Long working hours, low income and dissatisfaction: Comparison of veterinary practitioners' situation and similar professions of the German general population

摘要

Previous reports indicate that German veterinarians work longer hours, earn lower incomes and suffer from higher stress levels than comparable professions. Motivated by this situation our objectives were to describe the current working conditions and the associated satisfaction among German veterinary practitioners. The study is based on a questionnaire that allows comparisons of the results with similar occupations and a previous study. This is relevant since the veterinarian workforce has substantially changed: on the one hand, Generation Y (born after 1980) is entering the job market with different work-life balance objectives. On the other hand, the female proportion of veterinarians is increasing. Our questionnaire was distributed in spring 2016, and data from 1930 respondents could be analysed (9% of the target population). Full time practitioners worked long hours (median 50h per week), with equine practitioners having particularly long working hours. Fathers worked almost 19h per week longer than mothers. Almost 50% of the employees worked more hours than the legally defined maximum. Full time self-employed practitioners earned significantly more (pre-tax earnings in men 26 (sic)/h, in women 19 /h) than employees (men 14 /h, women 13 /h). Salaries of employees showed a slight increase since 2006. However, especially among recent graduates and particularly in clinics, incomes below the legally defined minimum wages were reported. Respondents with long working hours and small income were less satisfied with their work. Employees and female veterinarians were less satisfied with most aspects of their life when compared to comparable occupations in the general population. The results call for further discussions about working conditions and the associated satisfaction of all German veterinary practitioners.