Over 60 per cent of Singapore workers gained weight since starting work
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Over 60 per cent of Singapore workers gained weight since starting work
17 per cent gained at least 20 kg, while 59 per cent gained less than 10 kg
(Singapore, 27 February 2014) – More than three in five Singapore workers (62 per cent) have gained weight since starting work, while 12 per cent lost weight and 26 per cent indicated that their weight saw no significant change. The majority (59 per cent) of those who gained weight recorded an increase of less than 10 kg while 17 per cent reported gaining at least 20 kg since joining the workforce. This online survey was conducted by JobsCentral and included over 3,000 responses from working adults in Singapore. The survey has a margin of error of 1.64% at 95% confidence level.
More than three-quarters (76 per cent) of those who gained weight said that they are unable to find the time or energy to exercise. In addition, 63 per cent cited excessive sitting and 48 per cent attributed their weight gain to eating more due to work stress. Here are the top weight gain reasons given by workers:
The majority of Singapore employees work in a stressful office environment and most of them do their work while seated in front of a computer. After work, tired employees often unwind with television-watching or food and alcohol consumption. It is a major lifestyle change from their school days where they usually engage in many more physical activities, and thus it was no surprise that many people gained weight since starting work,” said Michelle Lim, Regional Marketing Director, JobsCentral Group.
Workers gain the most weight in the first year and steadily do so till their 8 th year of work
The survey revealed that weight-gainers put on an average of 3 kg for each year of work. The first year of an employee’s work life saw, on average, the most weight gain (6.5 kg) and he or she would continue to gain weight until the 8 th year, after which his or her average weight gain dipped and finally stabilised.
Job functions with the largest proportion of reported weight-gainers are:
1. Events Management (76 per cent)
2. Analyst (73 per cent)
3. Finance (68 per cent)
4. Human Resource (68 per cent)
5. Consulting (67 per cent)
6. Accounting/ Audit (67 per cent)
7. Business Development (65 per cent)
8. Supply Chain/ Distribution (65 per cent)
9. Marketing (65 per cent)
10. Administrative (65 per cent)
Top weight-gainers in Military/Uniform, Legal and Compliance job functions
While workers in the Military/Uniform groups and Legal functions had the lowest percentage of people that gained weight (54% for both), those who did gain weight gained the most among all the other job functions. Together with workers in the Compliance function, they gained an average total weight of 19kg.
Women more likely to gain weight, but men put on more pounds when they do
Incidences of weight gain appear to be a tad more frequent among female workers (64 per cent) than among males (60 per cent). Even so, the average increase in weight recorded among female workers (9 kg) is lower than that of male workers (14 kg).
More weight-gainers among those making at least $10k a month
Workers making a monthly income of at least $10,000 were found to have the largest proportion of weight-gainers (70 per cent), as compared to workers with a monthly salary of less than $2,000 (57 per cent) and workers earning $2,000 to $3,999 (63 per cent)
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About the JobsCentral Group
The JobsCentral Group, a CareerBuilder company, comprises of JobsCentral.com.sg, JobsCentral BrightMinds, JobsCentral Career and Education Fair, JobsCentral Learning and BrightSparks. JobsCentral.com.sg (with JobsCentral BrightMinds) is one of Singapore’s largest job portals with over 1 million registered jobseekers, 8 million page views, 15,000 new jobseeker signups and 300,000 job applications every month. The annual JobsCentral Career and Education Fair enjoys >50,000 visits and features a unique networking session popular with employers and jobseekers. JobsCentral Learning offers a one-stop location for research, enquiries and signups of education and training programs. And BrightSparks is Singapore’s largest and most popular scholarship and higher education platform for pre-tertiary students.
www.jobscentral.com.sg learning.jobscentral.com.sg
www.jobscentral.com.sg/careerfair brightminds.jobscentral.com.sg
community.jobscentral.com.sg www.brightsparks.com.sg
For more information, please contact:
JobsCentral Group
Tel: +65 6778 5288
Kok Lin
Tel: +65 6578 7473
[email protected]
