95% of employers in S’pore say no to 4-day workweek, citing higher costs and lower productivity – Mothership.SG

News

I think we’re stuck with the status quo.

02 November 2024 15:34

Does a four-day work week sound good to you? Too bad.

According to a questionnaire An overwhelming 95 per cent of employers responding to a survey by the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) said they would not implement a four-day working week in their organisations.

About 80 percent said they were not interested in it.

In the survey of 300 employers in Singapore between September 30 and October 7, 2024, employers cited reasons such as increased costs and decreased capacity and productivity.

Some businesses also said they couldn’t facilitate their operations running a four-day week because they were working 24/7, for example.

“These results reflect the realities facing many employers in today’s tight labor market and competitive business environment,” said Sim Gim Guan, managing director of SNEF.

He added that such a change would be “a challenging proposition to meet business needs.”

A four-day workweek is defined as a schedule in which employees work four days per week (i.e., eight to nine hours per day, or up to 36 hours per week), rather than the traditional five-day, up to 44-hour workweek. .

Minority said yes

Meanwhile, five percent of employers said they would implement a four-day work week, while 16 percent expressed interest in doing so.

They cited the top three reasons as strengthening their company’s employee value proposition, improving employee well-being, and increasing employee job satisfaction.

The results appear to contradict a previous survey by recruitment agency Robert Walters, which reported that 69 per cent of Singapore employers found a four-day working week “feasible”.

The same survey found that 93 percent of employees hope their employer will conduct a trial run, citing better work-life balance and more time for family as the main reasons for the change.

Top image from Opentab/Unsplash