THE world of work has undergone tremendous shifts in the past two years. The pandemic altered everything from our outlook towards work, to how we work, and where we work. No one knew what was coming, and what was to change forever. Organisations were thrown into the deep end and had to respond to these rapid changes in managing remote work and the distributed workforce. In the space of a couple of years, “hybrid work” became more than just a buzzword.

Glancing around, taking the temperature of the world of work in the middle of 2022, it is clear that hybrid work is the way forward and is here to stay, at least for the workforce in Singapore. According to KellyOCG’s 2021 Global Workforce Agility Report, close to 3 in 4 (72 per cent) executives in Singapore – compared to 59 per cent globally and 58 per cent in APAC – say their businesses will adopt hybrid work models. This is especially important as the Singapore government has allowed all workers to return to the office from April 26, and many companies have since made it mandatory for employees to work on-premises for at least three, if not all five days of the work week.

The Kelly OCG report also highlights that 63 per cent of the executives understand the value of hybrid work for long-term business success. However, it comes with its own caveats and challenges, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution.