While the home office, mental health and “new work” is discussed, millions of people work on the base of our society. They stand in the cold store at five in the morning, drive through the republic at night, look after people in need of care or keep the cities clean – it is built, repaired, supplied and supplied around the clock. They are jobs that do not fit into the classic 9-to-5 picture, but without which our everyday life doesn’t work.
A new study by the Job and candidate platform Hokify In cooperation with the market research institute Civey, these professions puts in the spotlight: it illuminates the situation of employees in do-it jobs. And clears up with the prejudice that they are dissatisfied or unmotivated. On the contrary: For almost half (48 percent), the main reason for your career choice is joy in the work. The vast majority is motivated, satisfied and proud of their work. At the same time, the data reveals a need for action among employers in order to bind these relevant specialists in the long term.
“Employees in do-it jobs are the backbone of our society: in sales, in nursing, in craft, logistics, cleaning, gastronomy or production,” explains Jutta Perfahl-Strilka, CEO from Hokify and labor market expert. “Often it is physically exhausting activities, not infrequently in shift work. These professions are much too little recognized, too often smallered and underestimated. In doing so.
Salary counts – but meaning counts more
Although the salary is 32.8 percent of the most important reasons for choosing a career-but looking at the industries shows great differences: among technical specialists and people in IT-related professions, 68.8 percent of those questioned even state that they work primarily because of the money. In pedagogical professions, the fun of 62.1 percent is the most. The data show: 60.5 percent of those for whom the fun of work is crucial see their job as a calling. Only 13.8 percent of them work primarily because of the money.
Of staying and walking
Around 55.5 percent of the respondents also want to exercise their do-it job to retire-a new sign of strong identification. The most important stop factor is the fun of work (28.4 percent), followed by the salary (27.4 percent) and the good compatibility of work and private (20.2 percent).
But there are also some reasons that move employees to change: physical stress is still the most common reason with 38.4 percent before the salary (30.4 percent). Time becomes the new currency: 65.6 percent of the change of change relate to flexible working time models, part-time or a four-day week-the latter alone would motivate 36.2 percent to change.
“The shortage of skilled workers hit these jobs particularly hard. Labor market numbers Statistics Austria show that more than 80 percent of the open positions fit exactly to the job profile ‘do-it job’ last year, “warns Jutta Perfahl-Strilka.” Many companies underestimate the high willingness to change-especially for young people. Employees have to finally understand what their employees really motivates. match the phases of life and realities of their target groups. “
Pride and prejudice (e)
Almost two thirds of the respondents (65.2 percent) see their work as a sensible task or even real calling. This identification in young people is particularly strong: 19.6 percent of those between 18 and 29 years of age feel their work as a calling – this tendency decreases with age. Personal binding also makes a difference: 92.6 percent of those who see their work as a call would recommend their job. In total, 78 percent of the respondents clearly speak out for their job.
A drop of bitterness remains: 19 percent of the employees have already heard the sentence: “Everyone can do that: r”. Women are particularly often affected: 22.1 percent of them have already met this prejudice, and 15.6 percent for men. For this, men get the supposed compliment more often: “You are so skillful everywhere!” – A statement that also works stereotypical. And then there is still the classic: 6.8 percent of those surveyed had to listen to the fact that their job was only a consequence that it was “not enough for studying”. But there is also a little ray of hope: Around 23.2 percent of people in do-it jobs have already been confirmed that their “work is totally underestimated”, almost a third (30.2 percent) knows the statement “I couldn’t!”.
“These numbers impressively show: people in do-it jobs are proud of what they do. They know how important their work is and that they make a real difference,” sums up Perfahl-Strilka. “Unfortunately, the numbers also show that this awareness has not yet arrived everywhere in our society. Anyone who puts people in these professions in drawers did not understand their performance – let alone their enormous relevance for the labor market. Time to change that.”
The full Hokify do-it jobs report is ready for download here.
methodology
On behalf of Hokify, the opinion research company Civey interviewed 500 people in Austria from the age of 18 from the age of 18 to 24.4.2025 who work in blue, gray or pink collar professions or are looking for a job in these areas. The results are representative of 4.4%due to quotaing and weighting, taking into account the statistical error.