Why are some firms asking their employees to return to office five days a week?

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SINGAPORE: Tech firms Amazon and Grab have one thing in common: They will both return to a five-day work week in office. 

Grab’s policy will take effect next month, while Amazon’s is set to start early next year.

These companies have pointed to improved communication and collaboration and better productivity as reasons for the shift away from the hybrid work model that many have come to expect as the post-COVID-19 norm.

Their move comes despite the importance of flexible work arrangements to employees here. A survey by recruitment firm Robert Walters released on Monday (Nov 25) found that 82 per cent of 300 workers polled preferred flexible working hours.

Firms that have mandated a return to office, or RTO – an increasingly common term – will, in the long run, have a smaller pool of talent willing to work for them, said Dr Issac Lim, founder of Anthro Insights, whose vision is to foster people-centric legislation, policies and programmes.

“People are going to use their feet to do the talking,” he told CNA podcast Deep Dive. 

Such rigid rules will make the environment less conducive for work-life balance and prompt high performers to leave, added Dr Lim, who is also an adjunct lecturer at National University of Singapore’s Business School.

However, human resources expert Karen Teo said that employees do not leave an organisation just because of one policy. Employees’ relationship with their bosses has a big impact on such decisions, she added. 

“If there’s actually some camaraderie within the organisation, teamwork (and) social interaction, that makes it harder for them to leave,” said the country manager for recruitment and talent firm Quess Singapore.

WHY RETURN TO FIVE DAYS IN OFFICE?

Businesses typically resort to fully working in office based on evidence or intuition, said Dr Lim.

He noted that older, male CEOs tend to gravitate towards such a shift.

According to the KPMG 2024 CEO Outlook, expectations for a return to the office increased with age: 87 per cent of those aged 60 to 69 expected this shift, compared with 75 per cent among those aged 40 to 49. 

The report also found that 84 per cent of male CEOs foresee a complete return to the office within three years, compared with 78 per cent of female CEOs. 

Making it compulsory to return to the office may also be a way for companies to shed some layers, Dr Lim said.

“This is quite prevalent among the tech companies where they hired a lot of people during the pandemic (and) now they realise that they don’t really need these employees anymore,” he said.

“This is a very quiet way and a cheap way of getting people to quit.”

He also noted that the practice of fully returning to the office is more prevalent among larger companies which face complexity in trying to decide who to lay off and the complications that may arise from letting people go, including lawsuits.

“They (may) decide that maybe this is a way to get rid of a layer of people very quickly, and then from there, they decide what to do with the rest,” he added. 

Ms Teo, whose firm recently moved from hybrid work to a five-day RTO model, said one impetus is that outcomes of work for some departments are clear but not for others.

“There are no clear deliverables that you can really pinpoint to say (that) this person is productive working from home or not. So that’s when … we need to come up with a policy that’s fair for all,” she said.

“In the absence of having this one-size-fits-all policy, maybe the easy way out is bringing everyone back.”

THE NEGATIVES AND POSITIVES

While firms may have their reasons, Dr Lim pointed out that time spent commuting can be used for working instead.

He added that the office may not always be the most productive place to work.

“There are a lot of interruptions … People have a lot of chats going on, and it makes the kind of work that requires you to do deep thinking quite challenging,” he said.

However, Ms Teo, who recently joined her firm, said that one of the advantages and joys of being in office are the “water cooler chats”, which is how she managed to get to know her colleagues.

However, she said the five-day RTO does not have to be written in stone.

Her firm has a work-from-home application process, and also allows employees to work overseas for 10 days a year. 

“It’s about the flexibility and how you can have an arrangement with a manager to come to a common agreement (on) outcomes,” she said.

“Communication with the manager is extremely important to get to an alignment,” she added.