EFFECTS OF HYBRID WORKING ON QUANTITY SURVEYORS IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to major changes to the way employees in companies work. Hybrid Working (HW), being the new work normal, is transforming the original five day office work week to certain days of Work from Home (WFH). This study explores the effects of Hybrid Working on Quantity Surveyors (QS) in the context of Singapore as little research were conducted in this field. The objectives of the dissertation include 1) Find out whether QS age and gender affects their attitudes towards HW, 2) Investigate whether different genders and work environment, caregivers and non-caregivers affect QS productivity and conduciveness and 3) Document effects of HW on governmental and private agencies’ QS conduciveness and productivity. The non-probability snowball sampling was used for data collection. Microsoft Excel and JASP were tools utilised for frequency table and t-test analysis. The key findings entail, firstly, most QS surveyed preferred HW as it reaps the WFH benefits such as reduced transportation duration, reduced costs, and flexibility. Secondly, paramount challenges of HW include prolong work hours, socialising issues, communication as well as work environment issues. Statistically significant differences were obtained for perceived conduciveness and productivity in the following categories: Gender and/or Work Environment, Caregiver and/or Non-caregivers, Private and/or Public sector. The results provide deep insights on QS employees' attitudes and preferences towards HW. This is useful in transforming the QS sector, to better keep and attract talents within the industry.