self-direction than lower-level employees. In addition, they also enjoyed more authority and responsibility as compared to the lower-level employees [57,58]. Jia et al. [6] conducted research on employee engagement and job satisfaction in the Indian corporate sector. The results of the survey show that managerial employees have a high level of satisfaction and employees have a lower level. The higher the level of job satisfaction of individuals, the less likely they are to leave the job because a higher level of job satisfaction leads to a positive attitude towards work, in contrast, a lower level of job satisfaction leads to a negative attitude towards work [59]. Yainahu et al. [60] found from their study that supervisor’s job satisfaction level is higher than workers; especially higher-level employees are more satisfied than lower-level employees. Shaju and Durai [51] studied on job satisfaction and job performance of automobile workers in India. They found that existence of positive correlation between the job satisfaction and level of workers. They noted those higher-level workers are more satisfied with their job.

Yusuf [61] conducted a study on job satisfaction between employees and senior managers, he showed that public and private sectors’ managers (high level) have significantly higher satisfaction than other employees. Various studies have shown that the satisfaction of high-level employees is high [9]. However, the opposite results were found where the satisfaction of lower-level employees is higher than the satisfaction of higher-level employees [62,63]. Lam et al. [50] found that the level of satisfaction of the workers is less than the satisfaction of managers. Qureshi et al. [64] found same type of results from their study, the noticed that job satisfaction of industrial workers is low but supervisors’ job satisfaction is high. Lee [65] found alternative results from their studies. He revealed that not higher-level employees, lower-level employees and workers are happier and satisfied because they have lower responsibility and expectations. Kim and Cho [44] found that the moderating effect of interaction between job satisfaction and level of employees. Different levels of employees positively affect job satisfaction level, as result higher level managers are more satisfied with their job than that of lower level. Based on literature review we proposed research framework that shown in the Figure 1.

Hypothesis 3 (H3).

There is no significant difference between the job satisfaction of the foreman and the workers.

3. Methodology of the Study

3.1. Survey Administration and Sample

The present study conducted Measurement of Job Satisfaction of Sugar Industrial Workers; A Comparative study between Workers and Foremen. The approach is analytical and interpretation in nature, considering the study’s objective and literature review. For the study, the researcher selected five major sugar mills. These industrial estates are situated in Bangladesh. The lists of 5 state-owned sugar mills are selected randomly (Simple Random Sampling) as sample organizations. Based on proportionate stratified sampling, respondents were selected from these sugar mills in Bangladesh. The study’s total sample included 300 respondents, including 100 foremen and 200 workers (

Table 1. Sample Distribution.

Sugar Mills	Level of Worker		Total (N = 300)
	Foreman	Worker
Rajshahi Sugar Mills Ltd.	20	40	60
Khustia Sugar Mills Ltd.	20	40	60
Mobarakgonj Sugar Mills Ltd.	20	40	60
Carew & Co (Bd) Ltd.	20	40	60
Faridpur Sugar Mills Ltd.	20	40	60
Total	100	200	300

).

The designations of the respondents were worker and foremen; classification was done with regard to salary, status and job responsibilities. Workers constituted the lowest level and foremen are the immediate higher level of workers. The Levels range from low- to-high in the continuity of organizational responsibilities.

3.2. Operationalization of Constructs

Brayfield and Rothe [66] Job Satisfaction Index (JSI) used in research investigations that require a measure of general job satisfaction of the workers. JSI comprise 18 items to examine complete job satisfaction (

Table 2. Overview of the job satisfaction items of JSI.

No. of Items	Statements of Job Satisfaction Items	Source Reference
01.	My job is like a hobby to me	JSI
02.	My job is usually interesting enough to keep me from getting bored	JSI
03.	It seems that my friends are more interested in their jobs	JSI
04.	I considered my job rather unpleasant	JSI
05.	I enjoy my work more than my leisure time	JSI
06.	I am often bored with my job	JSI
07.	I feel fairly well satisfied with my present job	JSI
08.	Most of the time I have to force myself to go to work	JSI
09.	I am satisfied with my job for the time being	JSI
10.	I feel that my job is no more interesting than others I could get	JSI
11.	I definitely dislike my work	JSI
12.	I feel that I am happier in my work than most other people	JSI
13.	Most days I am enthusiastic about my work	JSI
14.	Each day of work seems like it will never end	JSI
15.	I like my job better than the average worker does	JSI
16.	My job is pretty uninteresting	JSI
17.	I find real enjoyment in my work	JSI
18.	I am disappointed that I ever took this job	JSI

).

This 18-item scale contains 9 positive and 9 negative items. For positive items, Score 1 indicates ‘Strongly Agree’, Score 2, ‘Disagree’, Score, 3 ‘Indefinite’ Score 4, ‘Agree’ and Score 5, ‘Strongly Agree’. Negative item scoring was in reverse order. The sum of the scores of all the items was the total score of the scale for one person. The slowest score is 18, the highest score is 90 and the neutral point is 45. Higher scores indicate more satisfaction with their work. Reliability and this scale are very high. The reliability and validity values of the Brayfield and Rothe scale [66] are 0.87 and 0.93, respectively. A Likert scoring system of five categories, Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree, with a Neutral response in the center, was adopted. A questionnaire was constructed to measure satisfactions with 11 specific aspects (

Table 3. Overview of the job satisfaction items of QMSF.

Job Satisfaction Items	Full Questions	Source Reference
Pay	Are you satisfied with the salary/wages that you draw from your present job?	QMSF
Promotion	Are you satisfied with the promotional opportunity at your present job?	QMSF
Job status	Are you satisfied with the job status at your present job?	QMSF
Job security	Are you satisfied with the job security at your present job?	QMSF
Working condition	Are you satisfied with the working condition of your present job?	QMSF
Behaviour of boss	Are you satisfied with the behavior of your present boss?	QMSF
Open communication	Are you satisfied with the opportunity for open communication with your present boss?	QMSF
Autonomy in work	Are you satisfied with the autonomy in work at your present job?	QMSF
Recognition for good work	Are you satisfied with the recognition that is given for good work at your present job?	QMSF
Participation in decision making	Are you satisfied with the opportunity of participation in decision making at your present job?	QMSF
Relation with colleagues	Are you satisfied with the relation with colleagues at your present job?	QMSF

) of the job (QMSF) [67]. The existing study also followed a survey method of demographic factors related information which the measurement and evaluated for the conformity of hypotheses testing. So, as demographic factors this study considered age, experience, education, and marital status.

The respondents would indicate their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with each of these specific aspects by checking either “Yes” or “No” response. The statistical analysis was carried out on the data collected in order to test the hypotheses framed. Both descriptive and inferential statistical methods were used to analyze the data. All data processed by using Statistical Package for Social Science, (SPSS), for analyzing data suitable statistical tools such as two-way ANOVA, t-test, z-test, and Chi-square test, Pearson’s product moment correlation, stepwise multiple regression and descriptive statistics used. Primary data are used for the purpose of the study.

3.3. Conceptual Framework of the Study

The researcher considered personal and job-related factors as independent variables and job satisfaction as dependent variable (Figure 2).

4. Data Analysis and Results

4.1. Demographic Characteristics

It is revealed from

Table 4. Socio-demographic Profile of the Respondents.

Age	Up to 25 Years	6% (18 Persons)	Length of Service	Up to 10 Years	29% (87 Persons)
	Up to 35 years	16% (48 persons)		Up to 20 years	10.67% (32 persons)
	Up to 45 years	18% (54 persons)		Up to 30 years	20.33% (61 persons)
	Up to 55 years	26.33% (79 persons)		Up to 40 years	36.67% (110 persons)
	Up to 65 years	33.67% (101 persons)		Up to 50 years	3.33% (10 persons)
	Total	100% (300 persons)		MIN = 2 years, MAX = 42 years; Mean experience of foremen 35.21 years (SD = 4.65) and for the worker 15.64 years (SD = 10.86).
	MIN = 18 years, MAX = 60 years; Average age for workers 39.06 years (SD = 10.01). Average age for foremen 56.56(SD = 1.696).
Education	Literate	8.33% (25 persons)	Marital Status	Married	91.33% (274 persons)
	Class 1–5	15% (45 persons)		Unmarried	8.67% (26 persons)
	Class 6–9	50.67% (152 persons)		Total	100 % (300 persons)
	S.S.C	15.67% (47 persons)		Hundred percent (100%) foremen are married while 87% workers were married and 13% were unmarried. SD = 8.997/ foremen; SD = 8.989/workers
	H.S.C	6.67% (20 persons)
	Degree & above	3.67% (11 persons)
	Total	100% (300 persons)
	MIN = Liberate, MAX = degree; average educational level of workers 3.29, and foremen 2.68. SD = 1.062 foremen; SD = 1.081 workers.

that foremen’s age and experience are significantly higher than that of the worker. However, the education level of workers is significantly higher than that of foremen. In terms of age, the average for foreman and staff is 56.56 and 39.056 years, respectively. Table 4 also indicates for respondents’ working experience worker 15.64 years and for the foreman 35.21 years that significantly exhibit in the table. Further Table 4 shows that 25 (8.33%) respondents are illiterate, whereas 5% of the workers were literate, while this percentage is 15 for the foremen. Total 152(50.67%) respondents are from class VI-IX, where 42% foremen were from (class VI-IX) six to nine class of schooling and 55% workers were also from (class VI-IX) six to nine class of schooling. Table 4 also indicates the education level of the employees. The workers are more educated than foremen. The average education of workers is 3.29 and foremen are 2.68. The result shows that the level of education of foremen is lower than workers and statistically significant.

In addition, Table 4 highlights that 100% foremen are married whereas 87% workers are married. Only 13% workers are single. Result reveals that there is a significant association between employee level and marital status. This means that the number of respondents distributed at the level of staff, married foreman (100%) was higher than that of staff (87%).

4.2. Statistical Assessment and Results

Personal factors of the employees (workers and foreman) effect the satisfaction level, so the respondents below and above median education, age and experience has been categorized into two ways, higher group and lower group respectively. It also categorized as married and unmarried group of the respondents. According to the personal factors the job satisfaction levesl are shown in

Table 5. Mean differences of job satisfaction of the respondents based on personal factors (N = 300).

Groups	Number	Mean	S.D	S. Err. Mean	z	df.	Sig. (2-tailed)	Mean diff.
Low age High age	153	67.31	9.38	0.759	−2.008	298	<0.05	−2.073
	143	69.38	8.46	0.698
Lower education Higher education	222	68.52	8.82	0.592	0638	298	N.S	0.749
	78	67.77	9.48	1.073
Low experience High experience	154	67.68	9.18	0.740	−1.271	298	N.S	−1.318
	146	69.00	8.76	0.725
Married Unmarried	274	68.21	9.08	0.549	−0.698	298	N.S	−1.288
	26	69.50	7.97	1.562

. The results of previous tables showed that all foremen are married, high experienced and high aged than workers. But foremen are behind in education than workers.

The Table 5 shows that only z-ratio (−2.008) and mean difference (−2.073) for age groups was significant. This indicates mean job satisfaction is significantly difference between low and high age groups. The respondents of high age have higher job satisfaction than that of low age. This shows that job satisfaction differs significantly between younger (workers) and older (foremen) age. Foremen are more satisfied than workers basis of age. Other demographic factors (education, experience and marital status) haven’t found significant impact on employees’ satisfaction. The respondents’ higher education level (mean = 67.77) has not higher job satisfaction than lower education (mean = 68.52) level, and respondents’ high experience have little higher job satisfaction than that of low experience (mean = 69.00 and 67.68). But the foremen are a little more satisfied than the staff.

To see whether there is any difference between the mean job satisfaction workers and foremen, Z test was used, and the results were presented in

Table 6. Mean differences of job satisfaction of the level of respondents (N = 300).

Level of Employee	N	Mean	SD	z	df.	Sig. (2-Tailed)
Foreman	100	68.92	8.997	0.813	298	N.S
Worker	200	68.03	8.989

.

The results of the Table 6 show that there is no significant difference between mean job satisfaction scores of foremen and worker. The Z value is 0.813 which clearly indicates that there is no significant result for comprising satisfaction between foreman and employee. The Table 6 also indicates mean value for foreman and worker that is 68.92 and 68.03 respectively. The level of job satisfaction of foremen was slightly higher than that of the worker.

The comparisons among the sugar mills and level of worker (foremen and worker) on job satisfaction and the ANOVA results to this effect are presented in

Table 7. Summary of two-way ANOVA for job satisfaction by sugar mills and level of workers.

Source of Variation	Sum of Squares	df.	Mean Square	F	p
Main effects (combined)	1908.712	9	212.079	2.765	<0.01
Sugar mills	1473.487	4	368.372	4.803	<0.01
Level of worker	53.402	1	53.402	0.696	N.S
2-way interactions	381.823	4	95.456	1.245	N.S
Residual	22,242.925	290	76.700
Total	24,151.637	299

.

Analysis of the data was made to see the main effects and the interactions, if any, sugar mills and level of workers (foreman and workers) on job satisfaction. From the result it is seen that F-ratio for main effects and sugar mills are statistically significant. It is evident from the results that Table 7 shows the F-ratio for level of workers and two-way interactions were not statistically significant. It concludes that sugar mills have significant contribution on job satisfaction.

It is observed from the

Table 8. Cell means (including rows and columns) for the ANOVA present in Table 7.

Sugar Mills	Level of Worker		Total (N = 300)
	Foreman	Worker
Rajshahi Sugar Mills Ltd.	65.65 (20)	66.40 (40)	66.15 (60)
Khustia Sugar Mills Ltd.	71.20 (20)	69.93 (40)	70.35 (60)
Mobarakgonj Sugar Mills Ltd.	68.00 (20)	64.05 (40)	65.37 (60)
Carew & Co (Bd) Ltd.	69.10 (20)	71.83 (40)	70.92 (60)
Faridpur Sugar Mills Ltd.	70.65 (20)	67.93 (40)	68.83 (60)
Total	68.92 (100)	68.03 (200)	68.32(300)

that mean job satisfaction is the highest in Crew & Co (BD Ltd. and it is the lowest in Mobarakgonj Sugar Mills Ltd. On the other, the mean job satisfaction score of foremen is higher than that of workers.

To compare if there is any significant difference between satisfaction and dissatisfaction with specific job factors according to the level of employees (foremen and workers) are shown in

Table 9. Composite chi-square regarding the satisfaction and dissatisfaction with specific job factors according to the type of workers (N = 300) based on QMSF.

Specific Aspect of Job	Foreman (N = 100)		Worker (N = 200)		Chi-Square	df.	p
	Yes	No	Yes	No
Pay	30 (30%)	70 (70%)	32 (16%)	168 (84%)	7.97	1	<0.01
Promotion	70 (70%)	30 (30%)	147 (73.50%)	53 (26.50%)	0.408	1	N.S
Job status	83 (83%)	17 (17%)	153 (76.50%)	47 (23.50%)	1.678	1	N.S
Job security	76 (76%)	24 (24%)	124 (62%)	76 (38%)	5.880	1	<0.05
Working condition	71 (71%)	29 (29%)	149 (74.50%)	51 (25.50%)	0.418	1	N.S
Behaviour of boss	86 (86%)	14 (14%)	160 (80%)	40 (20%)	1.626	1	N.S
Open communication	81 (81%)	19 (19%)	158 (79%)	42 (21%)	0.165	1	N.S
Autonomy in work	80 (80%)	20 (20%)	141 (70.50%)	59 (29.50%)	3.102	1	N.S
Recognition for good work	38 (38%)	62 (62%)	92 (46%)	108 (54%)	1.738	1	N.S
Participation in decision making	56 (56%)	44 (44%)	111 (55.50%)	89 (44.50%)	0.007	1	N.S
Relation with colleagues	97 (97%)	3 (3%)	199 (99.5%)	1 (0.50%)	3.167	1	N.S

.

Table 9 shows that the response patterns between foremen and workers are significantly different for two specific job factors, i.e., pay and job security. The rest of the job factors responses were not significantly different for foremen and workers. The results also show that both foremen and workers were satisfied with their colleagues. Furthermore, Table 9 shows the comparison satisfaction level between the foremen and workers for each of the 11 job factors related to job satisfaction. It reveals from the result of Table 9 that foremen and workers are more dissatisfied in case of payment and satisfied in recognition for good work and for workers it is in relation with colleagues.

Foremen are higher satisfied than workers but not significant. On the other hand, a few job satisfaction items noticed less satisfied by the foremen were participation in decision-making, job status, and autonomy in work, respectively. Again, a few job satisfaction items as noticed less satisfied by the workers were participation in decision making, recognition for good work and open communication, respectively. The results also prove that job satisfaction level differs significantly in all job factors between foremen and workers except “Relation with colleagues”. The direction of the results implies that workers and foremen had higher significant dissatisfaction regarding pay (at 1% level of significance), job security (at 5% level of significance), but in the case of Behaviour of boss, Autonomy in work, Recognition for good work, Participation in decision making than those of workers.

Table 10. Mean and Standard deviation estimates of job satisfaction of the respondents based on Brayfield-Rothe Scale (N = 350).

Statements of Job Satisfaction Items		Workers	Foremen	z	p
My job is like a hobby to me.	Mean	61.54	67.48	0.831	<0.05
	SD	8.72	8.92
My job is usually interesting enough to keep me from getting bored.	Mean	68.25	70.64	0.824	N.S
	SD	8.47	9.58
It seems that my friends are more interested in their jobs.	Mean	53.56	67.12	0.847	N.S
	SD	8.18	9.24
I considered my job rather unpleasant.	Mean	55.71	56.12	0.877	N.S
	SD	8.82	8.88
I enjoy my work more than my leisure time.	Mean	69.54	78.14	0.912	<0.05
	SD	9.24	10.87
I am often bored with my job.	Mean	72.25	70.15	0.884	N.S
	SD	8.79	7.58
I feel fairly well satisfied with my present job.	Mean	65.22	70.14	0.914	<0.01
	SD	8.26	9.75
Most of the time I have to force myself to go to work.	Mean	78.81	67.85	1.250	<0.05
	SD	9.78	8.44
I am satisfied with my job for the time being.	Mean	67.11	69.33	0.874	N.S
	SD	7.66	8.02
I feel that my job is no more interesting than others I could get.	Mean	59.49	63.65	0.911	N.S
	SD	7.88	8.01
I definitely dislike my work.	Mean	70.54	52.88	1.402	<0.01
	SD	9.85	7.54
I feel that I am happier in my work than most other people.	Mean	68.25	69.45	0.811	N.S
	SD	8.12	8.74
Most days I am enthusiastic about my work.	Mean	61.78	69.48	0.845	<0.05
	SD	8.02	8.97
Each day of work seems like it will never end.	Mean	71.21	62.01	1.348	<0.01
	SD	9.78	8.44
I like my job better than the average worker does.	Mean	67.52	69.70	1.240	N.S
	SD	8.55	8.96
My job is pretty uninteresting.	Mean	68.14	68.66	0.821	N.S
	SD	8.11	8.23
I find real enjoyment in my work.	Mean	67.54	70.35	0.954	<0.05
	SD	8.91	9.79
I am disappointed that I ever took this job.	Mean	70.56	67.85	1.865	<0.01
	SD	9.14	8.45

indicates that the results of one way of variance suggest that the means of “my job is like a hobby to me” (F = 4.21, p < 0.05), “I enjoy my work more than my leisure time” (F = 6.25, p < 0.05), “I feel fairly well satisfied with my present job” (F = 5.48, p < 0.01), “Most of the time I have to force myself to go to work” (F = 6.44, p < 0.05), “I definitely dislike my work” (F = 4.78, p < 0.01), “Most days I am enthusiastic about my work” (F = 3.97, p < 0.05), “Each day of work seems like it will never end” (F = 5.45, p < 0.01), “I find real enjoyment in my work” (F = 6.02, p < 0.05), “I am disappointed that I ever took this job” (F = 4.56, p < 0.01). An examination of means of these nine areas in Table 10 reveals that the higher level of employees of foremen higher in satisfaction. As far as the rest of nine job satisfaction items are concerned, the satisfaction levels seem insignificant. The calculated value for the rest of the 9 job satisfaction items is higher for foremen than workers. In case the higher the scores, the higher is the level of satisfaction. Finally, results show that Foremen of the sugar industry are more satisfied than workers. Some items’ scores are significantly different than others.

5. Discussion

The following interpretations are given with the help of the justification of hypothesis, which were accepted or not accepted on the basis of the review of literatures and in the light of the results of the present study. The discussions are as follows:

The results prove that older employees (foremen-high age) have higher job satisfaction than younger (workers-low age). Study found that all foremen are married and married employees are more satisfied than unmarried, similarly the foremen were more experienced found in this study and more experienced employees are more satisfied than less experienced (workers) but not statistically significant. Several studies also showed higher satisfaction among the higher age, experience level employees than the lower age, experience level employees. The upshots of Table 5 demonstrate that only the z-ratio for age groups was significant. But for other demographic factors (education, experience and marital status) there is no significant difference between workers and foremen in job satisfaction. So the result partially confirms the null hypothesis (H1).

Several studies have shown that age has a significant positive effect on overall work satisfaction [4,11,14,19,20,24], which has established the results of the current study. Numerous studies have also found similar results. For instance, Yusuf [68] and Rožman et al. [43]; Shi et al. [31] observed the effect of age on job satisfaction. Their studies have shown that there is a difference in job satisfaction between young and old employees.

Current results indicate that workers in the sugar industry differ significantly, but not significant in terms of education, experience and marital status in terms of their job satisfaction. The higher the job satisfaction with age, the older an employee is, the higher the level of job satisfaction. The results are consistent with previous results [23,69]. Lange [1] found that higher educated employees had higher satisfaction, which confirms the findings of the present study. The out-comes of Table 9 express that in terms of job satisfaction, all the job-related factors except pay and job security response patterns between two groups of respondents (workers and foremen) were not statistically significant differences. Hence the results of the present study most likely confirm the null hypothesis (H2).

Shah and Jumani [16] and Siahaan et al. [17] found the same type of results. It was also observed from the present study that foremen were more satisfied than those of the workers with regard to their pay, behavior of boss, job status, autonomy in work, job security, open communication, participation in decision making, and recognition for good work. Haleem et al. [26] and Chan [29] found that individuals who think they have better interpersonal friendships with colleagues and immediate supervisors lead to higher levels of work satisfaction. The results show that the z-value evidently indicated that no significant difference between the satisfaction of foremen and workers. But the level of job satisfaction of foremen was slightly higher than that of workers. The results revealed that the level of workers had little influence on job satisfaction and the mean job satisfaction score of the foreman was not higher than workers and not significant. Furthermore, table-7 shows that the F-ratio for level of workers (foreman and worker) and two-way interactions were not statistically significant, focuses the insignificant satisfaction score between foremen and workers in different sugar mills premises which accepted the null hypothesis. Thus, the results confirm the null hypothesis (H3).

Several studies also showed higher satisfaction among higher level employees than lower-level employees. Miah [52]; Steel [54] and Yoo [61] found similar type of results. Kim and Cho [44] have found that employees’ job satisfaction is higher than supervisors’. Qureshi et al. [64]; Lam et al. [50]; Manuel (2018); Traymbak et al. [57] found similar pattern of results. Porter [56] and Ham [62] also reported that lower-level employees were, in general, more dissatisfied than higher level employees. He argued that the reason for higher satisfaction among higher level employees than lower-level employees is that they enjoy more opportunities to meet their ego demands, higher status, higher pay and self-direction than lower-level employees. In addition, they also enjoyed more authority and responsibility as compared to lower-level employees. Several studies e.g., Lam et al. [50]; Yainahu et al. [59] and Strenitzerová & Achimský [53] found that higher levels of employees were higher satisfied.

The results of the study validated the hypotheses in an appropriate manner. Job satisfaction levels have been measured in the workplace, especially among sugar industrial employees. Institutional rules have different levels of staffing, but systematic observation is needed to verify whether job satisfaction levels vary within different levels of employees. The present study found different levels of work satisfaction among the different levels of sugar industrial employees. Evidence of these differences can be found by measuring on a well-established measurement scale based on job factors and demographic factors.

This research paper has some strength points that make it unique. In the context of Bangladesh, such research work with sugar industrial workers is very rare, to say the least. The researchers conducted the study in the mentioned field, which will be marked as a milestone. There is no shortage of research on job satisfaction in the world. Thousands of studies have been done, are being done, and will be done in the future. As the sugar industry field-related literature is less so, it makes our research more distinctive and more basic. Another strong point of this study is the methodology. Data analysis has been done using the world’s well-established measurement scale. And the collected data is taken through direct interviews so that the information is accurate, and the reliability and validity value is obtained at the accepted rate. The research work has been followed scientifically at every level from beginning to end and has been carefully examined by a supervisor which is considered to be one of the strongest aspects of this research.

As with other research, this research has its own limitations as well. The total population of this study from which the sample was drawn includes five stated owned sugar mills only not included all. Hence, one reason the researcher may not be able to generalize the results to all the sugar mills within the country. Thus, the survey focuses on job satisfaction of employees of only five state-owned sugar mills and the study is mostly limited to only 300 workers out of thousands of workers in sugar mills in Bangladesh. Another limitation of the study is in the area of the population for the study. The study used state-owned sugar mills. The population can equally be extended to all state-owned sugar mills in the country. Researchers received less time than needed to complete the research work, which influenced the gathering and gathering of relevant information from various sources. Due to limited funding and time constraints, researchers were forced to set small sample sizes that hindered data collection. There were two reasons that may explain the low response rate in this study. First, it was difficult to reach workers in order to working hours and another was fear about leak of information and unwillingness to give information. Additionally, workers might be busier or away from the job station. Further studies using a similar framework to that of the current study should be conducted by using big sample size, more job-related factors and demographic factors, more sugar mills from different corner of the country, newly developed questionnaire, updated methodologies, and other instruments of measuring facets of job satisfaction; which can be more in number to get more accurate results. It is hoped that future researchers will be able to draw a realistic picture of job satisfaction of workers with the application of modern research methods, taking into account the weaknesses of the current research and considering the large number of respondents and sugar mills on a large scale.

6. Conclusions

The present study was an attempt to better understand the job satisfaction among the level of sugar industrial employees in Bangladesh. The sugar industry is one of the major state-owned industries in Bangladesh. The contribution of this industry to the economy of Bangladesh is undeniable. In addition to meeting the demand for high quality sugar in the domestic market, this industry has provided employment opportunities to many people. Like other industrial sectors in Bangladesh, initiatives have been taken to modernize the sugar industry as part of which the aspect of job satisfaction of the workers is being seriously considered. The success and failure of the sugar industry in Bangladesh largely depends on the workers here. It has been proven in many studies that the job satisfaction of different levels of employees will be different, but it should be at a logical level. Failure to do so will result in negative consequences such as frequent absences, increased labor turnover, reduced productivity, and breach of discipline in the workplace.

This study found that the mean job satisfaction score of the foreman was significantly higher than that of the workers. Average job satisfaction was significantly different amid high and low age groups. Older employees are more satisfied with their jobs than younger respondents. Therefore, separate programs should be implemented by the sugar industry authorities for the existing low age workers, which will create maximum satisfaction. It was found that the higher experienced, and lower educated groups of respondents were more satisfied. Thus, sugar mill authorities may pay special attention to retain and attract experienced and higher educated respondents. Sugar mills have significantly differed in job satisfaction. Levels of workers in different sugar mills and two-way interactions were not statistically significant. Not all the workers and foremen of all the sugar mills in Bangladesh were equally satisfied; the levels of satisfaction were different from each other. It was suggested that appropriate strategies and steps should be taken by the government and BSFIC to ensure equal satisfaction of all sugar mill workers and foremen in Bangladesh. Two specific job factors i.e., pay and job security, the response patterns between foremen and workers are significantly different. Rest of the job factors response was not significantly different for foremen and workers.

The fact is that employees at both levels (employees and foremen) are dissatisfied with all of the job-related factors except a few. Workers are a little more dissatisfied with the inadequacy of these components. However, the concerns of all classes of employees are low wages, lack of promotion, lack of job security and job status, poor working environment, not evaluating opinions and not having the right to work independently. Governments and policy makers need to take immediate steps to ensure that all job-related factors are met in a fair manner and that the highest satisfaction is expressed in the pursuit of a career in the industry without complaint. Better to focus on the employees’ job satisfaction and reduce job stress by personal development and training, fair benefits and incentive, constructive continuous support, fair and equitable promotion, in the area of professional responsibility should be maintained by the sugar industrial authority, especially in all sugar mills ground, can get better educated and trained employees.