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After several months of having to work from home due to Covid-19, the novelty may have worn off, but the practice appears to have caught on.
Eight out of 10 workers now say they prefer to work from home or have flexible work arrangements, according to a survey commissioned by The Straits Times of nearly 1,800 people.
Only one in 10 wanted to return to the office full-time, while the rest said they were already back in the office before the government’s announcement that more employees will be allowed to return to the office from September 28.
But the main complaint among Singaporean workers about having to return to work was the resumption of their daily commute. They are also concerned about the safety of their work environments and fear being exposed to Covid-19.
When asked about their biggest challenge returning to the office, the words and phrases that appeared prominently included “public transportation,” “mask,” and “many people.”
Three in 10 felt that wearing a mask in the office was uncomfortable and annoying.
When asked what work arrangements they would prefer, four in 10 wanted to divide their time between the office and home, while just over four in 10 said they wanted to continue working from home.
Commenting on the findings, Dr. Brandon Koh, a professor in the human resource management program at Singapore University of Social Sciences, said that people can take some time to adjust to returning to the office.
Returning to the workplace could also result in a loss of autonomy for individuals, he added. “Whether working from the office is more productive will depend on the job and the individual, and employers must balance this consideration with employees’ desire for autonomy and its benefits.”
The survey, conducted by crowdsourcing platform OPPi, also asked 1,772 respondents what their main complaint was about working from home.
They cited working longer hours or working outside of their regular office hours as annoyances.
Some said that distractions from children or family members were a problem when working from home, while others noted that it was difficult to convince their bosses of their productivity.
Just under half of those surveyed felt that working from home helped them save money, while seven in 10 said that working from home improved their mental health.
About half of the respondents felt that their bosses would penalize them if they expressed a preference for working from home.
Nine out of 10 respondents were between the ages of 18 and 54, with 68% in the private sector and 20% in the public sector. The rest worked in other fields, such as non-profit organizations or voluntary welfare groups.
Respondents were more divided around two questions, asking if they found the government’s “back to office” rules difficult to follow and if they trusted their employer to provide a safe work environment.
About 26 percent of people found the new rules difficult to follow, with 22 percent disagreeing and 18 percent undecided. The rest did not respond.
Meanwhile, 25 percent felt that their employers could provide a safe environment, while 19 percent disagreed. The rest were undecided or did not answer the question.
One of those who prefers a hybrid arrangement, with two or three days working from home and the rest of the time in the office, is Ms. Evie Lim, 34, who works in the financial industry.
You find that working from home has increased your productivity by allowing you to start working immediately after getting out of bed. Still, he misses a few things about his office environment.
Ms. Lim returned to the office for half a day earlier this month to help prepare for a work event.
“It was nice to be back in the office,” he said. “But the challenge was that we had to wear a mask all the time.
“I really miss the time when the office was full of people.”
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