Eight in 10 Malaysian employees see work from home could improve work-life-balance - survey

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 17): As the majority of Malaysia’s workforce continues to work from home, the UOB ASEAN Consumer Sentiment Study discovered that flexible work arrangements are critical to achieving work-life-balance as part of new working norms post-Covid-19.

In a media statement today, UOB Malaysia said the survey showed that eight in 10 Malaysia employees polled (81%) expect that work-life-balance will improve as working from home regularly becomes a permanent work option. 

74% of respondents also expect their productivity to improve as they have greater freedom over how they manage their working hours. 

However, the firmness of this view varied significantly across the different age groups. The belief that the flexibility to manage one’s own working hours will result in higher productivity was most strongly-held by Generation Z (87%) and Generation Y (78%) employees. In comparison, 67% of Generation X respondents shared the same opinion. 

UOB Malaysia executive director and country head of human resources Lai Tak Ming said the pandemic has changed how organisations function. The changes made and the lessons learnt during the health crisis will continue to shape the future of work and the workplace in a post-Covid-19 world.  

“In the past year, we’ve seen organisations and employees adjust to a new working environment after the pandemic hit. Employees moved from working in an office to a makeshift home office, while audio and video conference calls replaced face-to-face meetings.

“Although at first regarded as temporary measures in response to the threats of the pandemic, remote work is now part of the new working norm,” Lai said.

Meanwhile, the survey also uncovered that nine in 10 Malaysia employees expect flexible working arrangements to become more common in a post-Covid-19 environment. The sentiment was highest among Generation X (94%), followed by Generation Y (88%) and Generation Z (87%). 

The expectation that flexible working arrangements will continue post-pandemic is unsurprising given that more than one in two employees (55%) in Malaysia expressed satisfaction in their employers with regards to providing flexible work arrangements during the pandemic. 

Malaysians employees’ optimism over the future of work-life balance comes despite their bleaker sentiments on the impact of Covid-19 on job security. The UOB ASEAN Consumer Sentiment Study found that nine in 10 employees in Malaysia (90%) feel they need to work longer hours to avoid losing their jobs. 

A similar trend was also seen across other Asean markets surveyed including Indonesia (92%), Thailand (87%), Singapore (89%) and Vietnam (90%).

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