Job Satisfaction of IT Workers in East Asia: The Role of Employee Demographics, Job Demographics, and Uncertainty Avoidance

The purpose of this study is to explore the drivers of job satisfaction of IT workers in the East Asian context, particularly in Taiwan, Japan, and China. Using data collected from IT workers, decision tree inductions were employed to identify the predictors of job satisfaction. Results indicate that the level of education has no effect on job satisfaction. Overall, higher uncertainty avoidance results in lower job satisfaction, and more experienced IT workers appear to be more satisfied. In Taiwan, longer serving IT workers, who are likely to hold more senior positions and spend more time on the job, are more satisfied with their jobs. Similarly, in Japan, older IT workers are more satisfied. In China, job satisfaction of IT workers differs across job roles and industries. It is recommended that management practices and policies in Taiwan focus on bridging gaps between longer serving and newer IT workers in terms of their ability to handle ambiguous work situations; whereas in Japan, these should focus on providing work flexibility and stress management programs to allow room for family support. In China, these should be tailored to specific job roles and industries in view of their different experiences with job satisfaction determinants.