More workplace blues for majority

After the food-services company where Ms Samantha L. works imposed a hiring freeze recently, she and a colleague suddenly found themselves handling the workload of four employees.

The marketing manager, 30, now spends up to 16 hours a day in the office and at meetings with clients.

She told my paper yesterday: "It's not uncommon for my boss to send me e-mail late on Sunday nights too.

"I've become very reactive towards work, and I'm no longer forward thinking."

Her sentiments are echoed in the results of a recent survey conducted by online job portal JobsCentral, involving 2,281 employed individuals from all levels of occupation and income groups.

According to the results, 66 per cent of Singapore workers found that their workload has increased as compared to that six months ago. About 83.3 per cent of respondents also said that their work stress has increased in the same period.

Technology could be blamed for these, said Ms Michelle Lee, chief operating officer of Jobs- Central Group.

She said: "Technology - such as 3G and Wi-Fi on smartphones, tablets and laptops - means that you can take work with you, wherever you may be.

"It also means that employers have the expectation that you are available even after office hours."

Meanwhile, 1.1 per cent of respondents reported that their stress levels have dropped, while 15.5 per cent indicated that their stress levels remained the same.

About 60 per cent of respondents reported that they stay in the office for at least an hour after work hours, at least three days a week.

One in three, or 32 per cent, said that they take work home, while 22 per cent said that they have worked from home while on sick leave. About 18 per cent said that they have worked while on vacation.

Ms Lee said: "Both employees and employers should learn to respect after-work hours, and there should be a reasonable allocation of work in order to avoid burnout in the long term."