Which one sounds more like a nightmare for you: ‘losing face’ because of losing your jobs, or ‘lowering’ your standard to take pay cut and demotion? For mature workers in Singapore, the results of a recent survey seemed to suggest the earlier premise.

Owing to today’s economic downturn, more than half of Singaporeans found that taking pay cut or even a demotion is better than being unemployed at all. Worried about the prevailing economic uncertainty, they were willing to ‘sacrifice’ their salary and position in order to stay employed, Asia One reports.

According to the study by Randstad, as much as 61 percent Singaporeans were prepared to make such adjustments. The figure is higher than global average, where only 43 percent respondents saying that they will take the same move.

The latest Workmonitor Research for the second quarter of this year also suggested that senior workers in their mid-30s and above (6 in 10) were more willing to do that, compared to their younger counterparts (5 in 10).

Besides Singapore, the research also analysed workers’ perception in Malaysia and Hong Kong. Compared to their fellows in the city state, it seemed that employees in those two countries were a little less worried than Singaporeans.

However, despite fewer than 5 in 10 of Malaysians and Hong Kong residents were willing to bear such costs, their percentages were still higher than the global average.

See: Should Employers Ask Salary History Questions to Candidates During Hiring?

In general, the study revealed that older workers in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia were more ready to accept a financial decrease or career demotion than younger employees to stay in the job.

On the other hand, apparently reverse trend was shown globally, as younger employees in other countries were being more open than senior employees to the idea of receiving decreased pay check.

Mr Michael Smith, the managing director for Randstad Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia, said in an official press statement: “It’s interesting to note the higher willingness of employees in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia than that of the global average to take a demotion or salary decrease.

“We expect this falls down to a mix of the recent global economic sluggishness and the fear of staying unemployed, coupled with traditional mindsets where losing a job would result in ‘losing face’.”

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