Resilient but disengaged? Report says ‘functional disengagement’ rises among Singapore workers

SINGAPORE: A new report found that Singapore workers are showing signs of so-called “functional disengagement” in the workplace, where they may be showing up but not pushing as hard.

While they have become more resilient, with stress management rising by 10.4 percentage points and productivity up by 2.9 points, their mental well-being improved by just shy of one percentage point, while employee engagement fell by 1.1 points, even as global figures rose by 10.2 points and 2.6 points, respectively, according to The Edge Singapore, citing Singapore-based workplace mental health platform Intellect’s latest Workplace Wellbeing 360 report.

The report, which tracked 13 personal attributes alongside organisational metrics, found that eight of these declined year-on-year among Singapore workers, with the steepest drops seen in self-efficacy (3.2 points), goal orientation (2.9 points) and sense of purpose (2.6 points).

Optimism, one of the strongest predictors of employee engagement, also dropped 1.4 points.

Just last week, a separate survey from global recruitment consultancy and talent solutions firm Robert Walters on LinkedIn found that workers in the little red dot were experiencing what it called “quiet cracking” from pressure, job uncertainty and stalled professional growth.

Netizens, however, were unsurprised, arguing that it is expected since job performance nowadays no longer guarantees job security or advancement.

In a previous report by The Independent Singapore, locals even questioned whether workers in the city-state treat burnout as a badge of honour — not just normalised but ‘valorised’ — with some proudly talking about working late and burning their weekends. /TISG

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