SINGAPORE: An extensive new study, released in time for the country’s 59th birthday, shows the current attitudes toward work and culture in Singapore, including mixed feelings about work.
For example, while 78 per cent of the Singaporeans who participated in McCann Worldgroup Singapore’s Truth Study, the Truth About Singapore, said that they are proud of the company they work for, 62 per cent agree that their job can feel pointless at times, the highest among all countries surveyed.
In contrast, 46 per cent of participants in the United Kingdom, 41 per cent in Japan, and 32 per cent in France agreed that their job can feel pointless.
“Singaporeans are increasingly disengaged about their career. This has made many reduce work down to a just a job,” the study says.
Furthermore, more than half of the Singaporeans surveyed—55 per cent—said they daydream often about quitting, the second highest among all countries in the study. In the UK, 46 per cent had the same response, while in Japan it was 43 per cent and in France, 34 per cent.
The survey quotes a Reddit user in Singapore as saying, “From what I see among my peers & online, NOONE (sic) seems to be happy with work, be it people, money, time, etc.”
“My Malaysian friend has a life and gets to see his family and children. He can watch his kids grow up and has time for friends. On the other hand, my Singaporean friend sometimes can’t even see his kids for the whole week,” a TikTok user was quoted as saying.
Stress is also high among Singaporean workers, with the McCann Worldgroup study noting that stress is one of the causes of absenteeism from work. It showed that almost one in six Singaporeans use the full allocation of 14 sick days a year.
Interestingly, more Singaporeans are “divorcing” themselves from their jobs because they do not wish their career to be their identity. While 27 per cent of respondents resonated with the statement:
“What I do for a living is critical to who I am and my life,” a far greater number, 73 per cent, agreed with the following: “I want a job/work that lets me live the life I want outside of work.” This is higher than the global average of 62 per cent.
“I think there are more people looking for [benefits such as] flexible work arrangements and prioritising them over other benefits offered by employers…
We know there are candidates who would choose another job offer for greater flexibility in work arrangements at the expense of salary and other corporate benefits,” the study quotes Kathleen Seah, Director, Human Capital, PhillipCapital, as saying. /TISG