Economist Impact, supported by Google Workspace, conducted a survey of more than 600 knowledge workers across Asia Pacific about their experiences with hybrid or flexible work.   The research shows that the pandemic has changed the way organisations are looking at the nature of work. Some form of flexible work is here to stay, and organisations continue to find new ways of work that provide them with solutions that are flexible, collaborative, and productive and secure. This article—one of a four-part series examining the future of work in the region—focuses on South-East Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam).   The series complements Economist Impact’s 2021 global study on the future of hybrid work, “Making hybrid work human”, which can be accessed here.   Key findings While hybrid work has made inroads across all markets in South-East Asia, the majority of knowledge workers in the region (63%) expect to be working fixed hours with no flexibility after 2022. Most respondents are positive about the impact of hybrid work. 74% of South-East Asian workers say flexible work arrangements improve inclusion at their organisations, driven by Singapore and Indonesia. Despite overall positive sentiments, most respondents (67%) claim that their companies have issued a policy requiring their employees to be back in the office full-time.

Economist Impact, supported by Google Workspace, conducted a survey of more than 600 knowledge workers across Asia Pacific about their experiences with hybrid or flexible work.   The research shows that the pandemic has changed the way organisations are looking at the nature of work. Some form of flexible work is here to stay, and organisations continue to find new ways of work that provide them with solutions that are flexible, collaborative, and productive and secure. This article—one of a four-part series examining the future of work in the region—focuses on Australia.   The series complements Economist Impact’s 2021 global study on the future of hybrid work, “Making hybrid work human”, which can be accessed here.   Key findings Australia is a regional outlier in terms of long-term implications of hybrid work policies. Almost half (48%) of Australians expect to spend between one and four days working remotely after 2022, compared with only a third of their South-East Asian counterparts. Australian companies were already relatively progressive about remote work. A majority of knowledge workers in Australia (77.7%) think flexible work hours will become standard practice in the near future. In the post-pandemic future, Australian SMEs are more likely to implement flexible and hybrid models than larger companies. Only 21.1% of SME respondents from the country expect a full-time return to the office compared with 40.3% of those working in larger firms.

Economist Impact, supported by Google Workspace, conducted a survey of more than 600 knowledge workers across Asia Pacific about their experiences with hybrid or flexible work.   The research shows that the pandemic has changed the way organisations are looking at the nature of work. Some form of flexible work is here to stay, and organisations continue to find new ways of work that provide them with solutions that are flexible, collaborative, and productive and secure. This article—one of a four-part series examining the future of work in the region—focuses on North Asia (Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan).   The series complements Economist Impact’s 2021 global study on the future of hybrid work, “Making hybrid work human”, which can be accessed here.   Key findings Only 34% of Korean and 30% of Taiwanese knowledge workers will spend part of their week working remotely after 2022, less than elsewhere in Asia Pacific Smaller companies expect less flexibility owing to the inadequacy of technical infrastructure and remote work tools among smaller companies. Only 19.4% of small companies expect to see flexibility in their work weeks compared with 37.7% of larger companies. In Hong Kong, companies are embracing hybrid working models as a key benefit to attract and retain talent. Exorbitant commercial rental costs in the city state have also driven the popularity of hybrid work. Companies across the region are grappling with the sunk costs of empty offices, but many are still looking to upsize their real estate footprint.