Six in 10 Hongkongers unhappy in their jobs - and half intend moving on in the next year
Employees polled in the city say relationship with colleagues more important than salary in determining job satisfaction
More than six in 10 employees in Hong Kong are unhappy at work and almost half said they intended to change jobs in the next 12 months, according to a survey carried out by a job-seeking website.
JobsDB.com polled about 2,400 Hong Kong workers online between May and June this year and found salary (54 per cent) was the secondary factor to happiness in the workplace, behind relationships with colleagues and bosses (63 per cent).
But when it came to changing jobs, four out of ten said money was the major reason why they want to quit, followed by environment and culture at their firms.
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A vast majority believed changing jobs is a good decision and three-quarters of the respondents said working in another company would make them happier – despite the fear of losing job security.
“We hope this report can provide employers with some insights into how to retain talent by increasing happiness at work,” said Justin Yiu, the general manager of the company’s Hong Kong office.
Tamty McGill Consultants International country manager and human resources expert Virginia Choi said she did not think Hong Kong had a serious problem with employee dissatisfaction and few would be interested in leaving their jobs due to the poor economy.
“The momentum in the economy is not very good and, secondly, the stock market is quite turbulent,” she said. “So even though employees are not very happy with their jobs at the moment… motivation to change their job will not be very high.”