Young workers in Singapore are feeling the pressure – what should HR be doing to help?
Four in five young professionals in Singapore are experiencing a quarter-life crisis, according to a study by LinkedIn.
Singapore is ranked 4th among 16 countries included in the study.
The survey results suggest that finding a job one is passionate about is the top reason contributing to young professionals’ feelings of anxiety, and possibly resulting in feelings of a quarter-life crisis.
LinkedIn’s study also indicates that young professionals in Singapore face pressures to succeed.
Psychologists define quarter-life crisis as a feeling when someone in his or her twenties to thirties is not satisfied with where they are in their life and feel that time is running out.
In Singapore, a quarter-life crisis is most likely to be felt between the ages of 25 to 28 years old.
For those who have experienced it, about half say it lasted for up to a period of one year, while a third say they are still experiencing it.
“The study seems to suggest a prevalent feeling of ‘performance anxiety’ amongst young professionals which make up a significant part of our workforce,” said Roger Pua, senior director, brand marketing and communications (APAC & China) at LinkedIn.
“It’s important that they are able to manage it so it improves their well-being and productivity both at the personal and professional levels.”
Specifically, more than half of the respondents also revealed they want a career mentor but are limited by the lack of connections to find one on their own, which explains why only 8% of all respondents have a career mentor.
Not surprisingly, most professionals turn to friends, family and partners for career advice, with one in 10 saying they use the internet/social media to get answers.
“As our study suggests, professionals want a career mentor, and they could want it for very different reasons. My own advice, having lived through my own quarter-life crisis, is to over-index on the present and do the best you can,” Pua said.
