One in three Singaporean workers expect a four-day work week to become the norm within the next five years, a survey has found.

Work-life balance a key priority

The global survey, People at Work 2023: A Global Workforce View, polled 32,612 workers across 17 countries.

It was conducted by payroll and human resource solution provider Automatic Data Processing (ADP).

A prominent theme in the survey results was flexible work arrangements.

ADP noted that work-from-home arrangements have far outlived the pandemic, and many workers feel reluctant to return to the office five days a week.

Some 32 per cent of Singaporean workers polled predicted that a four-day working week would become the norm by 2028, and 10 per cent even indicated willingness to take a pay cut in exchange for a reduced work week.

A fifth of respondents also indicated that their employers already offer four-day work weeks.

Also in vogue were hybrid working, flexibility of hours based on productivity metrics, and the ability to work from anywhere in the world, with around 30 per cent of respondents expressing desire for each.

Around 15 per cent of respondents also listed the option to forgo some of their pay for additional vacation leave among their expectations for workplace policy in the next five years.

Reflecting a broader change in work priorities, compared to the previous year, workers ranked flexibility of hours as the new second-most important aspect of a job, after salary.

Comparatively, career progression was less highly rated compared to the previous year's results.

In their report on the survey results, ADP described these changes as a "mindset shift" and noted that flexibility is "here to stay in the minds of Singaporean employees".

Employers would do well to make room for additional flexibility in order to improve employee engagement and talent retention, it advised.

The spectre of stress still stalks Singaporeans

Zoom meetings and remote work were, however, not the only lasting legacies of Covid-19.

After being cast into the spotlight during the pandemic, mental health remained a key issue among Singaporeans.

Two-thirds of those surveyed said they still feel stress affects them at work, with one-third further reporting that they are not able to do their job to the best of their ability.

Almost three in 10 respondents also indicated they experience stress two to three times a week.

Mental health issues also impact productivity, with 41 per cent of respondents saying that they needed to take more breaks than otherwise.

Mental health support from leadership appears to be lacking

This malaise regarding mental health challenges also seems to extend to workers' perceptions of their support systems.

Describing it as "[p]erhaps [their] most significant finding", ADP reported that almost half of survey respondents believed their managers are ill-equipped to have judgement-free conversations about mental health at the workplace.

The proportion of workers who said they felt supported by their managers in matters of mental health fell 18 percentage points, from 70 per cent in the previous year's iteration of the survey to just 52 per cent this year.

Some 17 per cent of Singaporean workers, the second-highest percentage of workers in the Asia-Pacific region, reported that their employer is not doing anything to help promote positive mental health at work.

This figure is the second-highest proportion of workers amongst surveyed Asia-Pacific countries, and almost double the Asia-Pacific average of 9 per cent.

Bosses encouraged to focus on engaging workers

With the exception of Gen Z, all age groups reported an increase in dissatisfaction with management, compared to the previous year.

Almost one in four Singaporeans reported having a poor relationship with their manager, compared to the Asia-Pacific average of 11 per cent.

This figure was a marked increase from the previous year's results, where only 18 per cent of Singaporeans reported a poor relationship.

The discontent appears even more pronounced in the case of employees who work remotely.

Some 37 per cent of remote workers and 27 per cent of hybrid workers reported having poor relationships with their managers, compared to only 21 per cent of on-site staff.

In its report, ADP suggested that employers who prioritised mental health support and employee engagements would enjoy advantages in worker morale and talent retention.

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