Almost two-thirds (65%) of workers in Singapore expect their industry will change for the better after COVID-19 due to the changes being implemented in response to the pandemic, according to new research released today from Qualtrics.
Qualtrics’ Work Different study draws upon insights from more than 800 Singaporeans who rated their employer’s response over the last six months.
The majority (57%) of respondents rated the way their employer responded to the pandemic as “above average”.
With many people working from home during the pandemic, a large portion (42%) of respondents said their employee experience has improved during the pandemic, while the same number said it has remained the same.
The most effective actions employers have taken to make their teams feel more valued throughout this period have been more workplace flexibility (51%), gratitude from direct managers (21%), and improved benefits (21%).
“As a result of their employers’ quick thinking and actions, the majority of workers across Singapore say they feel a lot more valued (43%) at their company, and a lot more proud (46%) to work for them,” said Mao Gen Foo, head of Southeast Asia at Qualtrics.
“This is in part down to the human centred approach many adopted when the pandemic hit using solutions like the free Qualtrics Remote + On-site work pulse, which has supported 55,000 projects globally,” he said.
For 77% of Singaporeans, it’s important their employer asks them what action they want to see taken to make them feel confident about returning. The top actions workers want to see are more flexible work schedules (69%), higher focus on personal hygiene (44%), greater focus on employee mental health (39%) and office hygiene (39%),and being able to choose their work location (38%).
These employee preferences align with some of the actions they expect their employer will prioritise — more flexible work schedules (66%), higher focus on personal hygiene (61%) and office hygiene (51%), symptom checks (40%) and more digital communication tools (39%).