Commentary by eToro analyst for Romania, Bogdan Maioreanu
Romanian workers are the first in Europe when it comes to employee engagement, reveals the latest Gallup State of the Global Workforce survey. Being engaged at work means that these employees find their work meaningful, feel connected to the team and their organization and are going the extra mile for teammates and customers.
About a third (35%) of Romanian employees are thriving at work, which is more than the global average of 23% and three times more than the European average of 13%, with Italy ranking at the bottom with 5% in employee engagement. Unfortunately, our continent is in last place in employee engagement at global level. The first region in this list is South Asia, followed by the United States and Canada. At the bottom, just a smidge above Europe are the Middle East and North Africa and East Asia – including China and Japan.
Employee engagement is considered an important measure for job performance – if it is low, it means that other, more negative indicators are high. Quiet quitting is what happens when someone psychologically disengages from work. They may be physically present or logged into their computer, but they don’t know what to do or why it matters. Globally, nearly six in 10 employees fell into this category. When combined with actively disengaged employees, low engagement costs the global economy 8.8 trillion dollars, or 9% of global GDP.
At global level 44% of employees said they experienced stress the previous day. In Romania, 35% of polled workers declared that they are stressed. In Europe, according to Gallup, the most stressed at work are the Greeks with 60% of employees.
According to the survey, despite news of layoffs and fears of recession, the job market is still strong, with 48% of Romanians considering that now is a good time to find a job. Globally, 51% of employees are watching for or actively seeking a job that is offering increased pay, wellbeing and opportunities to grow and develop.
One of the issues of the digital era, in which employees find it harder to disconnect from their jobs, is maintaining a work-life balance, with personal time becoming increasingly constrained, which results in negative consequences for the employee, the company and the economy. In the short term, it leads to reduced consumer spending, and then potential burnout and decreased morale might be the result. It might be hard for people to see the downsides of sacrificing personal time and vacations, especially with the rise of workers worried AI will take their job, let alone a recession.
Moving onto the longer term, this is where it starts to look a bit tricky. There are a few areas that companies should review and do all they can to help improve. Gallup found out that when asked how to improve the workplace, 41% of the workers are seeking for a better company culture or engagement, only 28% are looking for a better pay and benefits and 16% for wellbeing.
Also, when employees are disengaged and stressed innovation and creativity may suffer. This can impede long-term economic growth, as innovation is a key driver of technological advancements and progress.
Over time, the lack of personal time and increased work stress could lead to long-term health issues. In the extremes, this could result in higher healthcare costs and reduced productivity. If individuals consistently prioritize work over personal life, it can also lead to strained relationships and decreased overall quality of life. Simply put, this is of no benefit to the wider economy.
Bogdan Maioreanu, eToro analyst and markets commentator, has over 20 years of experience in financial services and investments and a strong background in journalism. He held different Corporate Banking management positions in both Raiffeisen Bank and OTP Bank, before moving to business consultancy roles working for IBM Romania among others. Bogdan is an Executive MBA from Asebuss and Washington University.
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