Seven in 10 people depressed at work

By Kim Jae-won

More than 70 percent of white collar workers suffer from the so-called office depression, worried by weak job security and pressured by excessive workloads, an online recruiter said Sunday.

According to a survey of 601 office workers nationwide by Job Korea last month, 74.7 percent of workers said they suffer from office depression, experiencing symptoms such as fatigue, decreased energy and helplessness.

About half of the respondents suffering from the disease said uncertainty about their future is a major reason for their depression, while about a third cited excessive workloads. A quarter said bad relationships with colleagues make them unhappy at the workplace.

“Korean employees are anxious about their future. They worry about layoffs and restructuring programs which make them suffer from depression more seriously,” said Byeon Ji-seong, a spokeswoman for Job Korea.

Experts say that the survey provides a glimpse of the Korean society, which has a significantly high ratio of contract and temporary workers. According to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the number of nonpermanent workers in Korea reached 5.9 million last August, accounting for one third of the entire workforce.

Extremely long working hours also burden the employees. According to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the average Korean worked 2,193 hours in 2010, the second longest among 35 countries surveyed, and much higher than the OECD average of 1,775 hours.

When asked how they cope with office depression, 28.1 percent of the respondents said they practice physical exercise in order to get back to a neutral mood. Nineteen percent said talking with family members alleviates their office worries, while 16.5 percent said they drink and smoke in order to forget about stress from work.

By age, workers in their 40s suffered the most from office depression, with 81.9 percent of this group affected. They were followed by those in their 30s and 20s, 76 percent and 69.9 percent of whom were affected, respectively.

The survey also showed that 77.2 percent of female workers were affected by office depression, compared to only 71.9 percent of their male counterparts. Observers say this is because female workers are more likely to be affected by layoffs and restructuring in Korea’s male-dominant office culture.