Cutthroat competition: 1 in 2 Singapore workers will ditch friendships to get promotions

Millennials are the most competitive of the lot.

There appears to be little room for friendship in Singapore’s intesely competitive corporate environment. A survey released by LinkedIn revealed that more than half of Singapore’s workers would sacrifice their friendships for a chance to climb the career ladder.

According to the Relationships@Work study, 51.6 percent of Singaporean respondents said that they would at least consider sacrificing their friendship with a colleague if it would result in a promotion, while 20.4 percent of professionals reported that friendships with colleagues actually make them more competitive at work.

“More than one in five (22.0 percent) had an ulterior motive for socializing with their fellow colleagues, thinking it would help them move up the career ladder. Millennials were the most likely to think so (40.9 percent),” stated the survey.

Here’s more from LinkedIn:

That element of competition notwithstanding, the study found direct correlations between having friends at work and being happy, motivated and productive.

The majority of professionals in Singapore (60.9 percent) reported having a colleague who looks out for them, above the global average of 48.5 percent. Mentors were about twice as common as work spouses; with 35.5 percent of workers in Singapore reporting they had a work mother/father versus 17.0 percent reporting a work husband/wife.

Co-workers often doubled up as confidants – professionals in Singapore reported confiding in colleagues over partners or friends; about topics ranging from family issues (32.5 percent) to relationship advice (29.4 percent).

Millennials – more than any other age group – reported that friendships in the workplace impacted them in a positive way, making them feel happy (67.7 percent) and productive (39.8 percent).

This was in direct contrast to baby boomers, who were far more likely (42.9 percent) to report that their work performance was not affected by friendships with colleagues, compared to millennials (14.0 percent).