Business owners more stressed with heavy work load - survey

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino business owners said they are more stressed with their heavy work load than the current state of the economy and cash flow issues, an international survey showed.

In a Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) released by their local partner Punongbayan & Araullo (P&A), it showed that 20 percent of the local business owners have cited heavy work load as their main source of stress.

Only 17 percent of the respondents said that the state of the economy and cash flow issues were their main sources of stress.

Of the 14 specific stressors cited, heavy workload, pressure on cash flow, and economic climate were cited by the most number of Filipino respondents, while 31 percent had other stressors not included in the choices.

Globally, the top three stressors are economic climate 38 percent, pressure on cash flow 26 percent  and competitor activities 21 percent.

“It’s telling that while globally, the economic climate was cited as the top stressor, only 17 percent of Filipino business owners consider it a major cause of their workplace stress,” Marivic Españo, P&A’s managing partner and COO said.

“Again, this goes towards the idea that the economic slump did not hit us as hard as it did other countries, and that we are now on the road to recovery,” she added.

The survey also found a correlation between stress levels and the number of days off taken by an individual in a year. Countries at the top of the stress league are those where business owners, on average, take fewer holidays each year.

In the Philippines local business leaders just take 10 days of vacation, excluding public holidays.

According to Españo, “While it’s encouraging to see we have fewer executives who are feeling increasingly stressed, 55 percent is still a significant number. So it might be good for these business leaders to consider taking time away from the business, to reflect and recharge and maybe gain a new perspective to their work.”

Globally, mainland China tops the league for the most stressed leaders  with 76 percent of business owners saying their stress levels have increased over the last year. On the other hand, the Philippines fell below the global average for the first time since 2006, with 55 percent of local business leaders reporting increased stress levels.

“I think we can attribute this to the fact that Filipino business owners are now anticipating a rebound following the financial meltdown of 2008,” Españo said. “We’re seeing fewer stressed out business owners because they’ve realized the full extent of the economic crisis, and now they’re gearing up for recovery, if they haven’t already bounced back.”