SINGAPORE: According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report, Singapore, along with Cambodia, has the third-highest number of workers who experience stress in Southeast Asia, with 38 per cent of workers saying this.
Myanmar (48 per cent) topped the list, followed by the Philippines (46 per cent).
Myanmar also topped the list for daily workplace anger, with 31 per cent saying they felt angry for a significant portion of the day. Singapore ranked eighth, with only 15 per cent having this response.
Singapore also had (14 per cent) of workers who say they experience a lot of sadness, ranking eighth among nine Southeast Asian countries (there was no data for Brunei and Timor-Leste).
For Cambodia, this ranked first, with 36 per cent of employees saying they felt sadness during their workday.
The Gallup report, released earlier this month, looks at employees’ experience globally, polling more than 183,000 business units across 53 industries and 90 countries.
Its most important takeaway relates to workers’ engagement, which is 23 per cent, the same as last year. Sixty-two per cent of workers are not engaged, and 15 per cent are actively disengaged.
Interestingly, the key to worker engagement is having a great manager at the business-unit level.
The report shows that not having engaged employees means US$8.9 trillion (S$12 trillion) in lost productivity across the globe each year.
Among the countries polled in Southeast Asia, Singapore has the lowest (13 per cent) level of employee engagement. The Philippines ranks first (35 per cent), followed by Thailand (29 per cent) and Laos (27 per cent).
“Employee engagement reflects the involvement and enthusiasm of employees in their work and workplace.
Employees can become engaged when their basic needs are met, and they have a chance to contribute, a sense of belonging, and opportunities to learn and grow,” the report reads.
However, when it comes to life evaluation, Singapore employees rank second in Southeast Asia. Fifty-one per cent of Vietnamese respondents are thriving, while 39 per cent of Singaporeans had this response.
At the lowest end of the scale are employees in Cambodia, where only 13 per cent appear to be thriving. Singapore also ranked low among Southeast Asian countries when it comes to job climate and intent to leave.
When asked whether now is a good time to look for a new job, only 44 per cent of Singaporean respondents said yes, compared to the Philippines, where 69 per cent had this response.
Additionally, 38 per cent of Singaporeans said they were watching for or actively seeking new jobs, while the Philippines had the highest number who had this response, 64 per cent. /TISG
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