Despite efforts to try to draw more attention to employees’ mental and physical health, Hong Kong has long been one of the top overworked cities in the world. Work-life balance has been a challenging issue for many professionals, including accountants, working in the city’s competitive business environment, and the topic of working hours has been widely discussed within the accounting profession.
To assess and evaluate overtime prevalence in the profession, the Institute’s Long Working Hours Steering Group conducted a survey in August to learn about the working conditions, the reasons for working overtime, as well as thoughts on effective ways to manage the issue in the profession from its members and Qualification Programme (QP) students.
The survey received 1,160 responses from Institute members and QP students. Key findings of the survey report include the following:
Looking specifically at how, according to the report, junior staff and those working in audit and assurance are more likely to view long working hours as a problem unique to the profession, this suggests there are different expectations for juniors, or not enough staff to handle projects.
Recommended actions
While there is no single best way to deal with the issue of long working hours, the report suggests three areas that should be explored by management and the profession.
A shortage of labour is seen as the major cause of overtime in the profession. Organizations should consider how they can increase the number of suitably qualified employees they have to work on projects, while promoting work-life balance for their staff.
Organizations should also consider enhancing efficiency, streamlining their operations and deploying suitable technologies to support employees. Management should also consider the ways it can enhance project planning and internal communications.
Support and training should be offered to both staff and management on soft skills including leadership and communication, project and people management, and change and crisis management, all with the aim of increasing resilience and adaptability.
The Institute is supporting the profession through a number of activities. These include: