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Aisyah Llewellyn

A survey showing workers in Indonesia as the happiest in Asia-Pacific has prompted discussions about the factors underpinning their positive attitudes relative to their regional peers.
A workplace report published this month by employment marketplace Jobstreet by SEEK found 82 per cent of Indonesian respondents said they felt somewhat or extremely happy at work, the highest level among eight regional markets surveyed.
The headline figure inevitably begs the question: does the result reflect cultural attitudes towards work, strong social ties in the workplace, or even a tendency to express contentment despite economic pressures?
Experts say the answer is likely a mix of all three.
While Indonesia’s communal culture and religious outlook may help workers find meaning and solidarity in their jobs, the survey also hints at underlying tensions, including burnout, job insecurity and limited opportunities for those who drop out of the workforce.
In comparison, workers in the Philippines scored 77 per cent, followed by Malaysia at 70 per cent, Thailand at 67 per cent and New Zealand at 65 per cent.
At the lower end of the ranking were Australia at 57 per cent, Singapore at 56 per cent and Hong Kong at 47 per cent, “underscoring the more competitive corporate culture and local cost of living pressures faced by workers in these locations”, according to the report.
“This may be partly reflective of a cultural tendency among Indonesians and Filipinos to answer more positively to surveys,” said the report, which interviewed 1,000 Indonesian workers aged 18 to 64 between October and November 2025.
“However, these are still striking results and suggest a genuinely higher level of workplace happiness in these markets compared to others.”

Why are they so happy?
Tulus Winarsunu, a professor of industrial and organisational psychology at Malang’s Muhammadiyah University, cited Indonesia’s communal society as a key factor behind the results.
“Indonesians are more collective and interdependent, and they need other people to create a sense of happiness. Indonesians have a strong social identity where happiness comes not just from yourself and your independence, but because of colleagues.”
This appears consistent with the report, which found that the top three reasons for the Indonesians’ workplace happiness were their colleagues, work location and work purpose.
“In the workplace, Indonesians are not selfish or solitary. They eat together, and colleagues will wait at the end of the day for everyone to finish their work, and then go home together,” he said.
“Colleagues and teamwork also become a way to lower stress levels by sharing problems and other workplace issues.”
Dewi Fauna, who worked for over a decade as the principal of a school in the Indonesian city of Medan, also agreed with the report’s findings, saying colleagues were important for her level of happiness.
“When I was working as a principal, I felt happy because I was surrounded by good and supportive teachers and other staff,” she said.
“However, I felt stressed when I dealt with the owner of the school and when dealing with parent complaints related to school policy and facilities.”

Increase in burnout
Stress in the workplace was also addressed in the report, which found that 43 per cent of Indonesian respondents said that they had experienced burnout at work.
This sentiment was also felt by 40 per cent of workers who said that they felt happy in their jobs, “potentially revealing mental strain beneath the surface of contentment”.
“Heavy workloads and the pressure in Indonesia to work long hours as a sign of dedication may both be playing a role,” the report said.
Irna Minauli, a psychologist in Medan, said that burnout was becoming increasingly common among Indonesian workers, calling it a difficult issue to address, particularly in an already saturated job market.
“The conflict experienced by workers with burnout is similar to the conflict of avoidance. If they continue working, they experience burnout. If they quit, they may face significant financial problems. Many workers lack numerous job opportunities, so they try to adapt to challenges in their work environment.”
Certainly, fear of unemployment is a key consideration, with 70 per cent of Indonesian respondents saying that job security was a driver of workplace happiness.
According to government data, Indonesia’s unemployment rate fell to 4.74 per cent in November 2025, from 4.85 per cent in August 2025.
However, unemployment is higher among Indonesians aged 15 to 25 years old, at 16 per cent in November 2025, with fresh graduates increasingly struggling to enter the job market.

Rudi Susanto, a resident of Jakarta, said he was once a happy worker, but had since joined the ranks of the 7 million unemployed in the country.
Previously, Rudi worked for a business selling plastic products, including piping and ID cards in Jakarta, a job he enjoyed and had no plans to leave. However, he was suddenly let go about a year ago – just before his 50th birthday.
While there was no official reason given, and Susanto said he never had any disciplinary or work-related issues, he felt sure that he had been targeted because of his age.
“They didn’t tell me anything, just that I was being made redundant,” he said. “It was like they decided I was no longer of any use to them any more.”
Since then, he has been unable to re-enter the job market, which he also put down to his age, saying that no one wanted to hire a worker approaching retirement.
The age of retirement in Indonesia is 59, with a cap at 65 years under consideration by the government.
In comparison, the retirement age in Singapore is 63 currently, and this will be raised to 64 from July and 65 by 2030, while the re-employment age will be increased from 68 now to 69 from July and 70 by 2030.
“Indonesia is not like Singapore, where they value workers with experience,” Rudi said.
“No one even replies to my job applications.”

Measure of happiness
Labour activist Jumisih, who uses a single name like many Indonesians, said when evaluating workplace happiness, it was important to consider the metrics.
“In Indonesia, we have a culture of acceptance. It is important to ask, does this culture of acceptance fall into the category of happiness or not? There can be all different measures of happiness, including psychological, economic or educational.”
She said there were many other factors, such as wages, uncertain work relationships, and lack of social security, which “do not encourage happiness” in Indonesia.
Other reports have also attested to the level of happiness among Indonesians. The Global Flourishing Study for 2025/2026 ranked Indonesia as the world’s happiest nation.
Referring to the two reports, Syamsul Arifin, a professor of the sociology of religion at Muhammadiyah University, said religion could have played a key role in generating happiness among Indonesians.
“Religion in Indonesia functions as a coping mechanism. In Islamic societies, for example, there is a belief in destiny, that everything is predetermined by God. This belief likely makes people feel calm and happy despite facing life’s challenges. This belief also influences the measurement of success at work.”
Some 87 per cent of Indonesians are Muslim. Apart from Islam, the country has five other official religions: Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism.


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While a survey shows that 82 per cent of Indonesian workers are happy, it also flags increasing burnout among them


While a survey shows that 82 per cent of Indonesian workers are happy, it also flags increasing burnout among them.


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Top of the world: why Indonesian workers are happiest in Asia-Pacific

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}While a survey shows that 82 per cent of Indonesian workers are happy, it also flags increasing burnout among them

While a survey shows that 82 per cent of Indonesian workers are happy, it also flags increasing burnout among them