The primary purpose of this study was to examine job satisfaction of restaurant employees
working in nonsupervisory positions. A survey instrument including the Minnesota Satisfaction
Questionnaire (MSQ) short form and demographic questions was used in the study.
Factor analysis was conducted to investigate the dimensions of theMSQshort form. A total
of 798 usable surveys from 52 restaurants, representing a 50.5% response rate, were included
in the analysis. The factor analysis resulted in a four-factor structure of the MSQ
short form. A low level of satisfaction was indicated by 50.2% of the respondents, whereas
25.6% indicated an average level and 24.2% a high level of job satisfaction. Security was
ranked as the highest and compensation was ranked as the lowest of the examined items.
Significant differences in job satisfaction scores were found between the pairs within the
subgroups of age, job tenure, gender, and job type.