Singaporeans overworked, more stressed: survey

SINGAPORE: Two—thirds of Singapore workers said their workload has increased when compared with six months ago, according to a survey by online job portal JobsCentral.

Of them, 83.3 per cent said that their work stress has also increased in the last six months.

Only 1.1 per cent said that stress level has dropped, while 15.5 per cent indicated that it has stayed the same.

A total of 2,281 respondents took the survey and respondents consisted of employed individuals from all levels of occupation and income groups.

Sixty per cent of the respondents reported that they stay in the office for at least an hour after work hours at least three days a week.

One in three said they bring their work home to complete, 22 per cent said they have worked from home while on sick leave, and close to one—fifth said they have worked while on vacation.

Ms Michelle Lim, chief operating officer of JobsCentral Group, said: "Singapore’s workplace environment is a tough and demanding one. Workers place career as one of the top priorities in their lives and often make personal sacrifices for job advancements.

"On the other hand, employers faced with increasing manpower cost embark on the unending quest for higher productivity. It is not surprising that our workers are feeling more stressed and working longer hours."

She added: "Technology such as 3G and wifi on smartphones, tablets and laptops means that you can take work with you wherever you may be. And it also means that employers have the expectation that you are available even after office hours.

"However, both employees and employers should learn to respect after—work hours and reasonable allocation of work in order to avoid burning out in the long—term."

The JobsCentral survey results also found that higher earners have more "workaholic" tendencies.

They are more inclined to work longer hours, bring work home to complete, work while they are on sick leave and even while on vacation.

Of those who said they clock hours after official knock—off time, most earn more than S$5,000 per month.

In another section of the survey, it showed that almost one in four Singapore workers said that they feel bullied at work.

Seventy—four per cent of the respondents who said they were bullied indicated that colleagues are the biggest bully.

Sixty—two per cent of them said that they were bullied by their superiors and 21 per cent said they were bullied by their clients.

The largest group of workers (34 per cent) who said they are bullied are aged 41 to 50, and more females (27 per cent) than males (21 per cent) also felt the effects of bullying behaviours.

Administrative staff were found to be more vulnerable to bullying than PMETs.

Common bullying behaviours reported by respondents include unfair and biased allocation of workload, verbal abuse and personal attacks, ostracising, wrongful accusation, abuse of seniority or power, and gossip.

— CNA/cc