How Singaporeans' attitudes towards how and where we work have evolved

The online-first model has gained the approval of over three out of five (61%) Singaporeans.

The debate between work-from-home and full-time office continues to rage on, with many companies opting for the middle, balanced path of seeking out a ‘hybrid’ culture — part office, part home.

This ‘best-of-both-worlds’ approach seems to find favour among most Singaporeans, with 74% of those surveyed feeling that flexible working arrangements (FWAs) are a welcome trend to have emerged from the pandemic. So much so that the online-first model has gained the approval of over three out of five (61%) Singaporeans.

That said, people aren’t averse to the idea of physically being in office either, with seven in 10 Singaporeans surveyed (70%) feeling positive about returning to their workplaces — a nod perhaps to the value of social interactions in an office environment that enables the workforce to intentionally seeking out collaboration and further team dynamics.

These insights come to us courtesy Blackbox’s latest study, Emerging from the Pandemic: The New Mood in Singapore, which covers views from more than 750 adult on their sentiments and attitudes around the cost of living, inflation, housing affordability, changing work-life attitudes, and more.

Start-ups or large organisations: Where do preferences lie?

In an interesting finding challenging ‘conventional wisdom’, more than half of Singaporeans (59%) believe there are better prospects in beginning one’s career with a start-up rather than a traditional, well-established organisation, as compared to the security large companies offer. "With a global recession looming however, any job will be a welcome one," stated in the report. 

Breaking the findings down by age, the following data emerge:

• Across all age groups, the majority (at least two in give) somewhat agreed that youth will have better prospects starting their career at a start-up over a large organisation.
• In the 20-24 year-old age group, 29% somewhat disagreed with this sentiment. 
• Among 35-49 year-olds, one in three (33%) disagreed with the above sentiment.
• The disagreement of start-ups being better for young aspirants was the largest among the 50 year-olds and above, of whom 42% disagreed.

In additional findings, the data showed that filling up manpower requirements with a foreign workforce remains unpopular. "Nearly half of Singaporeans (49%) seem averse to the idea, suggesting that the pre-pandemic anti-foreigner, pro-local sentiment continues, owing to economic uncertainty," mentioned in the report.

Ever-increasing prices: Impact of inflation on locals

As citizens become more engaged in the political space and civil society, they are acutely critical when policies do not meet their expectations.

Thus, as cited in the report, the rising costs of living, inflation, and widening income/wealth inequality are areas in which the Government needs to perform better, according to citizens. "Our survey shows that over half of Singaporeans (55%) feel that the Government is not doing enough to keep inflation in check," said the analysts in the report.

Per the responses, nine in 10 (91%) Singaporeans feel that inflation is impacting their everyday life in some way, with 37% saying it is having a significant impact on them. The graphic below shows areas where locals are feeling hardest-hit by inflation:

Photos / Blackbox