Singapore workers are the unhappiest in Southeast Asia, job survey says

SINGAPORE: A sizable 19 per cent, or nearly one in five, of Singaporean employees are unhappy at work, according to a survey from Jobstreet and Jobsdb by SEEK.

The polls involved more than 5,000 workers in different countries in Southeast Asia.

The number of dissatisfied Singaporean workers is considerably higher than in Malaysia (12 per cent), the Philippines (11 per cent), Thailand and Hong Kong (9 per cent), and Indonesia (4 per cent).

Meanwhile, the global average is 10 per cent.

In Singapore, over half of the respondents (52 per cent) said that inadequate salary and benefits are on top of their list of reasons for their unhappiness at work, while over a third (36 per cent) noted a lack of recognition and a limited scope of opportunities for career advancement.

Furthermore, only 14 per cent of the poll respondents in Singapore said they believe the job they have at present is a good match for their skills and aspirations.

The situation is harder for lower wage earners, 21 per cent of whom say their current employment does not align with their skills and aspirations at all.

Over half (52 per cent) of higher wage earners say their present job matches their skills and aspirations very well.

“This mismatch between job roles and employee skills and aspirations could be connected to the broader challenges faced by Singaporeans in finding a satisfying job,” Jobstreet and Jobsdb by SEEK said.

Furthermore, almost three in five (57 per cent) of Singaporean workers feel that finding a job matching their skills and preferences is more challenging now than when they first started working.

Perhaps even more interestingly, over half of Singaporean employees say finding the right employment is as difficult as finding the right long-term partner. More than a quarter (27 per cent) say it’s much harder.

Nevertheless, nearly three quarters (72 per cent) of the Singaporean employees polled said they would stick to a job they’ve outgrown for over one year before they look for a new career opportunity, even if 79 per cent said they would be open to drastic career changes.

While the poll results were released a few months ago, Seasia Stats published an infographic about them on Sunday (Sept 29), which led to a fresh round of comments from netizens.

“Every country has a problem. Singapore has low satisfaction, and Indonesia has a low salary. Let’s choose what problem we want,” wrote one.

Another chimed in by saying, “Singaporeans should try working in any of these countries if they can. They would be happy they’re Singaporean lol.” /TISG

Read also: Singaporeans say SG people are always unhappy because they’re always in a “rat race chasing cold hard cash”