95% of employers in Singapore say no to 4-day week: Survey

They cite concerns about operations, business needs, cost and productivity

- Sharon Salim

Bosses here are overwhelmingly against implementing a four-day working week, according to a new survey.

It found that only 5 per cent out of the 330 employers polled said they would instigate a four-day week, noting that it would improve employee well-being and job satisfaction.

However, 79 per cent said they would not implement a four-day working week, while 16 per cent said they would not implement it, but would consider doing so.

"A small handful of employers, mainly from the information and communications, general and support services, and finance industries had respectively indicated that they will do so," said a spokesperson for the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), which commissioned the survey.

The federation said a four-day working week involves employees working eight or nine hours a day - up to 36 hours a week - while receiving the same compensation as they would for a typical five-day working week, which usually entails staff working up to 44 hours.

SNEF's survey comes after a recent poll involving about 100 Singapore firms by recruitment firm Robert Walters found that nearly 70 per cent of employers in Singapore think the four-day working week is a feasible concept.