About half of Canadians working full-time feel fatigued: survey

A man is shown working on the wing of a Bombardier Challenger aircraft at Bombardier's Challenger manufacturing plant in Montreal, Wednesday, April 5, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

A new survey conducted by Research Co. reveals about half of Canadians working a full-time job are feeling fatigued and stressed.

According to the survey, 49 per cent of Canadians who are currently working full-time said they feel fatigued and experience a variety of ailments at the end of a regular workday.

Breaking down the data, 36 per cent of full-time workers in Canada said they experience back pain, while 33 per cent stated they have trouble sleeping.

Additionally, 30 per cent of people said they have “stressed-out eyes” on weeknights, and 28 per cent said they endure headaches and have neck pain at the end of the day.

As many as 64 per cent of full-time employees in Canada indicated they are “very stressful” or “moderately stressful” at the end of a working day.

The survey also found more than two in five (44 per cent) of Canadian full-time workers said they had to work through lunch to finish a project or task in the past year.

When it comes to being asked to take on more responsibilities, 35 per cent said their employers had asked them to do more without a raise, while 33 per cent said they felt depressed because of work.

“Female full-time employees in Canada are more likely to report having to do more at their workplace without the benefit of a larger paycheque (44 per cent) than their male counterparts (27 per cent),” Research Co. President Mario Canseco said in a news release released on Wednesday. “Women are also more likely to feel dejected by work (41 per cent) than men (25 per cent).”

However, the proportion of those who said they had to work on a weekend or holiday is lower at 29 per cent. Meanwhile, 28 per cent said they had to work on a project or task after hours from home.

According to the survey, 20 per cent of Canadian full-time workers said they postponed their vacation due to work obligations in the past year.

Most Canadians (68 per cent) believe their efforts were appreciated by the company they’re working for and 61 per cent think their employer cares for their health and well-being.

More than half (55 per cent) of Canadians working full-time believe the amount of money they receive from the company they work for is what they deserve, while 41 per cent think they should be making more.

However, almost half (49 per cent) of the women who are working full-time believe they are not getting paid what they deserve. The proportion is lower for Ontarians and those in the middle-income bracket at 45 per cent and 46 per cent, respectively.

METHODOLOGY

The survey was conducted online from March 10 to March 20, 2023, among 895 Canadian adults who are currently employed full time (at least 30 hours a week).

The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for gender and region. The margin of error, which measures sample variability, is +/- 3.3 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.

 Reporting for this story was paid for through The Afghan Journalists in Residence Project funded by Meta.