KEY POINTS:
New Zealand business executives may feel stressed and overworked, but they are fairly laid back compared with some counterparts overseas, according to a survey.
In line with the global average, Kiwi business leaders averaged 53 hours' work a week, compared with 56 hours in Australia, the Grant Thornton International Business Report showed.
Topping the table were emerging economies India and Argentina, averaging 57 hours a week.
At the other end, Italian business executives worked the least with an average of 47 hours a week, reflecting the shorter working week.
"New Zealanders generally probably think they are among the hardest-working business people in the world, and many of them are," said Peter Sherwin of Grant Thornton in NZ.
"But when you look at the Australian economy, it is not surprising that on average we lag behind our neighbours in this league."
Stress levels are also relatively low, with 46 per cent of NZ business leaders feeling more stressed than last year, in the bottom half of the table.
That percentage remained the same as in 2006, but was well above the 32 per cent two years ago.
Globally, 56 per cent of business leaders felt more pressure.
Most stressed were executives in mainland China, Taiwan and India. In China 84 per cent felt more stressed, Taiwan 82 per cent and India 79 per cent. In Australia, 41 per cent of executives felt more stressed.
The increase in stress indicated Kiwi respondents had not achieved a balance between work and other parts of their life, Sherwin said.
Coupled with the relatively low hours, the results also indicated NZ executives could be working smarter.
"Stress levels appear to be a reflection of the pace of growth in some economies and of the longer hours worked by business leaders [there]."
The report surveyed 150 medium-sized businesses in New Zealand and 7200 business owners in 32 countries overall.
- NZPA
