Hong Kong’s IT workers spend the least amount of time globally bored on the job.
IT employees spend less than three hours a week bored at work, according to their managers
- Hong Kong IT workers spend the least amount of time bored at work globally.
- Whilst 92% of Hong Kong managers say their staff are bored at work, they feel their employees only spend an average of 7.5% of their week bored at work.
- The top three reasons why Hong Kong employers think their employees are bored at work are: they don’t feel challenged (57%), the nature of the work is not interesting (41%), and too many meetings (32%).
Even while having the longest working hours in the world with an average of 50.1 weekly working hours [1], new independent research from specialised recruiter Robert Half has found the city’s IT workers spend the least amount of time globally bored on the job.
According to the research, while the majority (92%) of Hong Kong CIOs say their staff are bored at some point during the work week, the average amount of time spent feeling this way is 7.5% - which represents three hours a week for someone working an 8-hour day [2] and represents a global low in comparison to other countries.
This is in stark comparison to IT workers in Belgium, whose managers estimate spend five hours (5.0) bored on the job every week, followed by Germany (4.9), Singapore (4.8), France (4.8), Brazil (4.8), the UK (4.6), and Australia (3.9).
While new IT initiatives, such as cyber-security, automation and increased technological investment are keeping IT workers busy, the main reasons why Hong Kong employers feel their staff are bored on the job are they don’t feel challenged by the work they do (57%), the nature of their work is not interesting (41%), there are too many or poorly executed meetings (32%), they don’t enjoy interacting with their colleagues (23%) and there isn’t enough work to do (20%).
Adam Johnston, Managing Director of Robert Half Hong Kong said: “While the entire Hong Kong workforce is known for its strong work ethic, it is not surprising that due to the accelerated pace of the IT industry Hong Kong’s technology workers are highly engaged in their role, leaving little time for workplace boredom. Hong Kong business leaders should rejoice at these high levels of engagement, as the impact on organisational productivity from consistently disengaged staff can ultimately lead to lacklustre business results and high staff turnover – as bored employees are more likely to look for a new job that is more challenging and interesting.”
“While avoiding boredom in the workplace is a shared responsibility between the employer and the employee, companies need to identify what the main motivators are for their staff to keep them engaged, and ensure this is a continuous process. In doing this, Hong Kong companies will be more successful at motivating and retaining employees.”
“It’s also important to remember that improving staff engagement starts at the recruitment stage, finding IT candidates who are the right fit for the organisation and who are genuinely excited about their work. Work ethic, integrity and a positive attitude are all qualities hiring managers need to identify during the recruitment process in order to bring employees on board who will thrive in their organisation.”
[1] http://www.chinadailyasia.com/hknews/2016-05/25/content_15439024.html
[2] Calculated based on a full-time employee working an 8-hour day (40-hour work week).
##
About the research
The annual study is developed by Robert Half and was conducted in June-July 2017 by an independent research firm, surveying 1117 CIOs/CTOs in Hong Kong, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, UAE, France, Germany, Singapore, Switzerland, The Netherlands and the UK. This survey is part of the international workplace survey, a questionnaire about job trends, talent management and trends in the workplace.
MEDIA CONTACT
Katherine Mills
Public Relations Manager, Asia Pacific
P: +61 2 8028 7757
E: [email protected]