Do Singaporeans work too hard?

Posted on October 17, 2016

Singapore has a legal standard of 44 hours per workweek. However, according to the Working Hours Survey of 2014, 82 per cent of Singaporeans work longer than their contractual hours, and many of them said they felt “culturally obliged”.

Singapore boasts the reputation of being the second most competitive country in the world and the best investment destination in Asia. Thus, the need to constantly maintain these achievements results in the work culture we see today in Singapore, were it is not an uncommon sight that office lights are still on at 10pm in the evening.

Why are the working hours in Singapore recorded to be so long?

The answer is unproductivity during work. In the 2014 global quarterly survey measuring job satisfaction, 75 per cent of the surveyed employees said that their job is only a means for living. Since they have little passion for their job, it makes sense that they also have little incentives to be productive at work.

Also, many Singaporeans feel obliged to stay in office for longer time due to the increase in “presenteeism”. Employees feel the need to “show their face” to their boss in order to present a diligent and passionate image of themselves, since most of the time they devote in the office is spent unproductively. Long coffee and lunch breaks, and the increasing addiction to smartphones have also added on to the long work hours.


Category(s):Happiness, Workplace Issues

Source material from Asean Today