A four-day workweek? It’s not happening, say Singapore’s employers

Despite advocates arguing that it would improve employee wellbeing and job satisfaction, employers in Singapore are in no hurry to implement a four-day workweek.

In fact, they are not even close to viewing it as a possibility.

According to a survey of 330 employers by the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), only 5% of employers said they would instigate a four-day workweek.

79% said they would not implement a four-day workweek and 16% said they would not implement it but would at least consider doing so.

The top three reasons cited by employers in not wanting to implement a four-day workweek are: business operations do not permit a four-day work week, for example, business runs 24/7; inability to increase productivity to offset reduction in capacity; and higher costs due to additional manpower needed to plug the gaps.

For the minority of employers who want to implement a four-day workweek, strengthening their organisation’s employee value proposition, improving employee wellbeing, and improving employee job satisfaction are the key reasons for doing so.

On the other end of the scale, almost one in three employees in Singapore believe that a four-day workweek will become the norm in the next five years

According to a survey conducted by ADP earlier this year, 32% of respondents see that four-day workweek as a workforce trend that would become popular in the near future, a figure that represents the highest percentage in the Asia-Pacific region.

A spokesperson for the SNEF told The Straits Times, “A small handful of employers, mainly from the information and communications, general and support services, and finance industries had respectively indicated that they will do so [implement a four-day workweek].

READ MORE: Pelindo weights four-day workweek pilot for Indonesia’s SOEs

SNEF added that a four-day working week involves employees working eight or nine hours a day – up to 36 hours a week – while receiving the same compensation as they would for a typical five-day working week, which usually entails staff working up to 44 hours.

4 Day Week Global, a non-profit organisation that is one of the biggest advocates of a four-day workweek, offers a 100:80:100 model for the four-day workweek. In such a work model, employees can be expected to receive 100% pay for 80% of their time, with the caveat that they maintain 100% output.