Singapore employers are increasingly embracing flexible work arrangements, with a new survey by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) showing that the proportion of companies offering formal flexi-work options has risen from 47% in 2017 to 62% in 2019 — a significant jump that reflects both changing workforce expectations and government encouragement.

The most commonly offered arrangements are staggered working hours (offered by 48% of employers surveyed), part-time work (39%), flexi-time (34%) and telecommuting or remote work (28%). The least common remains the compressed work week — four ten-hour days instead of five eight-hour days — which only 12% of employers offered.

What’s driving the change

HR leaders attributed the shift to several converging factors. Employee demand for flexibility — particularly among women returning from maternity leave and older workers seeking gradual wind-downs — has intensified. The tight labour market is compelling employers to offer differentiated arrangements to attract and retain talent. And the government’s WorkPro scheme, which provides co-funding grants for flexi-work implementation, has lowered the administrative barrier for smaller companies.

“Three years ago, we would have said flexi-work was nice to have,” said one HR director at a mid-sized professional services firm. “Today, it’s a hygiene factor for hiring. Candidates ask about it in first interviews. If you don’t have a credible answer, you lose people to competitors who do.”

Challenges remain

Despite growing adoption, barriers persist. Manager resistance remains the single most-cited obstacle — specifically, the difficulty some managers have in shifting from presence-based to output-based performance assessment. Trust and accountability concerns are particularly pronounced in sectors such as financial services and legal, where face time remains culturally entrenched.

Technology investment is also a factor. Effective remote work requires reliable VPN infrastructure, collaboration tools and, increasingly, cybersecurity controls that many SMEs have been slow to implement. Companies that have invested in collaboration platforms such as Microsoft Teams or Slack report significantly smoother flexi-work implementation than those still relying on email and phone.

Looking ahead

The Tripartite Alliance has set a target of 80% of employers offering at least one formal flexi-work arrangement by 2020. With the current pace of adoption, this target is within reach — though HR leaders caution that the quality and culture of flexibility matters as much as its formal availability. A flexi-work policy that exists on paper but is never used — because employees fear career consequences — delivers no value to anyone.