, where the world’s largest trial of a four-day work week has been going on for more than two months, with pubs beginning to deploy more workers on Thursdays than on Fridays.
Yet, even for them, several said that business on the other weekdays has been picking up slightly compared to before the pandemic. At Lolla restaurant on Ann Siang Hill, head chef Johanne Siy has been keeping a lot more part-timers on call because of how unpredictable business has been lately. “It’s also partly in response to the fact that a lot of people don’t want to work in this industry full-time,” she said. “We’ve had part-timers on call before in the past but not as many. Now it’s also more spontaneous.”
Nightlife business veteran Dennis Foo likewise described the current state of the industry as being in a “state of flux”, with nightclubs serving the party crowds doing well but other nightlife venues serving primarily the office crowds being affected by unpredictable crowds.