{"id":11907,"date":"2024-04-15T04:12:21","date_gmt":"2024-04-14T20:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dollarsandsense.sg\/business\/?p=11907"},"modified":"2024-04-15T11:03:19","modified_gmt":"2024-04-15T03:03:19","slug":"average-working-hours-decreased-possible-reasons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dollarsandsense.sg\/business\/average-working-hours-decreased-possible-reasons\/","title":{"rendered":"Average Working Hours In Singapore Have Dipped Below 44 Hours Per Week. Here Are 3 Possible Reasons Why"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Singapore has long since gotten a bad rep in the news for being one of the most overworked cities<\/a> in the world, with articles from various news sources citing statistics to show Singaporeans working more hours on average than in other countries. However, based on the latest report<\/a> from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the average weekly paid hours worked per employee dipped below 44 hours, as per 2023 data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are Singapore’s Work Hours Actually Decreasing?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the past decade, work hours in Singapore have been decreasing consistently in the past decade from 46.2 hours per week in 2013, to 43.6 hours per week in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Paid hours per week is defined as the hours that the employer pays the employee for, regardless of whether or not work activities were done. This includes paid leave and sick leave. While it does not actually tell us how much work people have been doing, this is a good gauge of how employers estimate and allocate work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside from paid hours per week, actual hours worked per week has also been steadily decreasing from 44.8 hours per week in 2017 to 43.8 hours per week in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Actual hours per week takes into account work that is done outside office or regular hours and includes work that is not paid for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To complete the story, paid overtime hours has also been decreasing gradually over the years, suggesting that companies have become better at anticipating work, and have in general required less overtime from their employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The data suggests that Singaporeans overall work an average of 3 hours less every week in 2023 as compared to 2013. However, this does not mean that all individuals would experience a similar reduction. The sector-based data<\/a> shows that the Public Administration & Education sector has not decreased, remaining stable between 41.3 – 41.6 hours per week in the past ten years. Health & Social Services has similarly not decreased, remaining stable between 41.9 \u2013 42.3 hours per week in the past decade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What has caused this decrease in worked hours?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read Also: How Singapore Is Competing Globally In The War For Talent<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

#1 Increased Productivity<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One possible reason explaining the trend of decreasing working hours is an increase in productivity. Productivity could be increased in many ways, but generally speaking two of the ways it could be increased is improvements in workflow as well as digitisation and automation, reducing the number of tasks that workers need to do, or increasing the speed at which they complete the task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) measures productivity growth<\/a> using Value-Added (VA) per Actual Hour Worked (AHW)<\/a>, as well as VA per worker<\/a>. Having both metrics increase simultaneously in a given year is a strong indication that productivity has increased in that year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Year<\/strong><\/td>VA per AHW Growth (%)<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
2013<\/td>1.1<\/td><\/tr>
2014<\/td>1.8<\/td><\/tr>
2015<\/td>2<\/td><\/tr>
2016<\/td>3<\/td><\/tr>
2017<\/td>5.5<\/td><\/tr>
2018<\/td>4<\/td><\/tr>
2019<\/td>-1.3<\/td><\/tr>
2020<\/td>2.6<\/td><\/tr>
2021<\/td>7.5<\/td><\/tr>
2022<\/td>-0.7<\/td><\/tr>
2023<\/td>-2.4<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to the statistics released by MOM, VA per AHW has increased every year except for 2019 (-1.3%), 2022 (-0.7%) and 2023(-2.4%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Year<\/strong><\/td>VA per worker Growth (%)<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
2013<\/td>0.7<\/td><\/tr>
2014<\/td>0.2<\/td><\/tr>
2015<\/td>0.8<\/td><\/tr>
2016<\/td>2.5<\/td><\/tr>
2017<\/td>4.7<\/td><\/tr>
2018<\/td>2.8<\/td><\/tr>
2019<\/td>-0.2<\/td><\/tr>
2020<\/td>-1.8<\/td><\/tr>
2021<\/td>11.6<\/td><\/tr>
2022<\/td>-0.9<\/td><\/tr>
2023<\/td>-3.6<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

VA per worker has also similarly increased consistently every year since 2013 except for 2019 (-0.2%), 2020 (-1.8%), 2022 (-0.9%) and 2023 (-3.6%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, the general uptrend in both VA per AHW and VA per worker growth correlates with the trend of reduction in working hours over the past decade, suggesting that the increase in productivity is a possible cause for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read Also: What Is The Average Working Hours In Singapore For Full-Time And Part-Time Employees<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

#2 Increased Manpower<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another possible reason why working hours has been declining is the increase in manpower over the years. With more manpower available, work can be distributed between more people, resulting in fewer hours worked on average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following shows data<\/a> of employed residents aged 15 years and over, released by MOM. The numbers shown are in thousands of employed workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data Series<\/strong><\/td>2023<\/strong><\/td>2013<\/strong><\/td>Increase?<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
All Occupation Groups<\/td>2,352.3<\/td>2,056.1<\/td>YES<\/td><\/tr>
  Manufacturing<\/td>212<\/td>280<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
  Construction<\/td>94.3<\/td>101.9<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
    Wholesale & Retail Trade<\/td>335.8<\/td>302.2<\/td>YES<\/td><\/tr>
    Transportation & Storage<\/td>214.3<\/td>192.6<\/td>YES<\/td><\/tr>
    Accommodation & Food Services<\/td>139.5<\/td>135.1<\/td>YES<\/td><\/tr>
    Information & Communications<\/td>136<\/td>92.3<\/td>YES<\/td><\/tr>
    Financial & Insurance Services<\/td>236.2<\/td>147.8<\/td>YES<\/td><\/tr>
    Real Estate Services<\/td>57.2<\/td>49.3<\/td>YES<\/td><\/tr>
    Professional Services<\/td>199.8<\/td>142.8<\/td>YES<\/td><\/tr>
    Administrative & Support Services<\/td>125.2<\/td>99.3<\/td>YES<\/td><\/tr>
    Public Administration & Education Services<\/td>305.6<\/td>284.8<\/td>YES<\/td><\/tr>
    Health & Social Services<\/td>168.4<\/td>94.8<\/td>YES<\/td><\/tr>
    Arts, Entertainment & Recreation<\/td>35.6<\/td>37.2<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
    Other Community, Social & Personal Services<\/td>71.3<\/td>69.3<\/td>YES<\/td><\/tr>
  Other Industries Nes<\/td>21.3<\/td>26.8<\/td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The total employment in Singapore has increased steadily in the past 10 years by about 300,000 employees. Most sectors have also seen an increase in employment, with the exception of Manufacturing, Construction and Arts, Entertainment & Recreation. Given the overall trend of increasing manpower over the years, increased manpower is also another plausible or contributing reason for the trend in reduced working hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, it should also be noted that Public Administration & Education Services, as well as Health & Social Services have also increased their head count by roughly 20,000 and 74,000 in the past decade but have not managed to achieve a reduction in working hours. This could be largely due to the nature of work along with the increased demands of both healthcare and education services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read Also: Why Singapore Employees Need To Be Ready For Retrenchment In 2024<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

#3 Adoption of 4-day or 4.5-day work week<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the more recent trends that has been happening is a transition to a 4.5-day or even a 4-day work week. Some companies have started to do this in order to support young parents who needed more time to take care of their children or improve work-life balance. At present, 21% of workers surveyed<\/a> reported that their employers offer 4-day work week arrangements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside from such cautious pilot trials in Singapore, research done<\/a> in the US, Ireland and Australia, showed data which suggested greater employee satisfaction and engagement. People took fewer sick days, and the turnover rate was also improved. Revenues for the companies also grew roughly 8% over the course of the research period, and employees were generally happier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are some trade-offs for such an approach. A 4-day work week may result in difficulties when it comes to arranging for meetings especially meetings with clients, and the working hours for the 4 days may also have to be increased. However, implementation of a 4-day work week arrangement will most likely result in a reduction in total hours worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, not all industries can easily implement a 4-day work week. For instance, Healthcare requires staff to be present around the clock, and significantly more headcount will be needed in order to enable a 4-day work week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, while MOE has been trying to move towards to a 4.5-day work week by instituting an alternate-week home-based learning, this does not necessarily result in workload reduction on staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read Also: Why Singapore Employers Need To Be Prepared For An Older Workforce<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Do Other Countries Compare?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ranked against data from OECD Countries<\/a>, Singapore\u2019s weekly average usual hours worked is still the highest when compared against weekly average usual hours worked for full-time employment in France, Germany, UK and USA in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Country<\/strong><\/td>2022<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
France<\/td>38.7<\/td><\/tr>
Germany<\/td>39.5<\/td><\/tr>
United Kingdom<\/td>41.2<\/td><\/tr>
United States<\/td>41.4<\/td><\/tr>
Singapore<\/td>44.6<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Note that Singapore\u2019s data for weekly average usual hours for 2022 is separately obtained from MOM statistics<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Singapore remains on a downtrend for the number of working hours, it still seems that Singaporeans are still generally worked harder than our counterparts living in France, Germany, UK and USA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read Also: Is It Legal For An Employee To Have Two Jobs (With Two CPF Contributions)?<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Despite the trend of decreasing working hours, Singapore still remains one of the most overworked countries in the world.\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":11911,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[364],"tags":[1522,634,374,1523,111,1521],"yoast_head":"\nAverage Working Hours In Singapore Have Dipped Below 44 Hours Per Week. 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