Singapore, Tokyo office workers clock most hours globally

SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - According to a recent study by global serviced office provider Instant Offices, office employees in Tokyo and Singapore are putting in the most amount of work hours among their global peers. The company surveyed 40 international cities and published a work intensity score based on several factors per city. These factors include the length of commute, arrival time at work, hours worked per week, and vacation days taken.

Overall, Tokyo employees are working the hardest, followed by Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Tokyo scores 100 in the work intensity score, followed by Singapore at 95.4, while Kuala Lumpur scores 93.3.

The report shows that on average, office workers in Singapore worked for 44.6 hours per week, compared to 46 hours in Kuala Lumpur and 44 hours in Hong Kong. Tokyo employees clocked on average 42.1 hours of work per week.

In addition, 23% of Singapore office employees spent more than 48 hours a week on work, followed by 22% of Kuala Lumpur workers and 20% of Tokyo workers.

In terms of vacation days taken per year, Kuala Lumpur office workers took the least amount of days off at an average of 12 vacation days. Singapore and Tokyo office workers took 14 days of leave per year on average.

Businesses in Asia-Pacific are also embracing digital transformation efforts in the workplace that are aimed at improving employee productivity and streamlining operations. The report noted a strong focus is placed on artificial intelligence (AI) and automation to boost productivity. AI technology is expected to generate US$2.9 trillion ($3.9 trillion) in business value in 2021, while also recovering 6.2 billion hours of worker productivity.

According to John Williams, head of marketing at Instant Offices, demand for flexible workspace in the Asia-Pacific also outstripped global markets in 2018, and this suggests a cultural shift towards more agile and flexible working arrangements. Reducing commute times and overheads will leverage flexible workspace benefits to further boost productivity.