People are more likely to put up with and endure stressful jobs, if the pay is high, but a combination of both is something that is taking a huge toll on workers sanity and curtailing their working-careers.
Take for example chemical-dependency counselors or parole officers. They work in a high-stress environment, many a time unsafe and volatile. It is an essential service they provide. Workers who are working such an environment are really serving the society and accepting work that most would be reluctant to accept and such jobs are in serious need of revamping and need to be looked into with seriousness and commitment.
The undermentioned list of jobs and the salaries, garnered from reliable sources, reflect the disparity between the pressure-cooker demands of the job and the low pay
1) Supportive Residential Counselor
Imagine yourself in this job, where you are running a residential home for the mentally ill and the physically disabled. It would really be physically and mentally draining. Seeing the plight of these unfortunate individuals, at times leaves those in charge of them with permanent mental scars. In spite of the huge demands and sacrifices that it calls from the supportive counselor, the job has to face the challenge of untangling bureaucratic requirements that is mandated for every such public-service infrastructure. And yet this high-pressure job commands a median annual salary of just $26,900.
2) Import/Export Agent
Export and Import agents are the go-betweens linking buyers and sellers in international markets. They mediate between the two and smoothen the progress of the deal between the two. International trade is vastly different from domestic trade. The latter has slightly less lax rules, but the export and import agents must abide by an inflexible set of rules and procedures. Moreover, the agent will have to wait till the deal is finalized, the goods are shipped and the seller receives his payment. Only then will he get his pay-check, as the job is commission based. If even one link in the chain breaks the deal collapses and all his hard work comes to naught, so does his paycheck. Yet this highly stressful job, that calls for considerable communication skills and fraught with failure risks, earns the export and import agents around $36,700 a year.
3) Chemical Dependency Counselor 38900
Substance-abuse counselling is listed amongst the most difficult stressful social jobs. It poses lots of emotional challenges and counselors have to work in most unfriendly, unsafe environments. Moreover, watching individuals under their care, most of the time young teens, relapse and fall ill and die, can take a huge emotional toll. Counselors themselves have been known to take counselling to recover from post-work stress syndromes.
A counselor has to deal with addicted individuals. If they have come of their own will, they are slightly easier to handle. It is a sign that they are aware of the problem and are seeking help voluntarily. But most of them have been sent to the counselors by the courts and are legally bound to take it. They are very difficult to handle and they are willing to go to unbelievable lengths to get their daily fix - they can be extremely dangerous.
One would assume that people doing such a valuable social service would be commanding a huge salary. Yet, according to sources, their annual median salary is a mere $ 38,900.
4) Probation Officer
A glance at the working environment of probation officers will be enough to dissuade the toughest of job-hunters from accepting jobs here. Probation officers spend most of their working lives in prisons, courthouses and detention centers. Their duties include supervision and interactions with convicted offenders, some convicted for the most heinous crimes. They have to constantly look behind their shoulders, for many of the offenders harbor grudges and are not averse to seeking revenge.
Most probation officers say they felt relieved when their job tenures were over. Comments range from, the system being challenged, an unhappy place to work and that the only motivation is that you are doing a social job that is keeping away crime from law abiding people and keeping our kids safe.
If these people drew a six-figure salary, I guess no one would grudge them that, but what they take home every year is a measly $39,900.
5) News Reporter
For those who feel that this is a glamorous job will have to do a rethink, if they really know how difficult it is and that the take home annual average pay is a measly $40,900. Reporters have to elicit information from reluctant sources and face lawsuits on charges of being misquoted or defamed. They have no fixed timings and can be called upon to cover breaking stories, whenever they happen. The newspaper industry is facing stiff competition over the years and news reporters have to be on their toes at all times.
