PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess different issues for promoting job satisfaction as well as improvement of work efficiency in the shrimp industry of Bangladesh.Design/methodology/approachThe random sampling (RS) technique has been used for collecting data. A total of 132 data has been collected through a structured questionnaire from shrimp industry’s worker, working in different shrimp cultivating industry of three specific cultivating areas of the Southwestern part in Bangladesh such as Khulna, Satkhira and Bagerhat. The survey was conducted between June 2017 and July 2017.FindingsThis study shows that eight factors significantly influence job satisfaction among the shrimp workers in Bangladesh. Among these factors, four are relating to non-pecuniary issues such as workers’ appointment by appointment letter, job security, weekly holiday and safety of health and skin, and remaining four factors are relating to pecuniary issues such as legitimate payment for overtime, compensation, yearly increment and salary.Originality/valueThis study helps in assessing the opinion of the workers’ job satisfaction as well as policy planning for the development of the shrimp industry’s worker labour management.