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4 Dec 2024 | Rosalind Ang
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Employers should keep open mind about flexi-work
"Being more open to flexible work arrangements (FWAs) can help companies be more productive, said panellists at a recent roundtable moderated by The Straits Times.
Under new guidelines which took effect on Dec 1, all employers in Singapore, including small and medium-sized enterprises, must fairly consider formal requests from employees for FWAs."
Image source: Kevin Lim
4 Dec 2024 | Stephanie Yeo
The great return to the office: Is flexible work a priority or a perk?
"Even as Singapore workers look forward to better work-life balance under the Tripartite Guidelines On Flexible Work Arrangement Requests that take effect from Dec 1, the great return to the office seems inevitable.
Sixty-one per cent of workers aged 18 and up are now working from the office, up 7 percentage points year-on-year, according to data from Blackbox Research’s platform SensingSG, which polls 1,500 Singaporeans and permanent residents aged 18 and up every three months."
Image source: DBS
29 Nov 2024 | The Straits Times
Return to office: What is happening globally
"During the pandemic lockdowns that began in 2020, millions of office workers suddenly abandoned their workplaces and started doing their jobs from home, in what McKinsey & Co researcher Ryan Luby called “a social experiment at scale”. The debate over what it proved rages on.
Does giving people agency over where they work, and on which days, reduce productivity? Erode company culture? The research is not conclusive. Still, managers and workers tend to have strong feelings based on their own experiences, leading to a broad range of office policies and reactions to them, now that the choice is back with employers."
Image source: The Strait Times
29 Nov 2024 | Kimberly Lim
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The Search For Authenticity in Singapore's New Wave of Home-Based Businesses
"When I think of home-based businesses, the genial middle-aged woman offering daycare services a block away comes to mind. So does the motherly Chinese national three blocks away I used to visit for weekly tuition sessions. And the auntie who pumps out love letter biscuits in reused Milo tins every Chinese New Year season."
Image source: Nicholas Chang for RICE Media
21 Nov 2024 | Dezeen Staff
Ping-pong tables are out and "control" is in, say panelists addressing Joy at Work
"Workers are returning to the office and workplace design is set to cater to their needs like never before, according to speakers at a panel discussion hosted by Dezeen and furniture brand Steelcase.
The panel, titled Joy at Work, took place at Steelcase's London showroom and featured the company's EMEA director for workplace design and consulting Elena de Kan, architect and Foster + Partners partner Simona Bencini, and office design expert and WorkTech Academy chair Jeremy Myerson, with Dezeen features editor Nat Barker moderating."
Image source: Dezeen
3 Oct 204 | Julien Cayla
Why Mandatory office time isn't going to work
"Companies need to take a more thoughtful approach and make the employee experience more connected and meaningful.
In a trend of companies wanting employees to spend less time working from home, professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has announced a crackdown. It intends to track the locations of its UK employees to ensure they spend "at least three days a week" in the office or at a client's site."
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Image source: Unsplash
2 Oct 2024 | Darius Lee
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Can parents enjoy extra leave without irritating their employers?
"“In that case, employers might just stop hiring people who want to have children.”
In the days and weeks following the National Day Rally, I heard numerous murmurs to this effect, in the light of announcements that the four-week paternity leave would be made mandatory, along with another ten additional weeks of shared parental leave."
Image source: Kua Chee Siong
19 Sep 2024 | Richard Partington
The great divide: are office workers more productive than those at home?
"Amazon has told staff they must return five days a week – but experts don’t all agree that flexible working cuts output.
Four years ago when the world of work was upended by the Covid pandemic, confident predictions were made that a permanent shift in remote working would follow the removal of lockdown restrictions.
Much has clearly changed since. Some of the earliest preachers of the brave new teleworking world – including the US tech companies Google and Microsoft – are among the most vocal to repent."
Image source: Mark Lennihan/AP
2 July 2024 | Lauren Aratani
'The new normal': work from home is here to stay, US data shows
"The same percentage of employed people who worked remotely in 2023 is the same as the previous year, a survey found. Don’t call it work from home any more, just call it work. According to new data, what once seemed like a pandemic necessity has become the new norm for many Americans."
Image source: ArtistGNDphotography/Getty Images
26 June 2024 | Junie Foo
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Can flexi-work help close the gender gap in caregiving?
"FWAs will enable more women to juggle domestic duties and paid work. But it opens up a role for men as part-time caregivers, too, and might just be the nudge to help break down the age-old stereotype of women as the sole caregivers."
Image source: Gin Tay
20 May 2024 | Deborah Lau
For new mother Nur Sabrina Muhleseddin, being able to enjoy work-life balance is something she values in a job, as it allows her to be present for her son’s milestones. The 29-year-old digital marketing manager said her priorities have shifted since she gave birth in July last year. She was working in a different company previously, but had sought out a new role four months after becoming a mother."
Image source: TODAY
27 May 2024 | Isabelle Liew
HDB to offer new open-concept 'white flats' in Kallang-Whampoa
"SINGAPORE – Home seekers will soon have the option of a new type of Housing Board flat without partitions and beams, which creates an open-concept living and bedroom space.
These “white flats” will be piloted in a Build-To-Order (BTO) project in Kallang-Whampoa that will be launched in October, said National Development Minister Desmond Lee on May 27.
HDB said on May 27 that this layout offers home owners a white canvas so they can design and personalise the flat based on their needs and preferences."
Photo illustration: HDB
29 April 2024 | CNA Podcasts
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Work It Podcast: Is flexible work shaping the office of the future?
"With new guidelines for flexible work arrangement requests kicking in by the end of the year, how can living and working spaces change to make hybrid work more accessible for all? Associate Professor Lilian Chee from the National University of Singapore and Associate Professor Ada Wong from the Singapore University of Social Sciences share their research."
Image source: CNA Work It
22 Aug 2023 | Lauren Aratani
"The office is for socialising": how work from home has revolutionialised work
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"The work from home backlash is in full swing. In what seemed like an oxymoron brought to life, the video conferencing company Zoom has asked employees to return to the office. Amazon is reportedly tracking employees to make sure they are at their desks.
The two companies are just the latest to sour on work from home (WFH), but does this mean the impending end of WFH as we know it?"
Image source: JGI/Jamie Grill/Getty Images/Tetra images RF
23 April 2024 | Davina Tham
Ensuring local workers stay competitive is key to normalisingflexi-work: Gan Siow Huang
“Mixed workforces of local and overseas staff are already a natural part of Singapore's economy and will be part of the future of work, say tripartite partners. Local workers must have in-demand skills and be able to meet business productivity needs, while staying competitive in terms of work ethic or 'the softer things, like being reliable, trusted', which are attributes businesses appreciate."
Image source: CNA
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23 April 2024 | Louisa Tang
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1 in 2 workers in Singapore will quit their Jon if asked to be in office more often: Survey
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"Half of Singapore workers said in a Randstad survey late last year that they would leave jobs requiring them to work in the office more often, with Gen Z employees most likely to feel this way. More respondents prioritised work-life balance over salary, even as inflation and the rising cost of living continue to be of concern, signalling a shift of ideal working conditions for the next generation."
17 April 2024 | Tay Hong Yi
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All employers in Singapore must fairly consider flexi-work requests from Dec 1 under new rules
"All employers in Singapore must fairly consider formal requests from employees for flexible work arrangements (FWAs) from Dec 1, 2024, under the new Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests. The compulsory guidelines were unveiled on April 15 during a company visit to the Ridout Tea Garden outlet of fast-food chain McDonald’s attended by the three co-chairs of the tripartite workgroup that had worked on them since September 2023."
Image source: The Straits Times
16 April 2024 | Renald Loh
All employees can ask for flexi-work arrangements from December. 5 key takeaways from new guidelines
"A set of new Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests stipulate that all firms should set up a process for employees to submit a formal request for flexible work arrangements, and also outline how the request will be handled. The aim of the guidelines is to establish a harmonious workplace norm where employees feel comfortable requesting for FWAs, and employers can evaluate requests and work out arrangements that meet both parties’ needs."
Image source: TODAY
30 October 2023 | Timothy Goh
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More than 7 in 10 S'poreans prefer remote work, higher than global average: IMF economists
"A 2022 report by professional services firm PwC said that 73 per cent of Singaporean workers indicated a strong preference for a hybrid work model in the next 12 months starting from June 2022. This is substantially higher than the global average of 63 per cent. This trend in Singapore is not as heavily driven by education or gender, unlike its global peers, but rather, it is influenced by factors such as age, perceived productivity and the specific sectors in which workers are employed."
Image source: The Straits Times
29 August 2023 | Krist Boo
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Most S'pore workers returning to office: HR reskilling urged
“Some experts say that instead of organisations obsessing over the ‘golden number of days’ expected in the office, they should focus on reskilling managers to lead teams in the new environment, as the old thinking that time in the office is a reflection of dedication and competence is no longer valid. Pay and career opportunities play a part, but recruiters insisting on face time in the office are likely to draw fewer applications than those offering hybrid or remote work."
Image source: Cushman & Wakefield
21 August 2023 | Chong Sin Hui
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What work-life balance means for women
"In 2021, a survey of 117 Singaporean employees over 10 working days found that working mothers, but not fathers or those without children, experienced greater family-to-work interference on days when they worked from home. When that happened, it evoked rude treatment from their co-workers. In fact, it is common for employees who are going through life transitions to feel worried and guilty for placing their careers on the back burner because our society traditionally emphasises the prioritising of collective company goals over individual interests."
Image source: The Straits Times
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12 May 2022 | Max Zimmerman
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The Japanese Home Design That Strikes a Work-Life Balance
"The city of Kyoto is known for its stock of unique historical structures called Machiya. These beautiful wooden townhouses, which mingle residences with storefronts and workshops, offer a rare window into traditional Japanese life and architecture. Despite economic and cultural headwinds, machiya have proven capable of adapting to the present — and even influencing homes in the future. An influx of tourists before Covid-19 saw many machiya find renewed purpose as restaurants or vacation rentals, while their mixed-use design provides lessons for people adjusting their lifestyles to working at home during the pandemic."
14 October 2023 | Stephanie Yeo
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“The crux is for employers to figure out what role the office or the workplace plays in their employee value proposition. Is the office the place where employees come together to collaborate and socialise, while remote working is for more individual-focused tasks?
"Simultaneously, is the office also the place where employees and their leaders engage in coaching and mentoring? Reflecting on these questions will help employers find the right balance between flexibility, employee engagement and productivity."
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30 March 2023 | Thai PBS World
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No more commuting? Thailand enshrines work-from-home culture in law
“Thailand has become the latest country to enshrine rights for digital nomads, offering protection to a growing number of people who are keen to work from home but unsure about the law and guidelines.
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The move comes as more employees find the line between their personal life and work is becoming blurred, with bosses expecting them to be available at all hours.
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Hence, Thailand has amended its labor law not just for the “benefits of employers’ operations” but also for the “enhancement of employees’ quality of life and work”.
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Under the newly amended law, employees have the right to ignore any communication from employers beyond work hours without the fear of a backlash.
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The new version of Thailand’s Labor Protection Act will go into effect on April 18.”
October 2022 | CNA
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Can Singapore's red-hot property market be cooled?
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​“The latest round of property cooling measures announced in Singapore has raised questions about affordability, and whether an HDB flat is for home ownership or an asset. Host Steven Chia is joined by Chua Beng Huat, Professor of Social Sciences (Urban Studies) at Yale-NUS College, Walter Theseira, Associate Professor of Economics at the Singapore University of Social Sciences and property agent Jooann Tay.”
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23 August 2023 | Matthew Boyle
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More than a third of office desks globally sit empty all week
“Over a third of desks in offices around the globe are unoccupied all week, according to a new report, raising questions on how well workplaces are currently designed as firms struggle to get employees back into them. Companies just need less of them now that people do the majority of their focus work at home. Companies should either redeploy that desk space for better workplace experiences or pocket the savings, but they can’t ignore the waste that’s going on."
20 June 2022 | Megan Cheah
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4 in 10 Singapore workers would give up bigger bonus for remote working: Survey
"Employers that intend to make hybrid work a permanent feature of their workforce culture after the pandemic should also start to roll out policies as soon as they can to retain their workforce.”
Image source: The Straits Times
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9 October 2022 | Kwok Tian Long & Sing Tian Foo
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Commentary: When Singapore homes become workspaces - huge changes in the house and beyond
"Big changes in the home, residential estates and the Central Business District are underway.
As Singapore residents spend more time at home, it is likely to see more Singaporeans investing to make their homes work-friendly. Neighbourhood shops will also see a bigger boost in demand. Big brand names, cafes and dining concepts may find residential estates more attractive locations for a second outlet.
With more firms relooking their WFH policy and reviewing the need for big office spaces in the CBD since the pandemic, a decentralisation could accelerate its reconfiguration from a predominantly business and financial district to a more integrated work-live-play place."
5 February 2023 | Adrian Tan
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“Almost half of Singaporeans have returned to the office full-time, according to a 2022 UOB study, even though more than 80 per cent prefer some form of flexible work arrangement. Only 52 per cent in a Randstad survey said they were provided remote work options.
It seems strange we’re rolling back this major pandemic gain. After all the talk about the importance of flexibility and remote work, it's hard to understand why some companies insist on a full-time return to the office.
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Have employers already forgotten pandemic lessons about the importance of employee well-being?”
24 September 2022 | Bloomberg
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China's Digital Nomads Tade Mega-Cities for Backpacker Havens
“After a hard day’s work, programmer Richard Hao powers down his laptop in a cafe overlooking Dali’s picturesque lake and drinks in the view. Like a growing number of digital nomads in China, he’s turned his back on big-city living and moved to the tourist hub in Yunnan province, famed for its snowcapped mountains, ancient temples and pagodas.”
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“China is catching up with the global trend of tech-savvy workers choosing cheaper and prettier locations to base themselves — a lifestyle that’s gained traction since the Covid-19 pandemic prompted a rethink of work-life balance.”
reccuring (most recent: October 2022) | Bruce Daisley
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“Conversations about workplace culture, psychology and life with millions and millions of listens.
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As we wrestle with a world of hybrid working Bruce Daisley brings inspiration and imagination as he asks 'how can we make work better?' and 'why do we behave that way?”
15 August 2022 | Choo Yun Ting
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2 in 5 workers in Singapore would not accept a job if they cannot work from home: Study
“Dr David Leong, managing director of human resources advisory firm PeopleWorldwide Consulting, said workers now have a preference to work from home, given how work habits have become entrenched during pandemic.
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Flexibility in work arrangements will increasingly be seen as an employee entitlement, if not normalised, he said.”
12 September 2022 | Desmond Lee
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Work-study pods in Boon Lay and Jurong, Singapore
“We launched 9 work-study pods in 3 void decks across Boon Lay and Jurong West over the weekend.”
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“This trial is one of a number of micro-pilots across Singapore, to test new models that might support flexi-work arrangements and work-from-home / work-away-from-office. Apart from pods in void decks, there are existing trials and roll outs of pods and shared working spaces in PA Community Clubs, commercial and office buildings, Resident Network centres and more.”
26 August 2021| Sreeja Nair, Sun Sun Lim, Brigid Trenerry, Samuel Chng, Yang Wang
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“Transformations of industries, jobs and workplaces brought about by Industry 4.0 demand that workers continually upskill and reskill while accepting the reality of lifelong learning.
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Globally, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has been instrumental in imparting a diverse set of skills to jobseekers and is increasingly important in digital transformation and the future of work.”
9 May 2022 | Elle Hunt​
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'No reward or recognition': why women should say no to 'office housework'
“Many, if not most, working women accept it as just part of the job. But taking one for the team could be holding all women back.
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A new book argues that “non-promotable work” – the kind that is important to organisational functioning, but unlikely to be rewarded or even recognised – is the invisible hurdle to gender equality in the workplace, with women’s time and energy being disproportionately expended on thankless tasks.”
3 September 2022 | BBC Archive
1979: The Right to Work - Home workstations
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“What will the office of the future look like? #OnThisDay 1979: Judith Hann's look at homeworking technology gets a lot of things very nearly right.”
7 June 2022 | Adolfo Arranz, Marcelo Duhalde, Kaliz Lee, Han Huang and Dennis Wong
Life in Hong Kong's shoebox housing
“Behind Hong Kong’s glittery facade is a poor underbelly where more than 220,000 people live in cramped subdivided ats, bed spaces and cage homes.
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Hong Kong, a bustling city of nearly 7.5 million, is famous for its expensive property market, considered the least affordable in the world. For some 220,000 people, home is in the city’s more than 110,000 subdivided units. These shoebox dwellings — units created out of existing ats, usually in old tenement buildings - are well known for their poor, cramped conditions.”
7 May 2022 | Linette Lai
How Covid-19 changed the way we live, work and shop in Singapore
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“The pandemic has hit life's fast-forward button, catapulting people into a future of Zoom calls and hybrid work arrangements.
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Insight looks at some of the biggest ways in which Covid-19 has changed the way Singaporeans live, work and shop.”
4 July 2022 | Krist Boo
Future of hybrid work in S'pore: Finding room for flexibility in remote working rules
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“The stage of discourse on remote working in Singapore is lagging behind some countries and rules that protect both workers and employers still need to be set, say lawyers.”
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“Questions over tax treatment, employee mental health and employers’ obligations towards remote workers remain to be answered, says lawyer Clarence Ding.”
15 August 2022 | Choo Yun Ting
Flexible work arrangements key to future: Tan See Leng
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“What will the office of the future look like? #OnThisDay 1979: Judith Hann's look at homeworking technology gets a lot of things very nearly right.”
25 April 2022 | Sue-Ann Tan
Flexible work arrangements now preferred: 10 takeaways from the IPS report
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“Workers now say that flexible work arrangements should be the new norm for Singapore, with four in 10 also saying that employees should be allowed to work from home three days a week.”​
18 April 2022 | Airbnb
Airbnb's design for employees to like and work anywhere
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“Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, a new world of travel has emerged. Millions of people are now more flexible about where they live and work. In response to this trend of newfound flexibility, Airbnb today announced [their] approach to allow employees to live and work anywhere, and how [they] will partner with destinations to help them attract remote workers.”
25 April 2022 | Krist Boo
S'pore workers want bosses to meet their flexi-work needs: IPS Survey
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“More women (73 per cent) than men (66 per cent) felt that home-working or flexi-work should remain the norm. More women (94 per cent) with children or caring for aged dependents at home felt so compared with their male counterparts (86 per cent), mirroring global studies that show women tended to shoulder more of the domestic burdens during pandemic lockdowns.”
16 July 2021 | Grab
Grab Conversation: Gig Economy in Southeast Asia
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“While the gig economy has become a lifeline for many in Southeast Asia, it is not without its share of concerns. A February 2021 report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) identifies four groups of issues: inequality and digital divide; gig workers’ rights and voices; data and privacy issues; and competitive / antitrust issues.
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Grab partnered with the ILO on this event to kickstart a conversation on the gig economy. Representatives of the ILO, Grab, governments and investors examined the Southeast Asian perspective on the gig economy and identified some of the more pressing issues for the region to tackle.”
12 August 2021 | Grab
Grab supports building a sustainable gig economy in Singapore
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“In recent years, a third type of work known as platform-enabled gig work has emerged. Gig work itself is not new, however, platform-enabled gig work is a hybrid form of work made possible through digital technology and enabled by platform companies like Grab. Each type of work carries its own advantages and trade-offs.”
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“Grab’s guiding principles on the gig economy
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Our journey continues. Our aim is to achieve a sustainable and beneficial gig economy for all stakeholders. We believe that the gig economy can serve as a pillar of the region’s labor markets and economies.”
3 June 2021 | Soumitra Das
The Ethics of Working from Home
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“Several studies in the past year have highlighted that the pandemic-induced stress and strain of working from home often causes WfH employees to succumb to the familiar fraud triangle of opportunity, incentive/ pressure and rationalisation.”
29 April 2021 | Tim Bajarin
Work From Home Is The New Normal For Workers Around The World
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“Indeed, at first, they were not sure they could be productive and questioned whether working from home would work for them.”
“But by the third month, most realized that thanks to new video conferencing systems like Zoom, WebEx, MS Teams, and others, along with email and messaging apps, working from home allowed them to continue to be productive. In some cases, they were more productive than they were in their former office settings.”
9 March 2021 | Sumit Agarwal
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“Since the pandemic, the Singapore Government had set aside over billions to stimulate the economy and keep jobs through measures like the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) and the Jobs Growth initiative, including at Budget 2021.
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The gig economy, meanwhile, provided lifelines keeping many afloat. During the circuit breaker, workers from the travel and tourism industries turned to food-delivery gig jobs to boost their incomes.”
24 September 2020 | Feng Zengkun
Renewing Cities with Remote Working​
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“As cities adapt to life in the COVID-19 era, many are seizing the moment to implement consequential changes for a more resilient, sustainable and healthier future. In this second in a series of articles, we look at how city centres and suburbs could evolve as more companies embrace digitalisation and remote working.”
11 October 2019 | Alex Anderson
Domestic Orbits: Frida Escobedo on architecture's tendency to conceal spaces of domestic labour
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“How can architectural interventions help recognize, reduce, and redistribute the problems faced by domestic workers? - Frida Escobar who, together with Xavier Nueno, seeks to highlight ways in which iconic Mexican architects had erased the spaces of domestic labor.”
15 February 2019
80 Items: The ultimate Digital Nomad Packing List
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“The ultimate packing list for traveling the world as a digital nomad with a backpack. We cover it all: men’s and women’s focused items from clothes to tech to toiletries and more."
2 February 2019 | UrbanNous
Working from home: Designing cities for the 'workhome' with Frances Holliss on ideasSPACE
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“Working from or at home certainly moved up the agenda in 2020 and from what we can see it isn’t going back in its box any time soon. Some have found it a positive experience, citing better work/home balance, more opportunity for exercise, healthier eating and even more time for chores. But others - depending on the design of neighbourhoods or houses - have found it a huge challenge, highlighting the increasing inequality the pandemic has exposed across many urban issues, such as access to greenspace. So how do we put this right, and design for a future with increased working from home? We speak to Frances Holliss an architect and educator who has taught widely across the School of Art, Architecture and Design at London Metropolitan University and Director of the Workhome Project. Her research concerns the emerging field of design for home-based work.”
28 October 2022 | Ivan Png
What do MRT travel numbers tell us about work from home trends
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“By August 2022, electricity consumption had come down to levels similar to before the Covid-19 pandemic. On the other hand, travel on the MRT and LTR was still markedly lower than before the pandemic."
9 February 2017 | Melissa Heng
Home-based beauty businesses on the rise in Singapore
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“The number of home-based beauty businesses such as Ms Chang's seems to be on the rise in recent years.
Although no official figures are available, local beauty appointment booking app Vanitee - which allows users to search for beauty services by location, post reviews, chat with service providers and book and pay - has seen a big jump in the number of home-based beauty businesses listed on it.
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Half of the businesses on the app - about 800 of them - are homebased. This is up from 55 in 2015, when it launched, and 386 last year.
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Singapore Polytechnic senior retail lecturer Sarah Lim, who says that there "definitely has been an increase", reckons that over the last three years, "thousands of new home-based salons have opened".
The lure, she adds, are the flexible working hours and fewer overheads such as rent and transport costs. She says the cost of running a home-based business, compared to running the same business in a mall, would be at least 50 per cent less.”
11 June 2020 | Elizabeth Yuko
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What Happened When the Office Came Home
"Since coronavirus lockdowns forced workers to take their jobs home, the home office has once again become a much-coveted feature of modern living. The most coveted amenity of the post-pandemic home may be an extravagant variation on the home office: the double or even triple office, with two or more separate workspaces within a household, so that spouses and kids can all get through their respective working and schooling days with less friction. Probably over the next two to 10 years there’ll be a continual evolution of how we think about the home office versus the central office.
30 October 2023 | Timothy Goh
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More demand for S'pore's co-working spaces as hybrid work arrangements flourish
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“We can realistically expect co-working spaces to continue growing at about 4 per cent to 6 per cent in 2024, at a similar pace as in 2021 to 2023."
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Start-ups with limited resources and smaller headcounts are among those flocking to such workspaces due to the flexibility and convenience that they offer.