Satisfied despite increasing workload
Employees in Switzerland are facing ever-increasing pressure and often find it difficult to reconcile family and job. Almost every second respondent (48 percent) reports that the demands at work have increased in recent years. For about one in seven employees (13 percent), the stress has even "increased a lot." These are the findings of the latest job study by the auditing and consulting firm EY, in which over 1,000 employees throughout Switzerland were surveyed.
"The demands on employees have clearly increased," says Mario Vieli, Head of HR at EY. "Numerous factors are responsible for this: For example, communication has become more intensive through e-mail, chat and messenger services, and the pressure on employees to be constantly available is increasing. In addition, internationalization has increased, which entails more travel as well as work assignments outside of block hours in order to be able to exchange information with business partners in the US, Asia or elsewhere at any time."
For 37 percent of employees, the work-life balance - i.e., the compatibility of job and private life - has become more difficult, which is primarily due to increased demands at work: 42 percent of those surveyed who complain about a worsened work-life balance cite more working hours and more responsibility at work as the reason. One in four sees the cause in the private sphere.
Workload and satisfaction not a contradiction
Despite the increasing demands and a private life that is suffering as a result, however, satisfaction among Swiss employees is high: almost two-thirds (62 percent) are "satisfied" and 32 percent describe themselves as "somewhat satisfied. Only one percent are "dissatisfied" with their work. "Even though the high stress levels on the one hand and the high satisfaction levels on the other look like a contradiction at first glance, they are not. Rather, they reflect the challenges and opportunities that today's working world offers. After all, work has become more interesting overall: international work, more responsibility for the individual, more variety and flatter hierarchies. This offers employees today unprecedented development opportunities, but also considerable challenges," Vieli adds to his analysis of the results of the "Job Study 2016" by the auditing and consulting firm EY (Ernst & Young).
Burden for men and women high
Both women and men report increasing demands: 51 percent of men say their workload has increased, while the figure for women is only slightly lower at 45 percent. Among both women and men, more than one in three is finding it somewhat more difficult to combine work and private life: The work-life balance has worsened particularly for parents of preschool children (four to six years old): 81 percent of women and 53 percent of men report a worsening of the situation. However, it is by no means only the children who make the work-life balance of young parents so difficult: When fathers of preschool-age children complain about a difficult work-life balance, they attribute this not only to the children (57 percent) but also to increasing demands at work - 43 percent attribute the worsened work-life balance to an increase in the number of hours worked. On average, full-time men work significantly more than full-time women. For example, 2 out of 3 men (66 percent) work more than 40 hours a week, but only 45 percent of women. For women, the ratio is reversed: For 63 percent of young working mothers, children are the reason for a lack of work-life balance, while only 15 percent cite having to spend too much time in the office as a reason. Almost every second woman (45 percent) works part-time, compared with only 12 percent of men.
"In many households, women still do most of the child-rearing. Men tend to go full throttle at work and don't want to cut back - either at work or in their private lives. As a result, many men work more hours for the sake of their careers, while taking on more responsibilities at home than they used to - with the result that they, too, have a hard time finding the right work-life balance," Vieli says. "It now also remains the responsibility of companies to cushion the associated burden - for example, through flexible working time models or childcare options," Vieli concludes. This is also confirmed by the respondents, as 66 percent of Swiss employees would like a modern employer to offer flexible working time models above all. One in three would like the opportunity to work more from home (33 percent).
One in three is paid according to performance - men more than women
For 34 percent of Swiss employees, the salary has a performance or success component, with this proportion being slightly higher among men than women and significantly more widespread in the private sector than in the public sector and associations. Insurance (58 percent), business services (53 percent), and telecommunications and IT (47 percent) have the highest proportion of variable wage employees. For larger companies and with hierarchical level, the percentage of people with a variable wage component increases. For 9 out of 10 employees, the method of calculating the profit or performance component in the salary is comprehensible. Two out of three employees (and here the percentage of men is higher) are in favor of performance-based pay, and more than half of employees say they would increase their commitment to their work if they were paid (more) based on performance. On average, men earn 45 percent more than women for a full-time workload, as men's gross annual earnings average CHF 77,500 and women's CHF 53,600. People working in telecommunications and IT are the most satisfied with their wages, followed by business service providers and people in agriculture and forestry. The least satisfied are people in real estate and trade. In general, despite the differences between sectors and genders, almost nine out of ten employees (88 percent) in Switzerland are rather satisfied or satisfied with their pay.
Source: www.ey.com
