~19~ ISSN Print: 2394-7500 ISSN Online: 2394-5869 Impact Factor: 5.2 IJAR 2017; 3(4): 19-25 www.allresearchjournal.com Received: 04-02-2017 Accepted: 05-03-2017 Mehari Haile PhD Scholar, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Andhra University, India Dr. Peteti Premanandam Dr. of Public Administration, Head Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Andhra University, India Correspondence Mehari Haile PhD Scholar, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Andhra University, India Employees’ job satisfaction in Ethiopia: A comparative study of selected public and private sectors in Woldia district Mehari Haile and Dr. Peteti Premanandam Abstract This study examined the predictive capacity of job satisfaction factors toward private and public employed workers and job satisfaction differences between the two organizations in Woldia district. In the study 135 public and 189 private organization workers were participated. As the findings of the study indicated, statistically significant mean difference observed between private and public workers job satisfaction of communication and relationship, job security, pay and promotion and fairness. The job satisfaction factors correctly classified the private and public organizations. This classification was imperative and made the prediction prudent. As the likelihood ratio of the study indicated, privately employed workers are 1.8 times more likely satisfied in pay and promotion of their respective organization than the public worker's job motivation of pay and promotion. In the same vein, public employed workers are 1.3 times more likely satisfied in job security of their organization than the privately employed workers. Keywords: Job satisfaction, public organizations, private organizations 1. Introduction Employees in an organization have always been a key asset and leading factors that determine the success and failure of an organization in a competitive environment (Fatt, Edward, and Heng, 2010) [5] . Employees in organizations who motivated to contribute their ideas and talents and may be quite satisfied with their jobs in an environment that foster organizational trust and growth of employees and where their knowledge, skills, and abilities are valued and fully used (Callaway, 2006) [4] . In a most basic sense, job satisfaction is a positive emotional state resulting from evaluating one’s job experiences (Mathis and Jackson, 2008) [15] . It describes how content an individual is with his or her job. It is a worker's sense of achievement and success and is generally perceived to be directly linked to productivity as well as to personal wellbeing. On the other hand, job dissatisfaction occurs when one’s expectations are not met. According to Spector (1997) [20] , job satisfaction is the extent to which people like (satisfaction) or dislike (dissatisfaction) their jobs. As it is generally assessed, job satisfaction is an institutional variable. There are a variety of factors that can influence a person’s level of job satisfaction (Spector, 1997, Parvin and Kabir, 2011) [20, 11] . Some of these factors include the level of pay and benefits, the perceived fairness of the promotion system within an organization, the quality of the working conditions, leadership and social relationships, the job itself (the variety of tasks involved, the interest and challenge the job generates, and the clarity of the job description/requirements). The happier people are within their job, the more satisfied they are said to be. Job satisfaction is one of the critical factors that contribute to high performance, high employee morale, and commitment, and reduce unproductive habits of employees like absenteeism and turnover (Spector, 1997) [20] . High-performance organizations are also believed to trust their employees and provide them with proper empowerment to perform their duties, ensures good governance and sustainable development. International Journal of Applied Research 2017; 3(4): 19-25