EMPLOYEES worldwide spend 81,396 hours of their lives at work, but those in the Philippines were found to have the highest stress levels in South-East Asia in 2021.
While workers everywhere, polled by analytics firm Gallup, said life at work is “not well”, those in the Philippines are among the most stressed out in the world.
This was revealed by Gallup in its “State of the Global Workplace: 2022 Report”, which reached the conclusion that “stress among the world’s workers reached an all-time high – again”.
It found that in 2021, 44% of employees worldwide experienced “a lot of stress the previous day,” higher than 43% in 2020, 38% in 2019, 37% in 2018 and 29% in 2017.
“Those who agreed with this item may not have been stressed about work, but they were certainly stressed at work. Inevitably, the stress workers feel impacts the workplace,” the Gallup report said.
The survey involved 68,000 workers in over 140 countries.
Half of 1,000 Filipinos aged 15 years and older who were surveyed for the report said “yes” when asked whether they experienced stress most of the day.
At 50%, worker stress in the Philippines was the highest in South-East Asia in 2021. While it was three points lower than 53% in 2020, it was still higher than the global average.
Thailand also saw stress taking its toll on its workers, with 41% saying they experienced a lot of stress the previous day. Likewise, in the ranking were Cambodia (38%), Myanmar (37%) and Vietnam (37%).
The report, released yearly, “represents the collective voice of the global employee” regarding work engagement and even the negative emotions they experienced.
Gallup said that while 2021 saw declines in worry, sadness and anger levels, all these negative emotions, like stress, remained above pre-pandemic levels.
It stressed that 40% of employees worldwide experienced “worry” last year; 23% experienced “sadness,” while 21% experienced “anger”. These were lower than the 41%, 25% and 24% in 2021.
Gallup said Filipino workers were clearly not spared from these miseries as 32% said “yes” when asked whether they experienced a lot of sadness the previous day, the second-highest in South-East Asia, next to Cambodia (41%).
With 24% of its employees saying they experienced a lot of anger the previous day, the Philippines was ranked third for daily anger, next to Laos (34%) and Myanmar (27%).
The Philippines, meanwhile, ranked seventh in South-East Asia when it came to daily worry. The first on the list was Cambodia (50%), while Singapore (21%) had the least percentage of workers who experienced a lot of worry.
While Filipino workers’ experience of negative emotions was high, the Philippines was first in a ranking of South-East Asian countries when it came to employee engagement, with 31% of employees saying they were engaged at work.
But this was one point lower than 32% in 2020. Worldwide, the average employee engagement rate in 2021 was 21%, while the average life evaluation rate was 33%.
“Engaged employees are highly involved in and enthusiastic about their work and workplace.
“They are psychological ‘owners,’ drive performance and innovation, and move the organisation forward,” Gallup said.
Gallup said 29% of Filipino workers were thriving in 2021, higher than the 27% in 2020. It was next to Singapore (38%), Thailand (36%), Vietnam 35%) and Malaysia (30%). — Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
