ROBERT WALTERS  SURVEY  WORK HOURS

Asia - Employees in Asia are now working longer hours due to the recession, says a survey by Robert Walters.

In an online web poll which asked if people were working harder due to the downturn, 55% out of the 2,600 respondents from 17 countries said they were working more hours per week. Twenty-four percent of respondents report putting in at least three extra hours per week, while one-fifth of professionals polled said they were staying in the office between eight to ten hours more in a week.

Fifty-nine percent of Singaporean respondents reported working between one to ten hours more a week, while professionals in Hong Kong are feeling the greatest impact of the downturn, with one-third of the respondents working an average of eight to ten hours more per week. In Thailand, 40% of the respondents are putting in three to five extra hours in a week, while 30% of workers in China put in an average of six to eight hours weekly.

Though 42% of Japanese as well as Malaysian professionals reported working the same hours compared to times before the downturn, the number is still lower than the global average of 45%, indicating that professionals in Asia are putting in more work hours compared to their other counterparts.

"The fear of redundancy obviously has an effect; many people feel that by putting in more hours, they will be less likely to lose their jobs should further cost cutting prove necessary. In addition, where job cuts have already taken place, those left are inevitably required to take on more work," says Andrea Ross, managing director of Robert Walters Singapore.

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