Introduction and Purpose of the Study
The productivity of public sector employees is a cause of increasing concern in most countries in the 1990s. This concern is particularly great in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where the size of the public sector is large in relation to the private sector (compared with other countries), and where the level of governmental revenues have fallen substantially over the past decade.
A major factor involved in worker productivity is job satisfaction. High levels of job satisfaction are typically associated with high levels of productivity. A deterioration in productivity has been observed over the past two years at the Customs Department headquarters in Riyadh. In part, this problem may be attributable to the rapid growth in departmental staffing and the need for new employees to gain experience. In part also, however, this problem may be attributable to a deterioration in employee job satisfaction. The proposed study will examine job satisfaction among the employees of the Saudi Arabian Customs Department headquarters in Riyadh. The research question investigated in this study is as follows: What is the level of employee job satisfaction at the Saudi Arabian Customs Department headquarters in Riyadh, and what is the effect on the level of employee job satisfaction of: (1) formal educational attainment; (2) occupational classification;
(3) compensation; (4) age; (5) gender; and (6) relevant job experience?
Six research hypotheses will be tested in the proposed study. These hypotheses are as follows:
1. It is hypothesized that higher levels of formal educational attainment are associated with higher levels of job satisfaction. The implied null hypothesis is that job satisfaction levels are not affected by formal educational attainment.
2. It is hypothesized that occupational classification levels are associated with higher levels of job satisfaction. The implied null hypo...