Entrepreneurship conjures up images of success and hardship in extremes, a true high risk, high reward scenario. When looking at stereotypes, although it seems that employees in Western countries may be more likely to take the leap into the world of entrepreneurship, recruitment firm Randstad’s latest Workmonitor research reveals otherwise.
37 percent employees in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia are considering leaving their current job to start their own business, compared to a lower global average of 28 percent.
Malaysia was found to have the highest percentage of employees (49 percent) who were looking at possibly leaving their job for a shot at entrepreneurship, while Singapore employees were the least motivated (32 percent) with regards to starting their own business.
Millennials were, globally and regionally, the largest group of employees who were considering leaving their job to start their own venture. Despite this sentiment, the Workmonitor research also revealed that the millennial group has the highest preference for working in a large multinational organization.
While these findings may seem to contradict, it shows that although Millennials may aspire to start their own businesses, they are also acutely aware of the benefits work experience at an MNC can bring.
Percentage of respondents leaving current job to start their own business
| Global | Singapore | Hong Kong | Malaysia | |
| All | 28% | 32% | 33% | 49% |
| Male | 32% | 38% | 35% | 51% |
| Female | 23% | 27% | 31% | 46% |
| 18 – 34 | 37% | 40% | 39% | 54% |
| 35 – 54 | 25% | 29% | 31% | 43% |
While employees in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia may consider leaving their jobs to start their own business more than their global counterparts, the fear of failure seems to be holding them back from making this career switch.
See: Skilled Workers are Most Impacted by Retrenchments in Malaysia
Seven in 10 employees across all three countries felt that the risk of failure being an entrepreneur is too big.
More than half of employees (51 percent) in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia would however consider taking the route to entrepreneurship if they lost their jobs. Among the three countries, Malaysians were most likely (61 percent) to do so, compared to Singaporeans (42 percent).
On losing their current job, the percentage of respondents who would like to start their own company
| Global | Singapore | Hong Kong | Malaysia | |
| All | 46% | 42% | 51% | 61% |
| Male | 52% | 46% | 54% | 66% |
| Female | 42% | 38% | 49% | 54% |
| 18 – 34 | 53% | 43% | 55% | 61% |
| 35 – 54 | 46% | 41% | 49% | 60% |
Michael Smith, Managing Director for Randstad Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia noted, “Our Workmonitor research recently revealed that employees in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia had some of the highest global preference for working at large multinational organizations. It’s particularly interesting that this same research has shown that many of these employees are also considering leaving their jobs to start their own business, but are at the same time holding themselves back by the fear of failure.”
“The governments in all three countries have recently been ramping up efforts to create a start-up friendly environment to allow new businesses to thrive. As these new business communities grow and thrive, it will be interesting to monitor how the attitude towards entrepreneurship changes.”
Also read: Digital Transformation Boom in Malaysia over the Next 3 to 5 Years: Survey
Image credit: Freepik
