What an unhealthy relationship with work does to employees

For many working people, the desire to reduce the amount of time they spend on work is not a sign of generalised laziness, but rather an expression of the difficulties they face because of their careers. Photo: AFP

Working hours have declined overall in recent decades, but many feel that they have intensified. As a result, employees often have the impression that their careers eclipse everything else. This has an impact on their level of satisfaction with their working lives, as a new survey reveals.

The US computer and printer manufacturer HP set out to understand whether work is still a vector of well-being and fulfillment. To do this, the firm surveyed over 12,000 office workers in 12 countries, including France, India, the United States and Japan. Of them, only 27% felt they had a healthy relationship with work. Overall, working people in emerging economies are more satisfied with the place their careers occupy in their lives. For example, 50% of workers in India say they have a healthy relationship with their job, compared with just 5% of those in Japan.