Working in HR is making you fat

If you've found yourself packing on the pounds during your career, perhaps you'll find consolation in that fact that you're in good company.

According to a survey done by JobsCentral, 62% of employees in Singapore claim to have gained weight since starting work, gaining an average of 3kg for each year of work.

While 12% of workers said work made them lose weight, and 26% said there has been no difference, 59% claim to have gained less than 10kg and 17% have put on at least 20kg.

When weight gain was broken down by profession, those in events management had the highest proportion of weight gainers in the country at 76%. They were followed by analysts (73%) and finance (68%).

Human resources professional came in fourth place, with 68% saying they had put on weight since starting their career.

The largest reason employees gave as to why they put on weight at work was a lack of time or energy to exercise (76%). Sixty-three per cent cited "excessive sitting" as being the main culprit, while 48% attributed weight gain to stress eating.

Additionally, the survey found women were more likely than men to gain weight at work - but when men do gain weight, they put on significantly more than women.

The biggest weight gainers also appear to earn the most money, with 60% of those making a monthly income of $10,000 claiming to gain weight at work, compared to workers making less than $2,000 per month (57%) and between $2,000 and $3,999 (63%).

Job functions with the highest proportion of weight gainers:

1. Events Management (76%)

2. Analyst (73%)

3. Finance (68%)

4. Human Resource (68%)

5. Consulting (67%)

6. Accounting/ Audit (67%)

7. Business Development (65%)

8. Supply Chain/ Distribution (65%)

9. Marketing (65%)

10. Administrative (65%)