Data shows Hong Kong’s workforce is negative about work, but upbeat on management

(HONG KONG, CHINA) – According to the latest statistics from ORC International’s perspectives database, employees in Hong Kong are dissatisfied and uninspired at work, but positive on pay, recognition and management.

perspectives gathers the accumulated opinions of employees on a wide range of subjects related to their levels of engagement. The database contains the results of more than 400 organisations’ employee surveys, representing the views of approximately 1.4 million people from around the world. For each question asked, the scores have been ranked among the responses of other nations (specifically the UK, USA and Australia) to gauge Hong Kong’s position in the global employer environment.

Questions relating to work and stress received responses that were far more negative than other nations. When employees in Hong Kong were asked if they like the work they do, they recorded the lowest positive responses, with just 55% in agreement. In the UK, the sentiment was much more positive, with 84% in agreement. This result also compares to 83% in the USA and 78% in Australia.

The negative perception continued across a number of other work related questions. When presented with the statement, ‘Considering everything I am satisfied with the job I do’, Hong Kong employees were bottom again, with 62% in agreement.

Of the counties included in perspectives, Hong Kong also had the lowest positive responses for statements regarding:

• Personal accomplishment (56% positive)

• Intention to stay (64% positive)

• Satisfaction with the company (58% positive)

Another telling statistic relates to the sense of pride and belonging Hong Kong employees have; when asked if they were proud of their company, the response was just 47% positive. Here you can see the clear divide between the east and west. For the same question, respondents in the USA, UK and Australia ranked in the low 70s.

This negative outlook is somewhat offset by Hong Kong employees’ satisfaction with management. They had the highest number of positive responses when asked about the recognition they got for doing a good job (64% positive).

Pay was another area the Hong Kong workforce were upbeat on, with 54% agreeing that they thought their pay was fair. On this topic they were almost on par with the top scorer, Australian employees, who were 55% positive on remuneration.

Information for editors

The perspectives database contains the results of more than 400 organisations’ employee surveys, representing the views of approximately 1.4 million people from around the world. The questions asked employees about workplace topics including their job, manager, communication, resources, pay and benefits, work/life balance, training and development and perceptions of their organisation. The questions were poised as statements where respondents plot their answers on a Likert scale between ‘Strongly agree’ and ‘Strongly disagree’ with ‘Neither agree nor disagree’ in the middle. The results were then produced as ‘percentage positive scores’ – this is the percentage of respondents that selected either ‘Agree’ or ‘Strongly agree’.

About ORC International

ORC International is a leading global market research firm with offices across the US, Europe and Asia Pacific region. ORC International offers the unique ability to integrate primary and secondary research, competitive intelligence and expert insight to address the business challenges of its clients worldwide. To learn more about ORC International, visit www.orcinternational.co.uk