Fewer Singapore Staff Want To Work From Home

Office Finder Team

April 27, 2022

Singapore

SINGAPORE – A survey by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) showed that the percentage of employees in the city-state who want to work from home (WFH) on most days has fallen significantly, reported HRM Asia on Wednesday morning (27 April, SGT).

Between July and August 2021, 34 percent of polled workers in Singapore said that they prefer to work from home during most days. However, the proportion of employees who hold this sentiment declined to 20 percent in April 2022.

On the other hand, the proportion of workers who want to work at their office on most days increased to 37 percent this month. This is a sharp increase from the 21 percent who said so between July and August 2021.

“This suggests that there has been a shift in attitudes towards living with COVID-19 as more employees return to the office, and as COVID-19 case numbers come under control,” said the Institute of Policy Studies in a report.

But for those who are already telecommuting and prefer to continue doing so, more have said that they would consider changing jobs if their employer compels them to return to their workplace on most days.

Between 28 December 2021 and 22 February 2022, 37 percent of respondents who are faced with this prospect shared that they would consider looking for another job, and this percentage rose to 42 percent among those surveyed from 18 March and 11 April 2022.

This shows that staff, who have adapted well to working from home, want these flexible work arrangements to continue, said Mathew Mathews, Principal Research Fellow and Head of IPS Social Lab.

“There is a lot of interest, at least locally, for employees who want to find employers who would feel that it’s important for employees to have this kind of flexibility,” he added.

The survey involved over 2,000 Singapore citizens and permanent residents (PR) aged 21 and above. They were polled between 14 July 2021 and 11 April 2022, which covered the period from the Phase Two (Heightened Alert) to the recent further relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions.