Who are the laziest people in APAC?

New research reveals millennials are four times more likely to describe their work ethic as lazy than baby boomers

Work, work, work. All we ever seem to do is work. According to the latest research from YouGov, the world’s leading online research firm, this could be because we want to. Nearly three-quarters of netizens in APAC (71%) describe their work ethic as hardworking, with just 13% seeing themselves as lazy.

Residents of Hong Kong are more likely to see their work ethic as lazy compared with other APAC respondents, with nearly a quarter (24%) citing their work ethic as lazy. By contrast, Australians are the most likely to see themselves as hardworking among all APAC respondents; four-fifths of respondents (79%) believe that they are hardworking in the workplace.

Stereotypes about millennials being lazy seem to be confirmed by their own admission; young people are four times more likely to describe their work ethic as lazy. While a fifth (19%) of 16-24 years admit to having a lazy work ethic, just 5% of those over 55 believe themselves to be lazy.

A third of APAC residents self-describe as lazy in terms of physical activity

However, when it comes to physical activity the number of those who confess to being lazy soars to 31%. While Hong Kong residents are again more prone to labelling themselves as lazy (44%) than other residents in APAC, this time it is Indonesians who come out with the highest percentage to self-describe as hardworking (70%).

There also appears to be a gender divide in how men and women see their level of physical activity. Women are more likely to see themselves as lazy, with 36% of those polled seeing themselves as lazy (compared to just 27% of men).

51% of men would prefer to walk for 1km than drive/take public transport

Women are also lazier when it comes to how respondents choose to travel a distance of 1km. Asked whether respondents would rather walk or drive/take public transport to travel the distance, fewer than half of female respondents (44%) would prefer to walk. This compares with 51% of male respondents.

Responses to this question reveal that residents of Hong Kong are actually far less lazy than their regional counterparts. Despite being the most likely to self-describe as lazy across APAC, those in Hong Kong are the least likely to opt to drive/take public transport (32%). Instead, those most eager to avoid walking 1km are residents of Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, where 48%, 46% and 45% respectively would prefer to take public transport or drive.​

Most respondents would prefer to take the stairs than elevators… so long as the ascent is less than five floors

YouGov tested just how lazy netizens are by probing the point at which people would opt to take the elevator over stairs. Although 92% of respondents claim that they would opt for the stairs rather than an elevator to ascend by just one floor, nearly two-thirds of those polled (63%) confess to having taken an elevator to do so in the past.

Five floors is the cut-off point where most people would rather take the elevator stairs. More than four-fifths of the those polled (83%) would opt for the elevator at this point, nearly double the number that would take the elevator to travel three floors (46%).

*Data was collected online between 11 to 19 Apr 2017 using YouGov’s panel of over 5 million people worldwide. It was weighted to be representative of online population within each country. Sample size: Asia Pacific (n = 9,468; Australia: 1,000; Hong Kong: 1,011; Indonesia: 1,283; Malaysia: 1,772; Philippines: 1,162; Singapore: 1,049; Thailand: 1,191; Vietnam: 1,000)