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The Rolling Stones could get no satisfaction. If the findings of a recent survey on job happiness are anything to go by, social workers feel the same.

The City and Guilds survey found that out of 30 professional groups, social workers are the least satisfied. But is this a fair reflection of how social workers view their profession?

None of the social workers of the 1,250 interviewed said they found the job unfulfilling, or that they lacked autonomy or respect from their seniors. But, stress, poor pay and feeling undervalued are the main factors for feeling unhappy.

The professionals happiest in their jobs - hairdressers and care assistants - enjoy plenty of interaction with clients. According to Ian Johnston, director of the British Association of Social Workers, the amount of time social workers spend with clients is being squeezed.

"They feel they are not empowered to work creatively with people and instead of championing rights are asked to be the gatekeepers and managers of services," he said.

Jo Moriarty, social work research fellow at King's College London, said the perception social workers have of their job is one where there is increasing pressure from bureaucracy.

"People perceive there is more paperwork than in the past and an increase in expectation on public servants," she added. "People tend to go into social work for the interaction with others, not to just fill in forms. It is a waste of resources to just be doing that and employers should reduce it." But she said social workers always scored high with job stress due to the nature of some of their tasks.

She added that social workers' basic training was not good enough to help people cope with the demands and pressures. "Saying it goes with the territory is OK if you've learned strategies to cope, but not if you haven't been taught them."

It was also important for social work employers to identify whether the dissatisfaction was down to the fundamentals of the job or organisational issues, Moriarty concluded.

Ian Wilson, director of social services at Tower Hamlets Council, said support from management was a key factor in staff job happiness, and believed there was a link between that and social services star ratings.

"I'm sure there are many social workers who don't get sufficient support from their organisation and it is not surprising they are unhappy.

"The extent of good peer support and supervision, training and promotion opportunities and restricted case loads will all have a bearing on it," he added.

Personal development specialist Stephanie Sparrow agreed it was important for employees to get feedback from managers and have regular appraisals. But she said it was important for the sector to try and tackle the issue of too much paperwork. "Those who are dissatisfied with their job have gone in with an idea of what the job would be only to find out it is something else - dealing with paper instead of people is the classic example.
"People get job satisfaction when they can see they are progressing towards personal goals: if they are helping people they can see that but if they can't see that in doing paperwork then they are not going to get it," she said.

How do staff feel?

• 2% are very happy at work.
• 7% have a good social life at work.
• 14% say they are adequately financially rewarded.
• 29% sometimes think about changing careers.
• 31% believe they have fulfilled their ambition.
• 31% say they learn new things.
• 36% feel respected at work.
• 64% do not want to change their careers.
• 74% do not regret their choice of career.

Source: City and Guilds