Survey on the Status of School Cafeteria Workers in the Jeonnam Region based on Their Work Experience

This study was conducted to investigate the job status of school cafeteria workers in the Jeonnam region according to their work experience. The survey was divided into five categories: General information, work environment, job analysis, safety management, and job satisfaction. The most common school type in which the cooks worked was ‘elementary school,’ the most common number of meals served was ‘one meal,’ the most common age was ‘over 50 years,’ the most common work experience was ‘over 10 years,’ and the most common employment condition was ‘full-time.’ The most common working hours for the workers were ‘less than 8 hours,’ the most common number of people served was ‘less than 500 people,’ and the most common overtime hours were ‘none.’ In the case of high schools, the most common working hours were ‘more than 8 hours.’ The longer the work experience, the higher the emergency response capabilities, stability of work as a cook, and hospital visit experience. The average overall job satisfaction score of school cafeteria workers was 2.27 points, and among the job satisfaction factors, ‘pride in the workplace’ was the highest, while ‘work environment and welfare facilities,’ ‘human relationships,’ and ‘compensation’ were the lowest. The longer the work experience, the higher the job satisfaction. The results of this study show that school cafeteria workers with a long working experience have a better ability to deal with accidents during cooking and higher levels of safety management and job satisfaction. Therefore, it is thought that an appropriate environment and compensation should be provided that encourages long-term work in cafeterias.