Across Southeast Asia, the post-pandemic socio-economic recovery is prompting debate about workplace transformation in Southeast Asia. Following the significant workplace setting changes that took place during the pandemic, economies in the region – as well as employers – must now grapple with sustainable human-focused development, namely by addressing the global shifts in work productivity and attitudes, while simultaneously balancing business ecosystem interests in maintaining competitive advantages.
This month, ‘From the Hill’ looks at ongoing workplace policy responses to assess the regional aspirations and concerns held between governments, employers and workers, and how they are working together to realise a new working normal.
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Across Southeast Asia, governments are taking steps to reassess the current normal of work and how it will have a bearing on the long-term productivity and sustainability of workforces. This is happening across various dimensions, from amending employment laws to encourage the reduction of working hours, implementing increments to minimum wage and tapping into the ‘New Economy’ potential by giving out digital nomad visas.
While the prospect of arrangements, such as reduced working hours or working days, may look appealing on paper – especially to those advocating for more flexible working arrangements, which underwent a litmus test during the pandemic – there are worries about their actual implementation. For instance, not all employees may be comfortable trading off days in the week just to be saddled with longer hours.
Meanwhile, labour-intensive industries such as manufacturing (which, for some nations in the regions, remains a prime economic contributor), may be inflexible in adjusting working hours as they may impact nearer-term output. This is because Southeast Asia, more than ever before, is becoming a key part of the global supply chain, and the pandemic showed that disruption at any point in the chain will have global reverberating consequences.
ASEAN’s heterogeneity – when deliberating which specific aspects of workplace flexibility to prioritise – is thus more evident than ever. Aside from industry differences with varying requirements, each country has a unique work culture and is at different maturity levels economically, socially, politically, infrastructurally and technologically. These factors are inherently complex, but even more so when working in tandem with each other, and will highlight just how sensitive a country’s workforce ecosystem is towards change.
Regardless, the meaningful and lasting change would only likely come from top-down implementation. The silver lining for employees is that key steps are already being taken to realise a new normal of work. From both governments and employers, improvements in the provision of maternity leave and benefits are being applied to prioritise employee well-being, with the hopes of exploring new aspects of boosting productivity.
However, in the foreseeable future – and especially due to the limited political and economic integration that has perennially characterised the ASEAN grouping – such efforts are likely to be incremental and piecemeal, with changes likely to happen country-by-country and according to each industry and sector.
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