Jobs That Make the World a Worse Place By Blake Ellis | CNNMoney.com – Thu, Oct 18, 2012 4:30 PM EDTFast food workers. Telemarketers. Bartenders. These professions have the highest share of employees who say their jobs make the world a worse place, according to a survey by PayScale.com.
Fast food worker  ThinkstockWorkers who say their job makes the world a worse place: 38.4%Many fast food workers aren't feeling so good about handing you those greasy burgers and fries. In a survey conducted by PayScale that asked employees, 'Does your job make the world a better place?," 38.4% of fast food workers said their job was actually making the world a worse place. That's the highest percentage for any of the jobs included in the survey and is well above the average of less than 1% across all jobs. Why are fast food workers feeling so low? It's likely that some workers feel as if they are contributing to the country's worsening obesity epidemic, said Katie Bardaro, lead economist at PayScale. "A lot of fast food isn't healthy for you, and [fast food workers] are continuing to feed it to people even though they know that it's not," she said. Gaming dealer  ThinkstockWorkers who say their job makes the world a worse place: 17.6%Watching gamblers throw their money away weighs on the consciences of some casino dealers, whose job often involves dealing the hands for games like poker and blackjack, distributing the winnings and collecting the losers' chips at the end of a game. "They're supporting peoples' vices," said PayScale's Bardaro. "They may feel they're making the world a worse place by taking money away from people who often can't afford to lose that money." Nearly 18% of gaming dealers say their job makes the world a worse place and almost half said their job doesn't do anything to make the world a better place. Telemarketer  ThinkstockWorkers who say their job makes the world a worse place: 9.4%Interrupting family dinners with phone calls about products that people often don't need may lead some telemarketers to question the worthiness of their line of work. More than 9% of telemarketers surveyed by PayScale said they thought their job made the world a worse place -- well above the industry wide average of less than 1%. "Apart from door-to-door salespeople, telemarketers may be perceived as one of the most annoying sales professions," said Joel Garfinkle, career coach and author of "Getting Ahead: Three Steps to Take Your Career to the Next Level." "They enter your home -- via the telephone -- uninvited." If you represent or sell a product that you believe actually has value for consumers, however, the job could become more meaningful, he said. TV newscast director  ThinkstockWorkers who say their job makes the world a worse place: 8.1%Producing news about natural disasters, mass murders and economic meltdowns can take a toll on some TV newscast directors, who often work in control rooms and make sure everything runs smoothly. "They're [sometimes] highlighting the bad things in the world because that's what gets the best ratings -- often times stories about things like gossip and violence," said PayScale's Bardaro. Bartender  ThinkstockWorkers who say their job makes the world a worse place: 6.7%Getting people drunk may be fun, but some bartenders don't find it to be the most meaningful career. "Does alcohol and the related downfalls of alcohol -- including drunk driving and alcoholism -- make the world a better place? For many bartenders, they may think not," said career coach Garfinkle. But many bartenders actually have more meaningful jobs than they realize, since they can often act as therapist figures for customers who let their guard downs and open up to them, said Garfinkle. "It doesn't always occur to them that that interaction could really make a difference in a person's life." Loan collector  ThinkstockWorkers who say their job makes the world a worse place: 4.9%Spending your days chasing down people who haven't paid their loans can be emotionally exhausting. "A loan collector may feel guilty when trying to collect from customers who have fallen on hard financial times," said career coach Garfinkle. Almost 5% of loan collectors say their jobs negatively impact the world, while another 23% say they aren't having a positive impact. Fashion designer  ThinkstockWorkers who say their job makes the world a worse place: 4.9%Does creating the latest fashions for the runway have a positive impact on the world? Some fashion designers say "no." In fact, about 5% of designers say their job actually makes the world a worse place. Meanwhile, another 36% said their line of work isn't doing anything to improve the world either. "A lot of people have issues with body image, and fashion designers can make that worse in a lot of ways," said PayScale's Bardaro. "[Some of them] are designing clothes for models that don't represent the typical woman's body ... so you have people with eating disorders and low confidence because they can't wear the clothes they see in a magazine." Investment banking associate
 Workers who say their job makes the world a worse place: 4.6%
For some investment banking associates, the high pay that the career is known for isn't enough to make them feel good about what they're doing. "A lot of [investment banking] is people making a lot of money from making a lot of money," said PayScale's Bardaro. "A small percentage of people involved see huge windfalls, but a lot of people [outside of the investment firm] don't see any benefit from it."
Senior attorney  Workers who say their job makes the world a worse place: 4.4%
While many lawyers have the opportunity to make the world a better place, there are always going to be some who fight for things they know are wrong. "A defense attorney defending a wrongfully accused client has a noble cause to work toward, but what about when his client is guilty or when he has to defend his client company against consumers who have a rightful claim?" said career coach Garfinkle. "This sometimes moral gray area can lead to serious doubts about whether or not they are truly making the world a better place." Credit/collections supervisor  Workers who say their job makes the world a worse place: 4.1%
Overseeing debt collectors is only a little less guilt-inducing than actually being the one who tracks down delinquent borrowers. 4.1% of supervisors say their jobs negatively affect the world around them, slightly lower than the 4.9% of collectors who felt that way about their job. Both professions had a higher response rate than the less than 1% of employees across all industries who believe they're making the world a worse place. "In today's economy, [debt collectors] are dealing with a lot of people who can't make ends meet and going after them to get them to pay their bills," said PayScale's Bardaro. "Collections is just not a job that makes other people happy."
Retail sales associate Workers who say their job makes the world a worse place: 3.7%
Whether it's selling the hottest new toys, electronic gadgets or furniture, some retail associates just don't think taking peoples' money all day long is doing much to improve the world around them. And PayScale's Bardaro says she thinks those who work at clothing stores may have the hardest time seeing their contributions to the world. "They're [often] trying to get people to spend a lot of money on really expensive clothes, and it's their job to tell them [the clothing] looks great and to try to get them to buy whatever they try on, even if meanwhile they think it looks crazy," said PayScale's Bardaro. Nearly 4% of retail sales associates surveyed by PayScale believe their jobs are making the world a worse place, and 31% responded that their job isn't making the world better.
Legal assistant
Workers who say their job makes the world a worse place: 3.4%
Just like lawyers who may be on the wrong side of a case, legal assistants can face moral dilemmas on their jobs as well. "Some are assisting lawyers in cases either they know are not right or helping a lawyer defend a criminal they know is guilty," said PayScale's Bardaro. "There's a lot of opportunity to do good but also a fair amount of opportunity to do bad."
Advertising account executive
Workers who say their job makes the world a worse place: 3.3%
The advertising industry is often criticized for distorting reality. "There are a lot of images put out there in ads that aren't attainable," said PayScale's Bardaro. "[Advertisements] are putting things in peoples' minds like 'drink this drink and lose 10 pounds' and a lot of them are making promises that can't be kept." As a result of this and other factors, 3.3% of ad executives feel their job makes the world a worse place. And a whopping 38.6% said they don't think they are making the world better. That's the second highest percentage of employees to respond this way, right behind fast food workers.
Claims adjuster
Workers who say their job makes the world a worse place: 3.1%
Not only are claims adjusters constantly dealing with people in the aftermath of an accident, but sometimes they have to break the news to them that they owe money, too. Their job is to evaluate insurance claims from customers who have been in a car accident or fire or who have experienced a theft and then determine how much of the bill the insurance company will cover -- if anything. It can be a hard job, because when settling claims for customers, adjusters must also think of their own company's bottom line and try to minimize the amount their employer has to pay, said career coach Garfinkle. "For those trying to walk that fine line between settlement dollar amount and their customer's needs, it can be a very stressful position," said Garfinkle.
Petroleum engineer
Workers who say their job makes the world a worse place: 3.1%
Petroleum engineers rake in some of the biggest salaries in the country, with college grads averaging $163,000 a year mid-career. But that doesn't make some of these workers feel any better about the detrimental impact their job may be having on the world. "Most jobs [are considered to] make the world a worse place because of social factors, but petroleum engineering seems to get down to an environmental factor," said PayScale's Bardaro. "People in this career are trying to satisfy everyone's high demand for oil products, but at the same time they may think they're having a negative impact on the environment."
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