Each week, TODAY’s long-running Big Read series delves into trends and issues that matter. This week, we look at Singaporeans’ long working hours and why it is a concern. This is a shortened version of the full feature, which can be found here.

 

SINGAPORE — For generations, people in Singapore have been told to “study hard and work hard” as they sought a better life for themselves and their families, and the results add a shine as the country constantly seeks to attract investors.

Well, the message has well and truly sunk in: Despite statistics from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) showing that the number of working hours here has been on a steady decline in general since at least 2010, Singapore workers remain among the hardest working in the world — at least going by the number of hours clocked.

However, there is a need to address the long hours in light of the nation’s demographic changes, experts interviewed by TODAY said.

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Singapore’s population is ageing, with many young workers’ parents approaching or in their 60s. For these workers to continue putting in the same long hours as their cohorts of yesteryear would mean less or even little time to care for their ageing parents, the experts said.

At the same time, more women are choosing to remain single or have fewer children, and this has contributed to the total fertility rate dropping to a seven-year low last year. While there are many reasons why people choose to have smaller families, the experts noted that one is cited often: Long working hours.

Based on latest available global statistics, Singapore residents in 2015 worked the second-longest week in developed cities around the world, clocking in 45.6 hours.

The longest work week was in Hong Kong, at 50.1 hours.

A 2016 report by multinational human resource consultancy ManpowerGroup found that millennials (aged between 20 and 34) in Singapore worked 48 hours, the second-longest globally on par with China and Mexico — and just four hours fewer than millennials in India.

MOM told TODAY that it receives about 200 complaints on “excessive working hours” each year, and it looks into infringements under the Employment Act.

In its third-quarter labour report released last week, the ministry noted that the number of working hours had been falling steadily for almost the past decade. Singapore employees worked an average of 44.9 paid hours weekly in September this year, down from 46.3 hours in September 2010.

Labour economists told TODAY that in calculating such statistics, the Government follows standardised international measures of work and the labour force, in accordance with the International Labour Organisation.

And while Singaporeans might be surprised to know that they clock in more hours than their Japanese or South Korean counterparts — famed for their long-hours office culture — the experts said that it was misleading to make such a comparison based on statistics alone.

Mr Song Seng Wun, an economist with CIMB Private Banking, noted that both Japan and South Korea — and their respective capitals of Tokyo and Seoul — have a relatively larger and more diverse workforce compared to Singapore's.

“I suspect if you look at the statistics from the Tokyo city centre, the hours will be much longer than, say, at the Central Business District here,” he said.

DEEP-SEATED CULTURE

Employees interviewed by TODAY said that they indeed face long working hours, even when it may not be statistically reflected.

The MOM report stated that those in insurance services worked 40.1 paid hours in September, the lowest among all the industries.

However, Mr Benjamin Ng, associate director at AXA Singapore, said that paid hours “don’t apply strictly” to insurance agents. The 36-year-old said that most of them are self-employed, earn through commissions, and decide how many hours they work depending on their personal motivation.

While rapid technological developments have had a mostly positive impact on work life — such as improving efficiency and allowing people to work remotely — there have been some downsides.

Dr Walter Theseira from the Singapore University of Social Sciences noted that people can now read and respond to work emails or read work documents on their mobile devices outside the office. This means they are now working outside office hours more frequently simply because they can stay connected and there is an expectation for them to always be online.

Mr Richard Lim, director of Blackmagic Design Asia, an Australia-based digital cinema company and manufacturer, argued that company culture and personal discipline determine if technology disrupts personal time.

Experts and those in the workforce pointed to several deep-seated cultural practices in Singapore that increase time spent in the office:

• Colleagues going for long lunches together

• Employees staying put in the office before their bosses leave

• Being looked down upon if you leave early/on time

• Staying back to finish work, even when it can be completed the next day

While some countries — including France, South Korea and Japan — have recently moved to cut working hours, the experts did not think Singapore should introduce laws or policies to do likewise.

On their own initiative, some employers in Singapore are already encouraging their employees to head home on the dot and not work outside the office.

Ms Charlotte Murray, for instance, rallies her team of six employees to help each other with looming deadlines. The managing director of marketing agency Alive Brand Experience does not expect them to always be checking their work emails.

Criminal lawyer Kalidass Murugaiyan told of how he rearranged his work schedule for better work-life balance. The former public prosecutor now runs his own law firm, Kalidass Law Corporation.

The 46-year-old does legal work and manages his firm during office hours, and meets clients over the weekend. He takes shorter breaks, and short lunches if necessary.

“As you grow older, you realise, at the end of the day, you don’t want to regret it — that in the pursuit of imagined excellence, you lose out on your life,” he added.

An earlier version of the article misspelt Mr Benjamin Ng's surname. We are sorry for the error.