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.
