Tool and die makers are one of the least happy careers in the United States.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, tool and die makers rate their career happiness 2.7 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 11% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy tool and die makers are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Product safety engineer | 2.7 | $99k |
| Sheet metal worker | 2.7 | $37k |
| Painter | 2.7 | $19k |
| Meter reader | 2.7 | $44k |
| Brickmason | 2.7 | $28k |
| Tool and die maker | 2.7 | $37k |
| Mining machine operator | 2.7 | $62k |
| Machinist | 2.7 | $28k |
| Truck driver | 2.7 | $49k |
| Construction worker | 2.7 | $12k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are tool and die makers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do tool and die makers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as tool and die makers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are tool and die maker’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are tool and die makers making the best use of their abilities?
Are tool and die makers happy with their salary?
Tool and die makers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.1/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most tool and die makers having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked tool and die makers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
68 tool and die makers
12% of tool and die makers rated their compensation 5 stars
22% of tool and die makers rated their compensation 4 stars
43% of tool and die makers rated their compensation 3 stars
13% of tool and die makers rated their compensation 2 stars
10% of tool and die makers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do tool and die makers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, tool and die makers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.5/5. While most tool and die makers aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.
We asked tool and die makers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.5 out of 5 stars
68 tool and die makers
9% of tool and die makers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
6% of tool and die makers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
35% of tool and die makers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
28% of tool and die makers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
22% of tool and die makers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as tool and die makers?
Tool and die makers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.5/5. The majority of tool and die makers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked tool and die makers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
72 tool and die makers
26% of tool and die makers rated their career fit 5 stars
26% of tool and die makers rated their career fit 4 stars
31% of tool and die makers rated their career fit 3 stars
7% of tool and die makers rated their career fit 2 stars
10% of tool and die makers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a tool and die maker’s work environment?
As a whole, tool and die makers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.3/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.
We asked tool and die makers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
72 tool and die makers
18% of tool and die makers rated their work environment 5 stars
26% of tool and die makers rated their work environment 4 stars
33% of tool and die makers rated their work environment 3 stars
15% of tool and die makers rated their work environment 2 stars
7% of tool and die makers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are tool and die makers making the best use of their abilities?
Former tool and die makers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.2/5. Most tool and die makers are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked tool and die makers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
72 tool and die makers
22% of tool and die makers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
24% of tool and die makers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
21% of tool and die makers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
22% of tool and die makers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
11% of tool and die makers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars