SINGAPORE (Apr 17): At first, technology was changing the way we work. More people were getting on the gig economy while companies saved cost by leveraging on overseas business partners and clients. Even job recruitment has evolved — these days, it is not uncommon to hear of artificial intelligence being used to conduct interviews and candidate assessments.

But the Covid-19 pandemic is forcing businesses to rethink their workplace strategy and company culture. As governments enact more measures to contain the spread of the disease, companies too have to rethink their processes: Employees are encouraged to work from home, thus minimising contact.

Will this be the new norm at the workplace? So far, the views <i>The Edge Singapore</i> garnered from employers have been mixed.

Ng Aik-Phong, the managing director of online-to offline and cashless payment startup Fave Singapore, believes that remote working could be the new norm in a post-Covid-19 world. “This situation has meant that companies have had to adapt, innovate and improve in the way they collaborate and communicate with each other. Communication must become clearer; project planning and progress updates have to be transparent in order to ensure a positive impact even after the work-from-home is lifted.”

He also observes an uptick in staff performance with the average score for improvement in productivity coming in at four out of five, over the past few weeks. Business results have also shown improvement in terms of efficiency and productivity, he adds. Hence, Ng is confident that the company can successfully continue with the work-from-home arrangement for as long as needed to ensure the safety of the entire team.

Agreeing, Jin Choeh — chief executive and co-founder of cloud-based HR platform Swingvy — adds: “We think the Covid-19 situation might present a unique opportunity for some companies that previously didn’t think certain work tasks could be carried out remotely. This might actually streamline the way employees work, and for some industries could very well become the norm even after Covid-19 is contained.”

However, Sodexo’s Asia Pacific workplace director Jessica Carr thinks it is too early to say if remote working is the future. But she concedes that it will “have a significant impact on the way we adopt alternative ways of working… with people learning and implementing new ways of working [such as using technology tools like videoconferencing and enterprise chat], it is likely that the physical office will be more directed to engaging employees, clients and communities around the purpose of your organisation.”

But to Choeh, the future of work is clear. “Adopting flexibility by using technology [is the future]. For example, remote working was impossible in the past decade because there was no way to communicate when you’re remote but now we can communicate without any obstacle by using free conference call tools. If we adopt flexibility of running business, then we can evolve in the way we work in various perspectives,” he note.

Could the future of work now also see the rise of the gig economy? Choeh says that is a possibility.

He explains: “More people might start considering the gig economy, since working from home might have given them a taste of what working from home is like and would like that to be the new way they work. However, for that to work in Singapore, there needs to first be more demand for these kinds of service-based contracts.”

But if the gig economy does become the new normal, Singaporeans will have to start competing for jobs with others from around the world — especially since these jobs can be done from almost anywhere, argues Choeh. “However, competition might not necessarily be a bad thing, and could lead to workers undertaking more courses to upskill themselves and be on top of their game,” he adds.

The real question, however, is this: Will offices remain relevant, especially with workers working remotely?

“A data-driven office design and a human-centric workplace are actually complementary to each other. When organisations start integrating behavioural data such as insights and data from how individuals work and from how they perceive the office, it will, in turn, define the design brief which will subsequently lead to an evolution in workplace design,” says Carr, who believes that office spaces are massively underutilised.

Companies will also start to think about right-sizing their offices, as they realise that they can organise work differently and optimise their footprint dramatically. But to right-size effectively, Carr says companies will need to get relevant data on space utilisation, and get the right partners to aid them in the implementation of their new “liquid workplace” strategy. This requires in-depth research and insights.

“Companies (will also) need to create spaces with purpose — spaces that encourage engagement for their employees, partners or customers, spaces that give employees more productive and conducive environments to do focused work,” she adds.

On March 20, Reuters reported that the Covid-19 outbreak has ramped up demand for non-human labour in China, due to the shortage of workers and restrictions on human contact. According to the report, venture capitalists with expertise in the robotics sector are anticipating orders from China to rise significantly in 2020.

This could be something that Singapore needs as the city state currently heavily relies on foreign labour, particularly those from Malaysia. When Malaysia announced its movement control orders on March 18, Malaysians who commuted for work found themselves stranded here. Others could not enter Singapore and businesses were disrupted.

These disruptions have some wondering if automation could be a solution to manpower problems. However, Sodexo’s Carr believes that humans will still be employable. She says: “Robots, like any kind of technology, can help us with certain aspects of work. For instance, robots could help to reduce risks, by doing some of the cleaning at heights and elevations that a human worker might need to use a step ladder for. However, an important part of work is the human touch and social connection we have with each other, and that cannot be replaced by robots.”

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