95% of S'pore employers say no to 4-day work week, cite higher costs & lower productivity

Does a four-day work week sound good to you? Too bad.

According to a survey by the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), an overwhelming 95 per cent of employers who responded said they would not implement a four-day work week across their organisation.

Around 80 per cent said they were not interested in doing so, either.

In the survey, which polled 300 employers in Singapore between Sep. 30 and Oct. 7, 2024, employers cited reasons such as as higher costs and reduced capacity and productivity.

Some businesses also said that their operations are unable to facilitate a four-day work week as, for instance, they run 24/7.

“These results reflect the realities many employers face in today’s tight labour market and competitive business environment,” said Sim Gim Guan, executive director at SNEF.

He added that such a change would be "a challenging proposition to meet their business needs".

A four-day work week is defined as a schedule where employees work four days a week — i.e. eight to nine hours a day, or up to 36 hours a week — instead of the traditional five-day, up to 44-hour work week.

Minority said yes

Meanwhile, five per cent of employers said they would implement a four-day work week, while 16 per cent expressed interest in doing so.

They cited their top three reasons as strengthening their company's employee value proposition, improving employees' well-being, and improving employees' job satisfaction.

The results appear dichotomous with a previous survey by recruitment agency Robert Walters, which reported that 69 per cent of Singapore employers found a four-day work week "feasible".

The same survey found that 93 per cent of employees hoped their employers would implement a trial, citing better work-life balance and more time for family as their top reasons for the change.

Top image from Opentab/Unsplash