2 in 3 Hong Kong employees want 4-day work week

A majority of employees in Hong Kong have want to enjoy a four-day work week, even if it means having longer working hours, as they suffer from work-related stress.

This is according to the latest Jobseeker Salary Report 2024 from JobsDB by Seek, which surveyed 3,391 employees in Hong Kong across 31 job functions.

It found that 65% of employees want a four-day or 4.5-day work week, with 56% saying they are willing to extend daily working hours in exchange for it.

According to the report, employees want shorter work weeks to:

• spend more time with friends and family (62%)
• make it easier to arrange activities outside of work (60%)
• have more time to rest (59%).

However, less than a quarter (24%) of employers offer a four-day workweek, leaving a significant gap between what employees want and employers provide.

Shorter work weeks emerged as the most sought-after well-being policy in the financial hub. Other policies that employees also desire include wellbeing leave or flexible leave (43%), as well as hybrid work mode (31%).

Source: Jobseeker Salary Report 2024

Long working hours, stress levels

The findings come as full-time employees in Hong Kong average 46.6 working hours a week, longer than the recommended 40 hours for workers.

Two-thirds of the respondents also said they are working between 40 and 49 hours, with 15% saying they work for 50 to 54 hours a week.

Source: Jobseeker Salary Report 2024

Among those who work for 40 to 44 hours weekly, 52% said they are satisfied but it could be better. This is also the case for those working for 45 to 49 hours (64%).

But 86% of those working for 45 to 54 hours weekly said they are already suffering from stress, while 30% of those working more than 55 hours a week said they feel "very high" levels of stress.

Other factors contributing to employees' stress include heavy workload (42%) and having a job requirement that goes beyond their capability (35%).

Source: Jobseeker Salary Report 2024