NUS requires full-time staff go back to office 5 days a week

The National University of Singapore (NUS) has done away with its work-from-home policy and reinstated a five-day work-from-office arrangement for all full-time staff, including faculty members.

A NUS spokesperson told CNA and The Straits Times on Oct. 2 that staff from "central administration units" resumed working on campus five days a week since Sep. 1, and the arrangement was then extended to the "rest of the university" starting from Oct. 1.

In the reply, it was also pointed out that close to 70 per cent of companies in Singapore did not offer scheduled teleworking arrangements in 2023, based on Ministry of Manpower data.

The NUS spokesperson added that flexible work arrangements can still be designed for specific job roles.

ST reported that NUS had cut its work-from-home days from two days to one in 2023.

CNA reported the change took place in late 2023.

Mothership understands it occurred on Oct. 1, 2023, based on an email sent to staff.

Reactions from staff

An NUS staff, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she received an official email on Sep. 29 about the end of the work-from-home arrangement that was to kick in on Oct. 1.

She said she had heard that some departments were told in mid-August about the change, but for her case, there was no official word until a few days before the university-wide policy kicked in.

She added that she did not think the change would be implemented so quickly, as other colleagues who have children might need time to make alternative arrangements or adjust their schedules.

An email announcing the start of a five-day work-from-office arrangement provided by another NUS staff was shared with Mothership.

The email said "senior management" has observed that "staff interactions have reduced", and "also understand that frequent absences from our offices compromises team cohesion".

The email also offered a temporary solution, saying that "ad-hoc short flexible work requests will be approved promptly".

Those who require more time working from home are asked to seek approval.

One of the NUS staff also reportedly said a town hall was held to address concerns, but it was not held for all departments.

A staff, who wanted to remain anonymous, said:

Many of us find the policy unreasonable because we have demonstrated productivity and efficiency even while we worked from home. Having the flexibility also gave us greater job satisfaction which translates into our work. Taking this option away from us feels like a heavy-handed top down approach where we are expected to just comply or quit.

Making us put the request to work from home through an official channel just feels like a policy for show. We want to have the choice to work from home, even if there is no special reason to do so.

Work-from-home constitutes a large part of our well-being - we've been saying this, but it seems they are choosing to disregard it.

This is an irony especially when the university has been emphasising that it cares for our well-being, with several initiatives rolled out over the past few years, and a recent staff survey about our well-being.

It is disappointing when the management isn't as open and consultative as we had expected it to be.

Social media reactions

On social media, one post supposedly by a person working in NUS voiced displeasure at the change.

The post noted: "It's tragic that a world-class institution that is supposedly forward-thinking is behaving in such a pre-pandemic manner."

This was after past reports showed that even though working in the office increased staff interaction and engagement levels, hybrid working arrangements also increased such interaction and engagement levels.

Other universities still have work-from-home arrangements

According to ST, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) provides a one-day work-from-home option for eligible staff.

Staff at the Singapore Management University (SMU), Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) and Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) can work remotely for two days per week.

The Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests were launched in Singapore in April 2024 to set out how employers can consider requests from employees.

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