AIA Study Shows Half Of Malaysians Suffer From Work Related Stress

Mental health in the workplace has been getting more attention lately, and an AIA mental health study has added more information.

AIA Vitality’s Malaysia’s Healthiest Workplace survey found that employees are both overworked and lacking sleep. Some 51% of the respondents claimed to be suffering from at least one form of work-related stress. A further 53% said that they were getting less than seven hours of sleep per night.

Financial problems weighed the heaviest on the minds of respondents, with 22% saying that money-related problems had an adverse effect on their mental state. The press release did not go into detail as to whether these concerns contributed to the lack of sleep.

Additionally, 20% of people said that they suffered from workplace bullying.

Having a desk job was also found to be detrimental to a person’s well-being. Some 84% said that they suffered from some sort of musculoskeletal condition.

Despite these problems at work, Malaysian workers do not seem to be able to turn off. One in five respondents had no idea on when to take a break and 17% said that they felt tired and fatigued every single day.

Health issues, whether mental or physical, cost Malaysian businesses RM1.45 million per year. This is a combination of absenteeism and the practice of coming to work while unwell. This translates into 73.3 days of lost work each year.

AIA’s commissioned survey covered  230 organisations with a combined workforce of 17,595 employees. The goal was to determine the healthiest workplace in the country, and gauge the overall well-being of the workforce.