Thursday, April 13, 2006
Meet Asia's most overworked people
Meet Asia's most overworked people
72% of employees in S'pore work 50 hours a week and face increased stress
Lin Yanqin
yanqinl@newstoday.com.sg HERE'S the bad news which you've probably experienced first-hand: Employees in Singapore are the most overworked and burnt-out in Asia.
According to a report on employment trends in Asia — namely China, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore — by employment management company Hudson, 72 per cent of the 685 respondents in Singapore indicated that they worked at least 50 hours a week.
A significant increase from 64 per cent in the same period last year, this is higher than markets surveyed in Asia — even Japan which has a reputation for being a nation of workaholics.
Nearly half the Singaporean respondents said they work slightly longer hours than they did two years ago. An additional 13 per cent said they are working "significantly more".
Most Singaporeans cited an increased workload as a cause of stress. Four in 10 said that they felt burnt out. In terms of stress levels, employees in Singapore scored way above China and Japan, lagging behind people from Hong Kong by only 2 percentage points.
However, it's not all bad news. The companies they work for are probably enjoying growth and are hiring staff.
Said Hudson Asia chief executive officer Gary Lazzarotto: "The overall picture is very positive … the downside is a candidate-short market, leading to longer hours for staff and an increase in employee burnout."
One key reason cited by companies for employee burnout is the difficulty in recruiting new staff, the report — a key socio-economical indicator of the employee marketplace — said.
"Singapore has a very limited talent pool, mainly because of the small population. And with the Government pushing for growth in areas such as finance and IT, there's a candidate shortage problem, especially for bilingual employees," said Mr Lazzarotto.
Two measures considered most effective by respondents to curb burnout are eliminating non-essential work and hiring more staff. "Ultimately, it comes down to human resource management to deal with these problems," said Mr Lazzarotto.
If burnout problems are not addressed, he warned, it could lead to problems such as low productivity. "Even a higher salary might not attract people if they have to work 60 hours a week," he said.
*HeY! Wat the Fucking Hell MAN! YEAH i Totally Agee TAT! haha....We Are overworked wit increased stress !!!!!!!!! Damn SINGAPORE!
Everywhen please don't close your eyes.
