A Vodafone study revealed that telecom networks are boosting flexible working hour policies and the use of the latest technologies to work remotely.
The adoption of high-speed mobile data services, fixed-line broadband and cloud services is playing an integral role in this workplace revolution, according to Vodafone.
The study said 75 percent of companies worldwide introduced flexible working hour policies.
Morar (formerly Redshift Research) on behalf of Vodafone conducted the study between September and October 2015 covering 8,000 employers and employees in countries / regions such as Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, the UK and the USA.
The survey revealed that 53 percent of companies in Singapore who have introduced flexible working have seen increased profits since its implementation.
Result of flexible working
# 61 percent of respondents globally said their company’s profits increased
# 83 percent reported an improvement in productivity
# 58 percent believed that flexible working policies had a positive impact on their organization’s reputation
61 percent of respondents use their home broadband service to access work applications and 24 percent use a mobile data connection via their smartphone, tablet or laptop with broadband dongle.
More than three-quarters of Singapore companies offer flexible working, though barriers still exist.
76 percent in Singapore implemented flexible working policies, on par with the global average of 75 percent.
Benefits in Singapore
# 53 percent of Singapore companies increased profits after implementing flexible working
# 77 percent of Singapore companies increased employee productivity
# Teamwork improved in 54 percent of Singapore
# 54 percent workers leverage flexible working to improve work/life balance
# Staff morale has increased in 75 percent
20 percent organization had not yet implemented a flexible working policy.
27 percent of Singapore companies who have not implemented flexible working due to fears that employee teamwork will decline.
57 percent of Singapore employees feel they do not have a usable flexible policy in place at their job.
38 percent of Singapore employees do not currently use enterprise social networking — a tool that would play a major role in flexible working.
Ben Elms, Vodafone Global Enterprise Asia Pacific President, said: “Central to all of this is the new technologies that are reshaping every sector, from high-speed mobile data networks and fixed-line broadband to the latest cloud services.”
