SWS: 55% of workforce experienced great stress over COVID-19 pandemic

More than half, or 55% of the Philippine workforce felt great stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed Friday.

The SWS mobile phone poll, conducted on working-age Filipinos aged 15 years old and above from May 4 to 10, also showed that 68% of those in great stress belonged to 4.2 million families that had experienced involuntary hunger in the past three months when Luzon had been placed under lockdown to prevent COVID-19 transmission.

The same survey also showed that 34% of the workforce experienced much stress while 11% felt little or no stress at all.

Likewise, the SWS poll revealed that 58% of those with a job but were not receiving pay were in great stress, while 57% of those who currently do not have a job but used to have one are in great stress.

The highest percentage of those in great stress was also recorded among non-elementary graduates at 59%, followed by those who reached high school at 58%, 56% among junior high school graduates and 52% among those with some college as well as among college graduates.

The percentage of those in great stress was almost similar among women and men at 56% and 54%, respectively.

The highest percentage of those in great stress was registered in the Visayas at 63%, followed by 58% in Metro Manila.

Those in great stress in Mindanao reached 55%. The lowest percentage of those great stress was posted in Balance Luzon at 51%.

Those in Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) and General Community Quarantine (GCQ) areas, on the other hand, equally experienced great stress at 55%.

The ECQ and GCQ area classification cited in this SWS poll is based on Executive Order 112 which had the following areas under ECQ up to May 15, 2020: National Capital Region, Region III (except Aurora Province), Region IV-A, Benguet Province, Pangasinan Province, Iloilo Province, Cebu Province, Bacolod City, and Davao City.

All other areas were classified under GCQ.

The SWS poll was conducted using mobile phone and computer-assisted telephone interviews on 4,010 working-age Filipinos nationwide.

Of the 4,010, 294 are from the National Capital Region, 1,645 from Balance Luzon, 792 from the Visayas, and 1,279 from Mindanao.

The poll had a sampling error margin of ±2% for national percentages, ±6% for Metro Manila, ±2 for Balance Luzon, ±3% Visayas, and ±3% in Mindanao. — DVM, GMA News