From Politics to Housing Costs to Faculty Status to Salary

Thirteen Job Elements and Their Importance to Academic Library Employees

Abstract

This article discusses results from an autumn 2022 survey of U.S. academic library employees regarding the level of importance they place on 13 job conditions and benefits of employment. The study found that, while most of the job conditions and benefits that were financially measurable (e.g., salary, medical benefits) were most often rated as “very” or “critically” important by participants, other conditions such as housing costs in the region in which a job is located, flexible work schedules, remote work options, and the employer’s attention to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) and employee health and wellness were also of high importance to more than 50% of participants. Findings from this study may have implications for academic library employee job satisfaction as well as recruitment and retention.