An exploratory study of pay satisfaction among public sector employees in Jordan

Pay satisfaction is regarded as an important factor in promoting organizational productivity based on its motivational factor. Accordingly, this research sought to explore pay satisfaction in the Jordanian public sector with an objective of establishing the level of satisfaction among employees. The inquiry is based on the Pay Satisfaction Questionnaire developed by a previous study. Using weighted averages for the analysis of data, this research establishes that the pay satisfaction of the Jordanian public sector employees is relatively low and that employees are less than satisfied with the various pay aspects queried including pay level, benefits, pay raise, and pay structure and administration. This has the implication that the low productivity in the public sector could be as a result of lack of staff motivation due to low pay. The research determines that in average, the 210 participated employees were least satisfied with pay structure and administration, whereas the other factors, namely, benefits, pay raise, and pay structure/administration, achieved an average score.