Malaysia and Singapore have Asia's unhappiest employees

On a 10-point scale, Singapore's workforce rated 5.09 for happiness at work, while Malaysia's workforce was slightly higher at 5.22 - with the scale led by the Philippines at 6.25.

Surveying more than 8,000 employees across Singapore and Malaysia, and over 67,000 in Asia overall, the JobStreet survey rated the countries on decreasing levels of happiness:

1. Philippines - 6.25
2. Indonesia - 6.16
3. Thailand - 5.74
4. Hong Kong - 5.56
5. Vietnam - 5.48
6. Malaysia - 5.22
7. Singapore - 5.09

Across Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, the three factors most responsible to employee happiness remained constant - convenient work location, good relationships with colleagues, and working in a reputable company.

The three factors most likely to lead to employee unhappiness also stayed the same through the three countries - competency of management, lack of promotion and career development, and poor training and development.

By industry, there was good news from HR professionals in Singapore, who ranked among the top three happiest industries, led by sciences and hotels/restaurants respectively.

By job profile, fresh graduates emerged the city-state's happiest group, while the unhappiest demographic lay in the C-suite.

Photo / 123RF