NZ Business Leaders Less Stressed Than Others

Media Release
31 May 2007

Survey Shows NZ Business Leaders Less Stressed Than Others,
But May Need To Work Smarter

New Zealand business leaders work long hours, but no more than the global average for executives and less than their colleagues in Australia, India and even siesta-country Argentina, according to the latest Grant Thornton International Business Report survey.

Not surprisingly, the percentage of them who believe their stress levels have increased has not risen and remains the same as in 2006, although still well above two years ago.

In the international stress level increase league, 46% of New Zealand business leaders feel more stressed than in 2006, but they remain in the bottom half of the table compared with the 32 other countries covered in the international survey. Globally, 56% of business leaders feel more stressed in 2007.

With their economies growing apace, executives in mainland China, Taiwan and India head the chart, with 84% in China feeling more stressed, 82% in Taiwan and 79% in India, followed by another moving economy, Russia, with 76%.

On the weekly hours scale, New Zealand business leaders average 53 hours’ work, compared with 56 hours in Australia. Emerging economies India and Argentina are at the top of the table, both with an average of 57 hours a week.

Italian business executives work the least (an average of 47 hours a week), followed predominantly by other European countries. The shorter working week in Europe is also reflected in the lowest rise in stress levels.

“New Zealanders generally probably think they are among the hardest working business people in the world, and many of them are,” said Grant Thornton New Zealand spokesman Peter Sherwin. “But when you look at the Australian economy, it is not surprising that on average we lag behind our neighbours in this league.

“On the surface, the comparison between New Zealand and Australia may not be a bad thing in that it could mean Kiwi business people are achieving a better work-life balance than their trans-Tasman counterparts. And if this is the case, then the Europeans are perhaps leading the world in managing their quality of life.

“But the fact that the percentage who feel more stressed remains higher than two years ago, when the figure was 32%, would indicate that most of the New Zealand respondents haven’t really got their work-life balance right yet.”

Mr Sherwin said the European figures could also indicate that some business leaders were working smarter than those in New Zealand.

“Overall, stress levels appear to be a reflection of the pace of growth in some economies and of the longer hours worked by business leaders in these countries as they strive to take advantage of domestic and global expansion,” said Mr Sherwin. “Another general observation is that globalisation and technological advances have increased the pressure on business leaders to always be contactable and this appears to be having an increasing strain on their lives.

“Having said that, the Europeans and even Australia (where 41% felt more stressed) appear to be managing their quality of life better than us. And one of the economic stars, Ireland, is virtually at the desirable bottom end of the scale on both counts, with an average of 48 hours’ work a week and only 35% of them feeling more stressed. Oh, for the luck of the Irish.”

ends

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