Filipinos among most engaged in work in Asia

MANILA, Philippines — About seven in 10 Filipinos are engaged in their work, making the Philippines among the most engaged in Asia, according to a study.

A report from outsourcing company Aon Hewitt showed that 71 percent of employees in the Philippines and India are engaged in their work, ranking second from Indonesia with 76 percent.

According to Aon's 2018 Trends in Global Employee Engagement Report, the Philippines recorded a six-point increase in work engagement, achieving an outlier status.

The study defined employee engagement as “the level of an employee’s psychological investment in their organization.”

The Philippines, along with Malaysia and Indonesia, contributed to the bounce of the Asia-Pacific region's highest engagement level at 65 percent of all employees last year.

"Malaysia (+4 points) and the Philippines (+6 points) achieved outlier status, while Indonesia improved an incredible 15 points over the previous year," the report read.

Singapore, on the other hand, suffered a three-point drop in engagement last year, making them among the least engaged in Asia with 59 percent.

China obtained an employee engagement rating of 69 percent while Thailand and Malaysia recorded 64 percent and 63 percent, respectively.

Thailand, Australia and South Korea all declined by one point, while Singapore and Hong Kong remained flat.

Aon's analysis showed that engaging the millennial workforce is a growing challenge in the region, particularly for Singaporean employers.

"With the rise of internet platforms and the gig economy, a recent survey found that 10.6 percent of new graduates are taking on freelance, part-time, or temporary jobs," Aon said.

Overall employee engagement in the world improved with the help of the Asia Pacific region, particularly its largest economies — India and China. Africa and Europe both experienced improvements with five and two points, respectively.

On the other hand, Latin America and North America maintained its previous rating with 75 percent and 64 percent.

The Aon study was conducted using data from more than eight million employee responses in 2016 and 2017. The responses came from organizations with small companies with as few as 100 employees to complex organizations with thousands of employees.