30pc of workers want to leave HK over long hours

30pc of workers want to leave HK over long hours (SCMP) 24th Oct 2007 Wednesday

Employers have to offer their staff a better work-life balance if they want them to stay with their companies or even in Hong Kong, researchers said yesterday.

The “wake-up call” was sounded after a survey in which almost 30 per cent of respondents said they were considering leaving the city because their work schedule left too little time for a personal life.

This is despite a reduction in working hours reported by respondents, an indication that people’s expectations for their leisure time has risen.

Of 1,014 full-time workers questioned in the survey, commissioned by corporate-responsibility group Community Business, 26.9 per cent said “yes” when asked if they would leave Hong Kong to achieve better work-life balance.

“This finding should be a major concern for Hong Kong employers and is perhaps the greatest business case for work-life balance in Hong Kong,” Community Business chief executive Shalini Mahtani said.

“It is a wake-up call for Hong Kong employers. As economies around the globe compete for talent, work-life balance for employees must become a key component of Hong Kong’s competitive advantage.”

The respondents were from more than 20 industries earning salaries ranging from HK$10,000 and up to HK$50,001 or above. Seventy per cent were office staff while the rest were blue-collar workers.

It was the first time the question about the possibility of quitting Hong Kong had been asked in the annual poll, conducted by University of Hong Kong’s Public Opinion Programme.

“The result in a way shows that nearly 30 per cent of Hong Kong workers are not happy with their jobs,” programme director Robert Chung Ting-yiu said.

“We will be able to compare the figures in our next survey to see if employees in Hong Kong are either happier or less satisfied with their work after a year.”

He said the findings were a reminder for employers to promote work-life balance more to stabilise their manpower supply.

The study also found that mean working hours have fallen to 49.2 hours a week from 51.3 hours shown in last year’s poll.

But in the respondents’ view, work-life balance has not improved. They said the ideal split of work and life activity time was 60:40, while it was actually 83:17.

This compared to 61:39 and 84:16, respectively, in last year’s survey. The number of workers who said they led a balanced work and private life also fell from 44 per cent to 42 per cent.

“These figures indicate that though working hours have shortened, work-life balance has not improved,” Dr Chung said.

“As employment rates and job mobility go up, more people have to adapt to a new working environment, coupled with rising expectations on work-life balance.”

In other findings, 82 per cent said they had to work overtime because of workloads, 45 per cent said they needed to support colleagues and 26 per cent said they had to entertain requests from senior management.

More than 25 per cent said they worked overtime because they did not want to be seen being the first to leave the office or leave before their boss, which Ms Mahtani said was worrying.

“Corporate leaders and senior executives should be role models for employees in work-life balance by setting examples, such as leaving on time,” she said.