Nearly 70 percent of the respondents of a survey released Thursday reported work-related anxiety.
The survey involved 10,487 respondents.
The main cause of their anxiety was mainly pressure from work.
The difficulty which the respondents deemed the worst was that it was hard to find a balance between work and family commitments.
They also worried that they could be replaced by non-local employees, according to the findings of the survey that was released by the Macau Federation of Trade Unions (commonly known as Gung Luen) yesterday.
Several Gung Luen representatives – including its president Chiang Chong Sek – and local academic Joey Lao Chi Ngai, who heads the Macau Economics Association which the union worked with on the survey, jointly presided over a press conference about the findings.
According to the two groups, the survey which was aimed at understanding the state of mind of local employees from various professions, was started in 2004 and is conducted every four years.
According to the press conference, the 10,487 respondents who completed the questionnaires between October last year and January this year were asked to answer the questions when they visited the premises of Gung Luen-affiliated associations, as well as associations and schools that have close links with the federation.
According to the findings cited by The Macau Post Daily, about half of the respondents work in the gaming and tourism industries, hotels, restaurants and retail outlets while the remainder work in a raft of sectors including education, the government and manufacturing.
Asked by the survey whether they felt work-related anxiety or not and what was the cause of their worries, only 31.1 of the respondents said they did not feel anxious about their jobs while the 68.5 percent responded in the affirmative.
According to the findings, about 25 percent of the respondents said that they felt under a lot of pressure from their work, while some 17.8 percent said that it was difficult for them to reach a balance between their work and family commitments and 17.7 percent said they were worried that they could be replaced by non-local employees.
The remainder said that they were worried about their jobs because they were getting older or their education level was low.
According to the survey, about 23 percent of the respondents said that they were not paid for overtime but were given days off in lieu. Around 22 percent said they received nothing when they worked overtime, while 55 percent said they received overtime pay. Many of those who did not receive overtime pay worked in the insurance and finance sectors.
The survey also found that nearly 70 percent said that they work six days per week, while about 25 percent said they work five days weekly. Some 10.5 percent said that they work for five and a half days per week while the remainder said that they have two days off every other week.
According to the survey, about 56 percent said that they work eight hours on average per day – mainly those working for the government, medical sector and gaming and tourism industry. Nearly a quarter said that they work for nine or more hours on average daily.
Only nine percent described the relationship between employees and employers in general as “harmonious,” while nearly 30 percent expressed the opposite view. The remainder described the relationship as “so-so”.(macaunews)
