A Study on Job Satisfaction of Women Workers in Fireworks in Sivakasi Taluk

The development of any nation primarily depends upon its industrial development, which makes a rich contribution to the growth of a nation. The economic role played by women cannot be isolated from the framework of development. Women workers remain significantly poor and are far less legally protected. The choice available to women in developing countries are even starker, and they are often forced to sell their limited time in extremely poorly paid and poorly protected employment. The informal economy, with labor-intensive technologies and harsh working conditions, tends to absorb most of these workers. Although these jobs might be euphemistically considered flexible, they are coupled with considerable work-related hazards. The essential difference between women and men workers clearly lies in the multiple labor roles that women are forced to take on as workers and primary caretakers of children, husband and other members of an extended family. The specter of unpaid work also looms large.

The role of women in socio-economic development has undergone a marked change over the years. The world of women is no longer confined to household activities. Today, they actively contribute to the promotion of economic development in different capacities. The contribution of women to economic development is gauged by their work participation rate. There are reasons for the increased role of women entering the labor market. There is evidence to show that women participation in the labor market in India is mostly in response to economic need. The nation is committed to a steady improvement in the status of women and one of the most important means would be to secure for them a fair share of employment opportunities. Women workers are also encouraged to participate in organizational work to safeguard their own interest. The structural changes in the economy and decay of traditional industries and services have displaced women workers on a large scale. The Industrial development also contributes to urbanization as it spreads everywhere and these indirectly awakens the rural illiterates. Firework industries are one of the traditional industries in Sivakasi. A large portion of these industries is located in Sivakasi. The development of firework industries has paved the way for the emergence of other ancillary industries such as chemical industries, cardboard items, waste paper cutting, punching and trading business and so on. The firework industries play a dominant role in the development of ancillary industries and raising the standard of living of people. The firework industry is highly labor-intensive. They give employment opportunity to more and more people directly and indirectly.

Job satisfaction is a general attitude towards one’s job, the difference between the number of reward workers receive and the amount they believe they should receive. The employee is a backbone of every organization, without the employee, no work can be done. Therefore, employee’s satisfaction is very important. Employees will be more satisfied if they get what they expected, job satisfaction relates to inner feelings of workers. As Sivakasi is famous for fireworks industries, the main aim of this study is to analyze the satisfaction level of fireworks women employees. The organization may give importance to certain factors such as Canteen, restroom facilities, rewards, recognition, and promotion policy so that satisfaction of the employees may be improved further. R.Soundara Valli in her study,” Living conditions of workers in Fireworks” observed that the socio-economic conditions of the women workers in the fireworks are poor.

V. Kumaravalli in her study on the” Job satisfaction of women workers in virudhunagar district” stressed that women workers are satisfied with their job only up to medium level.

Mr.Jayaraj in his study titled,” A Study on job satisfaction of the women workers in Firework industries in virudhunagar district” has suggested that majority of the workers in the study units are women. They are not given proper education in their childhood. He has suggested some measures to promote their education.

S.Mariappan in his study on “Job satisfaction of the women workers” has explained the living conditions, working condition, welfare measures and industrial relations of the women workers in the factories and stated that they are not good”

Mcafee, R. Bruce, and Glassman, Myron in their study, “Job satisfaction, conclude – “It's the little things that count and determine the factors influencing job satisfaction. An alignment of employee wants, expectations and needs with what is actually received from the job could enhance job satisfaction. They suggested that the managers should use techniques to enhance employee satisfaction according to the job satisfaction stage that the employee was in at the time.

Deepakkumar N. Parmar (2012) concludes that “ job satisfaction represents one of the most complex areas facing today's managers when it comes to managing their employees. Although thousands of papers and research have been conducted on job satisfaction all over the world, in the Republic of Macedonia this is one of the least studied research fields. Many efforts are in place for the motivation of workers, while the level of motivation has an impact on productivity, and hence also the performance of business organizations.There is a considerable impact of the employee's perceptions for the nature of his work and the overall job satisfaction. Financial compensation has a great impact on the overall job satisfaction of employees.

D. Sinha in his study,” Job Satisfaction in office and Manual workers” found that inadequate salary and insufficient leave were the most frequent contributors to dissatisfaction and that salary and security were more important to dissatisfied workers than the satisfied workers.

C.L.Nataraj and A. Hafeez in their study,” A Study of Job Satisfaction among Skilled Workers” have stated that skilled workers are more highly satisfied workers than those in other categories.

An industry’s development depends upon the satisfaction of the employees. Sivakasi is a fast growing town in virudhunagar district with commercial and industrial activities comprising a large number of firework industries. Fireworks are one of the labor-intensive industries. This industry mainly depends upon women workers than upon men. Most of the women workers come for work to tide over their economic difficulties and supplement their family income. They are facing many problems at work spot such as bad working conditions, welfare facilities and so on. Women employees play an important role, so women employee’s satisfaction is a very essential one; hence, there arises a need to study the job satisfaction of fire-works industry in women employees.