Summary

      The general objective of this thesis is to study empirically the job satisfaction of qualified construction professionals in the Valencian Community, from their own perspective, and through a qualitative approach. The aim is to find out how these professionals live, feel and perceive their work activity; to analyse whether they are satisfied with their daily work routine; to describe the aspects that generate greater job satisfaction and dissatisfaction, as well as to provide an in-depth analysis of topical issues such as work stress and the reconciliation of work and family life, among others. Nevertheless, the results are not intended to generalise or predict future situations or alternative cases. On the contrary, the interest focuses on the analysis of specific cases according to their particular temporal and local characteristics, and from the information provided by the interviewed people, hence the qualitative methodology and its exploratory nature.
      
      The methodological strategy used to obtain data is the in-depth interview. This has made it possible to explore the meanings of the individuals studied, as well as to perceive details and nuances expressed with their own language and feelings. Besides, based on a gradual sampling strategy, a sample of forty construction technicians, architects and building engineers of different age, sex and professional experience has been selected and interviewed. The interviews were recorded and transcribed in full for subsequent analysis and interpretation.
      
      In general, it is concluded that the professionals interviewed are satisfied with their jobs in the construction sector; they enjoy it and describe their overall work experience in positive terms. The most important satisfaction factors are those related to the nature and content of the job, i.e. to intrinsic aspects such as identity, interest, the variety and significance of the tasks performed, the recognition achieved, and daily challenges. On the contrary, the most common dissatisfaction factors have an extrinsic nature and relate to job context. More than half of the interviewed professionals suffer from stress at their current post, and describe this sector as stressing, mainly due to deadline compliance, work overload, responsibility, economic aspects and long working hours. On the other hand, the site manager position is identified as the most stressful one. In turn, more than half of the participants find it very difficult to balance their work and personal life, so that they experience some degree of conflict between work and family due to unreasonable working hours and excessive devotion to work.