Objective To examine job satisfaction, self-evaluated work engagement and their influencing factors among staff in centers for disease control and prevention (CDCs) at various administrative levels in Beijing municipality for promoting job satisfaction and working performance of the staff.

Methods We conducted a self-administered anonymous survey among 644 staff in CDCs in Beijing municipality using a self-designed questionnaire in September 2018.

Results Totally 582 participants completed the survey, with a response rate of 90.4%. Among the respondents, the overall rate of job satisfaction was 89.2% and the proportion of respondents being satisfied and very satisfied was 41.6% and that of being basically satisfied was 47.6%. There were 36.8%, 18.4%, and 12.0% of the respondents reporting satisfaction to interpersonal relationship, career development, and training for their job. Univariate analysis indicated that the respondents with intermediate or primary professional titles had a significantly lower satisfaction to career development compared to those with senior titles (P < 0.05). Of the respondents, 82.0% reported perceived job-related stress; 27.9% and 54.1% reported high and moderate stress; and the top three sources of job-related stress were low salary, difficulty in professional promotion, and heavy working. The contribution of salary to perceived stress differed significantly by gender, age, and professional title (all P < 0.05); the contribution of salary to perceived stress was significantly higher among the male respondents and the respondents at elder age and with senior professional titles (P < 0.05 for all).

Conclusion The job satisfaction is at a high level but highly perceived job-related stress needs to be concerned among staff in CDCs in Beijing municipality.