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Written Answer to PQ on Work-from-home policies since the pandemic

NOTICE PAPER NO. 259 OF 2025 FOR THE SITTING ON OR AFTER 5 NOVEMBER 2025
QUESTION NO. 940 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: Ms Lee Hui Ying

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) how many employers with work-from-home policies during the pandemic have since reduced the scope of these policies; and (b) whether this has been offset by an increase in employers implementing flexible work arrangements or adopting tripartite standards for work-life harmony.

Answer:

The proportion of employers offering scheduled tele-working1 fell from 56.5% in 2021 to 38.4% in 2024, suggesting some scaling back as more employees returned on-site to work post pandemic, though this remains significantly higher than 6.9% in 2019 before the pandemic.

2. Apart from tele-working, employees may require different types of flexible work arrangements (FWAs) based on their needs, such as flexi-hours or flexi-load arrangements. In 2024, 72.7% of employers offered at least one type of FWA,2 which increased from 52.7% in 2019. More employers are also providing a greater variety of FWAs to their employees, with 54.4% of employers offering at least two FWAs in 2024 compared to 20.2% in 2019.

3. In addition, the Tripartite Standard (TS) on Work-Life Harmony was launched in April 2021 and more than 2,100 employers have since adopted the TS.

FOOTNOTE

  1. Scheduled tele-working refers to an arrangement implemented on a sustained basis where employees perform work in places other than the office and the job is performed using information and communication technologies.
  2. This refers to Scheduled FWAs, which are pre-arranged and consist of part-time work, flexi-hours, staggered hours, teleworking for an extended period of time, homeworking, job sharing and compressed work week.