Almost 45% of businesses in Singapore spend four days a week or less in the office, and 32% adopt a three-day office work week, a survey by recruitment company Hays has found.
In Japan, more than 40% of companies allow their employees to work four days at the office or less.
“Traditional workplace norms had been reshaped” in Singapore and Japan, where fewer than two-fifths of professionals spend their entire work week in the office, Hays said, as reported by The Straits Times.
Government policies promoting work-life balance have helped solidify the transition to more flexible work arrangements.
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Office workers walk out for a lunch break at Raffles Place financial business district in Singapore on May 10, 2022. Photo by AFP |
In contrast, over 60% of companies in China require employees to work on-site five days a week.
The country’s move toward a fully on-site work model intensified in 2024, reflecting what Hays described as a “strong cultural emphasis on in-office presence.”
Approximately half of the firms surveyed in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Thailand have embraced hybrid work models.
The results came from Hays’ recent online survey conducted, which gathered more than 9,000 responses from employees and recruiters across China, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore.
Flexible working has become a crucial tool for companies aiming to boost retention rates amid widespread skill shortages.
The survey revealed that 47% of professionals in the region ranked flexible working as the most valued benefit, followed by health insurance or private medical coverage and additional vacation days.
Staff retention challenges are particularly severe in Japan, where employees are less focused on job stability than in the past.
Around 66% of Japan-based employees who participated in the survey said they were currently seeking new roles, the highest proportion in the region.
“This makes Japan the most mobile workforce in the Asia region right now,” said Grant Torrens, managing director at Hays Specialist Recruitment Japan, during a recent media presentation.
