Chinese workers are getting more stressed, reveals latest research by workspace provider Regus. The survey, canvassing the opinions of over 16,000 professionals across the globe, found that three quarters (75%) of Chinese workers say their stress levels have risen over the past year.
A number of national factors such as continuing instability in the world economy are thought to have fuelled this growing pressure and respondents confirm that most stress triggers are of a professional rather than personal nature, with their job, personal finances and customers topping the list of causes.
The research also focused on possible solutions and found over half (55%) of Chinese respondents identify flexible working as a way of cutting stress.
Key findings are:
Main causes of stress are: work (73%), personal finances (39%) and customer/clients (37%);?55% of respondents say flexible working reduces stress;
Over two thirds (68%) of respondents think flexible working is more family- friendly;
Small business workers were more likely to be stressed by customers (43%) than large business workers (23%), but were less vexed by management (15%) than their counterparts in larger firms (39%);
With 44% of respondents saying that flexible working is also cheaper than fixed location working and 88% that it improves productivity it would seem that helping staff to de-stress is also highly cost-effective;
Hans Leijten, Regus's vice-president, East Asia, comments: “Without a doubt stressed-out workers are unhappy and unhealthy workers too, so businesses that want to help their staff lead more rewarding lives cannot fail to analyse and tackle levels of stress within their organisation. Yet the heavy toll of stress falls not only on workers, but also on businesses as they that find their staff is unable to perform as required, needs more sick leave and is less efficient. In addition to this, in China the so-called ‘naked resignation’, which consists in leaving a job without having another one lined up, is becoming increasingly common as younger workers strive for a better work-life balance.”
“Confirming previous Regus research showing that 58% of workers feel healthier directly as a result of flexible working, respondents clearly identify flexible working as one possible solution to their high stress levels. In addition to this they also report flexibility is more family friendly, helping improve their overall work-life balance and well-being. Add to this that flexible working is believed to improve productivity and to cost less than traditional office working and the case for helping employees to de-stress by increasing flexibility becomes substantial.”
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Chinese workers are getting more stressed, reveals latest research by workspace provider Regus. The survey, canvassing the opinions of over 16,000 professionals across the globe, found that three quarters (75%) of Chinese workers say their stress levels have risen over the past year.
