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Flexible Work Arrangements Help Companies Facing Manpower Crunch

Home-based work enables more Singaporeans to join the workforce

Employment practices
25 August 2011

  1. Employers facing manpower shortages could consider implementing home-based work arrangements, to tap the pool of economically inactive workers in Singapore who prefer to work from home, Mr Hawazi Daipi, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Manpower and Education said today.
  2. Mr Hawazi was gracing the Work-Life Conference 2011 organised by the Tripartite Committee on Work-Life Strategy. He added that home-based work arrangements are now possible due to Singapore’s well-developed Infocomm Technology (ICT) infrastructure.
  3. Home-based work is a relatively new concept in Singapore, noted Mr Hawazi, but savvy businesses were increasingly adopting the practice together with other flexible work arrangements as a means of attracting and keeping talents and value employees. He added that employers could benefit from costs savings, improved productivity as well as having access to employees who may not be able to work away from home due to family responsibilities.
  4. More companies are incorporating flexible work arrangements, including home-based work, into their HR policies. In a recent MOM survey1, 35% of employers offered at least one form of flexible work arrangement, up from 25% in 2007. This reflects an increased awareness that progressive and flexible HR practices are an important factor for both employers and employees.
  5. Mr Hawazi also launched a guide book at the Conference called ‘Work@Home’, aimed at providing employers with information on home-based work as well as practical tips to implement such arrangements. The guide book was developed in response to recommendations of the Tripartite Workgroup on ICT-enabled Home-based Jobs, which was set up last year to study home-based work. To identify challenges and explore solutions to implementing home-based work in Singapore, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) will also be conducting pilots on home-based work with industry partners.
  6. The Conference’s Keynote Speaker, Dr Brad Harrington, the Executive Director of Boston College Center for Work & Family, shared how flexible work practices can help organisations achieve their business goals, significantly improve business performance and employee engagement as well as offer flexible job and advancement opportunities for women. IBM Singapore and Maybank, both Work-Life Excellence Award winners, also shared best practices on effective implementation of work-life strategies.

About Work-Life Conference 2011
More than 400 people comprising human resource professionals, work-life practitioners, union representatives, employers and government officials across the region are expected to attend the Work-Life Conference 2011 at the Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre on 25 August 2011.

This year’s Conference will focus on enabling organisations to identify work-life needs as well as learn how to formulate and implement work-life strategies effectively. Dr Brad Harrington, Executive Director of Boston College Centre for Work and Family in the U.S. will provide insights on key work-life trends and share implementation practices. Attendees will be able to choose from four workshops providing practical knowledge and tools on fostering workplace culture and implementing strategies according to the life-stages of employees, implementing home-based work and enhancing personal work-life effectiveness for greater productivity.

About the Tripatite Committee on Work-Life Strategy
The Tripartite Committee on Work-Life Strategy was set up in November 2004 to promote Work-Life Harmony in Singapore. The committee drives and facilitates the implementation of work-life strategies in all industry sectors. It also organises national-level programmes and activities to enhance work-life harmony in companies.

The Committee comprises Employer Alliance; Singapore National Employers Federation; Singapore Business Federation; Association of Small and Medium Enterprises; National Trades Union Congress; Singapore Human Resources Institute; Singapore Training and Development Association; Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports; Ministry of Manpower; Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office; and members of the academia.

About the Tripartite Workgroup on ICT-enabled home-based jobs
The Tripartite Workgroup on ICT-enabled Home-based Jobs was set up by the Tripartite Committee on Work-Life Strategy in May 2010 to look at how employers could be encouraged and assisted to leverage on our ICT infrastructure to offer home-based jobs to employees. The flexibility offered by home-based work could help facilitate higher labour force participation, enhance work-life harmony for employees, and improve productivity for businesses.

Chaired by Mrs Mildred Tan, Managing Director of Ernst & Young Advisory, the workgroup of eight members comprises tripartite representatives from the Singapore National Employers Federation, the Employer Alliance, National Trades Union Congress, the Ministry of Manpower and Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore.

1 Conditions of Employment report, 2010