Despite having the highest proportion of remote workers globally, Singapore's employee engagement remains below the global average. According to the recent ADP Research 'People at Work 2025' global workforce study report, while Singapore's employee engagement slightly increased last year, its employee participation level is still analyzed to be low compared to international standards.
The report indicates that Singapore saw a 5 percentage point increase in employee engagement last year, with the proportion of fully engaged employees rising from 7% in the previous year to 12%. While this can be interpreted as a positive change, it still significantly lags behind the global average of 19% and is among the lowest figures in the Asia-Pacific region.
Looking at work arrangements, 61% of Singaporean employees commute to the office daily. Interestingly, Singapore recorded the highest proportion of fully remote workers globally at 23%, with 16% working in a hybrid model. However, in terms of employee engagement, the remote worker group showed the lowest engagement at 7%, compared to 14% for office workers and 13% for hybrid workers. This suggests that remote work environments may pose challenges in fostering employees' sense of belonging and work engagement.
Furthermore, the survey results showed that only 23% of Singaporean employees consider their current team to be "the best team they've ever worked in." While this is higher than the Asia-Pacific regional average of 19%, it represents a 7.7 percentage point decrease from the previous year, the largest decline in the region. This indicates room for improvement in teamwork and collaboration among colleagues.
In terms of work flexibility, Singapore also showed a somewhat complex picture. The proportion of employees who reported having complete autonomy in choosing their work location was 27%, which is the same as the Asia-Pacific regional average. However, this is lower than leading countries in the region such as India (45%) and the Philippines (43%). This suggests that there is a demand for greater work flexibility within Singapore, and companies need to actively respond to these demands.
The findings of this report are based on a survey collected from approximately 38,000 workers across 34 markets worldwide between July and August 2024.
Singapore's low employee engagement despite its high remote work rate raises the need for companies to reconsider organizational culture and communication methods in response to changes in the work environment. In particular, strengthening the sense of belonging in remote work environments, building effective teamwork, and exploring ways to provide employees with genuine work flexibility appear to be urgent tasks. Attention is now focused on how Singaporean companies will address these challenges.
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