Stressed Singaporean employees are least likely to ditch their jobs: survey

Moreover, they put in longer working hours due to motivation.

Three in five or 64% of Singapore employees are satisfied with their jobs, according to the latest employee pulse study by experience management platform Qualtrics.

It said in a report that employees clocking in more hours at work were least likely to leave their jobs, despite experiencing significant amounts of stress.

"As opposed to popular beliefs, long working hours do not necessarily contribute to high employee turnover rates," Qualtrics said.

For instance, 69% of employees in the travel and leisure industry indicated that despite working more than 45 hours a week, only 8% percent of them are at risk of leaving their jobs. In addition, only 13% of employees in the utilities sector are at risk of leaving their jobs despite the long working hours.

Most Singapore employees remain highly positive despite the stressful work environment, Qualtrics said.

About 38% of employees in the healthcare, 38% in the public sector, and 31% in retail feel stressed and overwhelmed by work "most" or "all" of the time. Yet, they remain one of the most motivated workforce – healthcare at 44%, public sector at 44%, and retail at 50%.

In fact, 61% of Singapore employees look forward to going to work "nearly always" or "most of the time."

On a macro perspective, 20% of employees in Singapore have been found to be less satisfied with their work-life balance as compared with their regional counterparts in Hong Kong, with 18%, and Malaysia, with 16%.

"This raised an alarming issue for Singapore companies to address especially when employee engagement has been falling consistently from 2014 to 2016, according to Mercer’s Singapore Employee Engagement Index report," Qualtrics said.