Many Singaporeans feel unsafe or uncomfortable about being in the workplace
Only about half (57%) of employees in Singapore feel safe about returning to the office. Another two in five are especially wary of working with staff who are unvaccinated.
The findings came in just when the government has okay-ed even more workplaces to reopen from April 5 onwards and eased COVID-19 measures. Singapore’s COVID-19 taskforce announced that up to three-quarters of the workforce can return to work and split team arrangements will no longer be mandatory. Staff can also be at the office as long as they need to, though existing safety measures must remain in place such as avoiding group gatherings and the wearing of masks.
Read more: Will workplace bullying rise as a result of COVID-19 vaccines?
The upside of the jointly organised study is that employees are now more familiar with remote working after about one year of working from home. EngageRocket found that almost four in five employees (78%) feel productive working from home and were able to deliver on their roles. This compared with a similar study in April 2020, where only 57% of employees felt productive when working remotely.
The figure is also close to productive levels of staffers who work mostly in the office – about 73% said they’re most productive when they work on site.
Read more: Remote work: Will it really kill productivity?
“These initial findings one year into the pandemic reinforce the resilience of the Singapore
Workforce,” said Mayank Parekh, CEO at the Institute for Human Resource Professionals (IHRP). “As Singapore eases more pandemic restrictions, a ‘hybrid’ approach to working will promote more inclusive, productive, and human-centric workplaces.”
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CheeTung Leong, CEO and co-founder at EngageRocket added it’s heartening to see how the pandemic has managed to “shift mindsets about what is possible and opened a door to a more sustainable” way of working.
“This is not only good for employees but also for business,” said Parekh.
The EngageRocket study was done in collaboration with the IHRP and the Singapore HR Institute (SHRI) and initially launched in March this year. The study is ongoing and will conclude by May.