Working for a company that supports work-life balance, having managers who acknowledge good work and getting the right training to work effectively are the three top reasons for employee engagement, the Qualtrics Employee Pulse Study found.
Fifty-three percent of workers in Asia-Pacific are engaged, broken down into 57% for New Zealand, 56% for Australia, 51% for Malaysia, 45% for Singapore and 40% for Hong Kong.
Employees in both healthcare and travel & leisure are 60% engaged. Least engaged are those in media & advertising and in public relations, where just 40% of workers are engaged.
Given these, some 15% of workers in the Asia-Pacific are looking to leave their current jobs in the next two years. The number is highest in Hong Kong, with 21% looking to leave. Per industry, retail workers are also most likely to look for a new job (21%) followed by media & advertising (20%) and finance (18%).
On the other hand, 70% of healthcare workers are likely to stay on.
Those intending to stay cite their employers’ support for work-life balance, the right level of training, and the trust they have for their colleagues.
“Work-life balance is not a 50-50 split,” said Steve Bennetts of Qualtrics’ Employee Experience. “It’s about understanding all these experiences where the workplace and personal life intersect with each other.”
Other findings:
- Nearly a quarter, or 24%, of workers in the region are stressed or emotional because of work. Most stressed are those in the telecom sector (44), while least stressed are those in manufacturing (19%).
- Forty-five percent of Asia-Pacific workers look forward to going to work, with New Zealand workers the most driven (54%) while those from Hong Kong the least (34%). Those in utilities (56%) look forward to going to work the most while those in the public sector and in retail (both 28%) the least.
- Again, work-life balance is a factor in looking forward to going to work, followed by a manager that helps with tasks, the ability to try out new things on the job, and having a manager who helps resolve work-related issues.
Information from 4,505 workers in various industries around the world was used for the Qualtrics Employee Pulse Survey.
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