Thanks to low debts and the global recovery, most business-owners here feel decreasing levels of stress this year.
Grant Thornton's latest "International Business Report" showed Asia-Pacific business leaders were the most stressed, with 65 per cent indicating their levels of stress had increased or increased significantly from a year ago.
However, business leaders in Thailand have the second-lowest increased stress level in Asia, with only 40 per cent feeling an increase. Hong Kong was the lowest on the chart, with only 39 per cent feeling so.
"Generally, Thai businesses have much lower debt levels than in other economies. This, coupled with the world forecast of economic growth of over 3 per cent, is most likely the reason for the lower increased stress level of Thai business leaders," Ian Pascoe, managing partner of Grant Thornton in Thailand, said yesterday.
Globally, 56 per cent of privately owned businesses felt their stress levels had increased over the past year.
Covering the opinions of more than 7,400 business-owners across 36 economies, the research found mainland China topped the league for the most stressed leaders, with 76 per cent of business-owners saying their stress levels had increased over the past year.
Other economies that featured high in the stress-league table were Mexico (74 per cent), Turkey (72 per cent), Vietnam (72 per cent) and Greece (68 per cent).
At the opposite end of the scale, business-owners in Sweden (23 per cent), Denmark (25 per cent), Finland (33 per cent) and Australia (35 per cent) reported the lowest stress levels in the world.
There appears to be a link between stress levels and gross domestic product. Business-owners in mainland China, Vietnam, Mexico, India and Turkey all feature high on the stress league table and are working in environments where high growth is expected.
But it is not only in countries expecting high growth that stress levels are high. At the opposite end of the growth scale, Ireland, Spain and Greece all featured high on the league table.
"We have businesses at both ends of the GDP growth scale experiencing high stress for very different reasons. In mainland China, the pressure is on to keep up with the pace of expansion, while in Ireland, for example, the economy is retracting, and business-owners are worried about how they will keep their business alive," said Alex MacBeath, global leader for markets at Grant Thornton International.
Business-owners were asked about the major causes of workplace stress. Not surprisingly, the most common cause last year was the economic climate, with 38 per cent of respondents globally citing this as one of their major causes of stress. This was followed by pressure on cash flow (26 per cent), competitor activities (21 per cent) and heavy workload (19 per cent).
The causes of workplace stress can be categorised into three distinct groups: economic, business and personal. Business-owners feel pressure from all sides, while employees may place more importance on personal elements, such as their work/life balance.
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 were those where business-owners, on average, took fewer holidays each year.
Vietnam, for example, is rated third in the stress league, with 72 per cent of business-owners citing increased stress levels last year, and at the bottom of the holiday league, with business-owners taking an average of only seven days of holiday during the year. There were similar results for mainland China and Mexico.
At the opposite end of the scale, business-owners in northern Europe (the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Finland) appear at the top of the scale for the number of holidays taken each year (22-24 days) and at the bottom of the stress-league table.
"Here we have business-owners themselves providing robust evidence that those able to take more holidays are less stressed than their counterparts in countries where holidays are less frequent. Our experience of working with privately held businesses globally shows us that taking the time to step away from the business, to reflect and recharge can help owners bring a new perspective to their decision-making," MacBeath said.
