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The workforce in Singapore is the unhappiest one among five countries polled, a recent survey found.

The survey, conducted by Employer Hero, a human resource software company, looked into the stress levels of employers and employees, as well as whether mental health support is deemed sufficient in the workplace.

How the survey was conducted

The survey was conducted in the first half of 2021 in the following five countries:

1. Singapore (conducted in May 2021)
2. United Kingdom
3. Australia
4. New Zealand
5. Malaysia

A total of 5,715 respondents were surveyed online using Dynata panels.

Out of which, 1,014 respondents, a mix of employees and employers, were from Singapore.

A Workplace Happiness score was derived for each country using Employer Hero's internal survey methodology that's similar to the Net Promoter Score, the company said.

Employees were asked to rate their current happiness at work on a scale of 0 to 10. The scores were used to assess employee engagement.

The survey aims to understand the mental health impact due to Covid-19 on employers and employees in these countries.

Singapore the unhappiest among five countries

The survey results showed that 48 per cent of employees in Singapore stated that they are unhappy in the workplace and would not recommend it as a place to work, Employer Hero's press release stated.

This is higher than Malaysia (42 percent), New Zealand (41 per cent), and Australia (40 per cent).

The same percentage of employees in the UK felt the same.

Mental health concerns

A total of 71 per cent of employees in Singapore have felt stressed in the past six months amid the pandemic, while 61 per cent of employers felt stressed in the same period.

Physical and financial health are employees' main concerns.

There is also a discrepancy between how employers and employees in Singapore feel about the mental health support provided in the workplace.

Some 68 per cent of employers said they are supportive of employees' mental health, but only 41 per cent of employees agreed with that.

Some 62 per cent of employers felt there are sufficient tools and processes to measure wellness at their workplace, but only 39 per cent of employees shared that sentiment, the survey results revealed.

Two-third of the respondents, both employers and employees, agree that there is a mental health stigma in the workplace.

Some 50 per cent of the employers stated that mental health will be a focus for their organisation in 2021, which Employer Hero deemed as a positive sign.

Top image by Andrew Koay