Malaysians Have Low Productivity Despite Long Working Hours, Survey Says

As an average Malaysian, don’t you feel like our lives are a routine of eat, sleep, work, repeat? Actually, it seems like it is mostly occupied by work all the time! Well, apparently this is actually true because according to the results of a new survey by AIA Vitality known as the Healthiest Workplace Survey, Malaysians work longer hours than Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.

Source: human resources online

Based on the survey’s results, we actually work an average of extra 15 hours per week but unfortunately, we have one of the highest percentage of productivity loss. Means we’re working more but aren’t as efficient! In addition, it was also noted that “we are overworked, stressed, lead unhealthy lifestyles, and as a result, are at higher risk of health problems and productivity loss.” Uh-oh!

The survey, which includes 5,369 employees from 47 organisations in urban areas, has some other concerning factors about our health that don’t look so good for us! Here are some of the key takeaways.

Source: aia

1. Almost 64% of employees do less than 150 minutes of physical activity a week, the highest percentage compared to Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia. Most employees are sedentary throughout most of their working hours. We sit down on our butts for way too long!
2. 90% of Malaysians do not eat a balanced diet, which has lead to 12.5% of Malaysian employees being obese.
3. 29% of Malaysian employees are at risk of having one or more chronic conditions, such as a heart or kidney condition, cancer, diabetes, or high blood pressure.
4. It appears that Malaysian employees find it hard to sleep as 67% reported at least one sleep problem. This has lead to us having the the highest percentage of employees who sleep less than seven hours a night at 56%.
5. As for our mental health, 53% of Malaysian employees reported at least one dimension of work-related stress, which is the highest among all four countries.
6. Financial concerns plagued Malaysian employees as well as those in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia. Meanwhile, 20% of Malaysian employees report ‘a lot’ of financial concerns.We know we’re broke!
7. Our high productivity loss are linked to poor employee health and well-being, mainly from absence and presenteeism. FYI, presenteeism is when employee goes to work despite being sick or having morale issues, which leads to lost productivity!
8. Malaysia loses a total of 67 days per employee per year due to presenteeism (58.8 days) while absenteeism accounts for 8.2 days.
9. The average annual cost of health-related absenteeism and presenteeism per organisation is about RM2.7 mil.

Source: human resources online

While this doesn’t sound too promising, the survey did note that employers in Malaysia generally have a good choice of well-being interventions but with areas of improvement in mental health and physical activity.

Take care of your health, peeps! Don’t overwork yourselves and stay active!

Also read: Malaysia Ranks Number 1 In The World For Having Best Healthcare