As flexi-work becomes the norm in Singapore, employers said they may rethink hiring local staff and look overseas for recruitment.Ms Tan Wan Ting, who founded digital marketing agency Weave Asia in 2017, currently hires 11 full-time employees in Singapore and 13 in Malaysia.
“Why do I need to hire full-time staff now if there are flexi-work hours? Might as well I gather a pool of talent, I pay them by the hour,” she said. “It will start to be more challenging for employees to look for a job… because employers will now truly compare their abilities and pay package against possibilities of hiring remotely overseas.”Employers who spoke to CNA after the guidelines were announced acknowledged the benefits of flexi-work, including employee well-being and loyalty. Many already implement them in some form, usually informally.
Performance evaluation models will need to be relooked to ensure they are outcome-driven, he added. It may also be challenging to manage a “dispersed workforce” where employees are working remotely or at different times. Confidentiality was another challenge. “While we aim to address individual needs sensitively, sharing specific details about one employee’s flexibility arrangements with others may lead to unintended consequences and feelings of inequity.”Old Hen Coffee Bar has 11 frontline employees serving customers and preparing food and drinks across two outlets. Mr Terry Lim and his co-founders handle backend functions.
“Employees who respect, collaborate with, and trust one another are much more receptive to each other’s personal needs than those who feel competition or inequality in the workplace,” said Mr Winthrop Wong, co-founder of online pharmacy Glovida-Rx. Measurements could include job satisfaction, staff well-being and impact on absence rates as well as key business objectives such as performance and staff retention.
The tripartite workgroup that developed the guidelines has said it will provide training and resources, including in skills like change management, performance appraisal and job redesign, which are deemed critical to flexible work practices.For a long-time advocate of flexi-work, the new guidelines are helpful for defining and standardising what flexible work arrangements are, but gaps remain.
But requiring employers to fairly consider requests for flexi-work empowers workers to ask for such arrangements and can help them stay in their jobs, she said. An employee’s job scope can also change over time because of the nature of what they are able to do under flexible work arrangements, which can also affect prospects for progression, she said.
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