A new survey of workers in Singapore has shown that in comparison with their counterparts from Indonesia and the Philippines, they rated themselves the lowest when it comes to mental health, job satisfaction and quality of life.
The “Hustle Culture” survey conducted by Milieu Insight, a consumer research and analytics firm, and Intellect, a mental health company, showed that in spite of fewer or equal number of hours spent at work, employees in Singapore are the least satisfied with aspects of their work and life among respondents from the three countries.
“Hustle culture” is defined as working as hard as possible for the sake of advancing one’s career.
While the hustle was seen in a positive light a few years ago, attitudes may have changed.
Conducted last July, 3,000 employees who work at least 35 hours per week participated in the survey, whose results were published on Tuesday (Sent 13).
It showed that more than half, or 52 per cent, of respondents in Singapore, said they have a poor quality of life. In Indonesia and the Philippines, 37 and 26 per cent of the respondents held the same sentiment.
When it comes to job satisfaction, 26 per cent of Singaporeans said they are dissatisfied with their jobs, while only 17 per cent of Filipinos and 15 per cent of Indonesians said they feel this way.
Fifty-six per cent of Filipino workers and 52 per cent of Indonesian workers reported high engagement at work, while only 42 per cent of workers in Singapore said the same.
Poor quality of sleep was also highest among Singaporean workers (30 per cent). Nineteen per cent of the Indonesian respondents and 16 per cent of Filipinos reported experiencing this.
As for mental health, 78 per cent of Filipino respondents and 68 per cent of Indonesian workers rated their mental health to be “good”, “very good”, or “excellent.”
In contrast, only 57 per cent of Singaporeans reported this.
However, across the region, half of the workers surveyed said they have felt burnt out at least a few times per month.
Additionally, 41 per cent said that they “often” or “always” feel that they can’t stop thinking about work.
The COO of Milieu Insight, Mr Stephen Tracy, noted the change in attitude over the past few years, saying that in 2020, a similar study was held in Singapore and that 52 per cent of respondents aged 16 to 24 “actually embraced the idea of hustle culture and working as hard as possible to advance one’s career.”
“Two years on, I think this poll sheds light on how opinions toward work have evolved, and how the effects of the pandemic and other global issues, such as inflation and a looming recession, may be weighing on the younger generations,” Mr Tracy was quoted in Rice Media as saying. /TISG