Commentary: Survey finds Singapore workers disengaged – but we shouldn’t resign ourselves to this
If narratives of unhappy and disengaged Singapore workers solidify, there will be less reason to strive for a better workplace, says SMU’s Nick Chiam.
New: You can now listen to articles.
This audio is generated by an AI tool.
Read a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST
Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
SINGAPORE: Must I love my job? Singapore workers seem to confront this question regularly.
Following a Jobstreet report earlier this year suggesting that Singapore workers rank among the least happy in Asia Pacific, Gallup and the Singapore Institute of Directors described employee engagement here as “chronically low”. Only 14 per cent of Singapore employees felt engaged at work in 2025, below the global mean and the Southeast Asian average.
While these findings may resonate with those dissatisfied with their jobs, I wonder if they also entrench a collective resignation that Singapore workers are checked out and employers are exploitative.
With hustle culture out and “job hugging” – sticking to an unfulfilling job due to economic uncertainty – in, trying hard at work has become unfashionable. We do the bare minimum, collect our salaries and get on with our “real” lives. Work is work.
Guess Word
Crack the word, one row at a time
Buzzword
Create words using the given letters
Mini Sudoku
Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser
Mini Crossword
Small grid, big challenge
Word Search
Spot as many words as you can
If we let this narrative solidify, employers and employees will have less reason to strive for a better vision of work.
Work should not consume our whole lives, but neither should we expect nothing more than a pay cheque.
I think meaningful workplace engagement is possible. But employers and workers must dare to imagine that work can also be a place where people genuinely flourish.
COMMITMENT TO FLOURISHING
Given that work occupies so much of our lives, shouldn’t we want more than mere survival?
If we endure work so that we may finally “live” after hours, it might be because work itself has come to feel empty of human goods that nourish us.
Australian philosopher John Finnis argues that human flourishing rests on seven basic goods: life, knowledge, play, aesthetic experience, friendship, good judgment and engagement with life’s ultimate questions.
Put simply, we thrive when we are healthy, learn, enjoy, create, connect with others, make thoughtful choices and search for deeper meaning.
Our jobs need not be a dead zone where these goods disappear until we clock out. We should be able to bring our whole person to work.
That may mean “job crafting”: discovering purpose by finding our unique contributions and expressing our values more intentionally through daily work. It may mean persevering in a challenging role because it yields worthwhile goods. It may also mean drawing healthy boundaries, or leaving a role that consistently damages our flourishing or the flourishing of others.
THE HUMAN POINT OF WORK
If organisations want better engagement, they have a shared responsibility to create conditions in which people can flourish.
It may be tempting for employers to conclude that disengaged Singapore workers are simply not hungry or resilient enough, but workplace engagement cannot depend on individual effort alone.
A recent study by the Law Society of Singapore found that some lawyers leave the profession because of structural conditions like toxic workplace culture, bullying and unreasonable workloads, not necessarily individual failings.
While no organisation can solve industry-wide problems, there are important steps that employers and managers can take.
For a start, employers can help sharpen their employees’ sense of purpose by helping them see the human point of their work. Do they have ownership of their work? Are they honing their craft, creating value, mentoring others, solving problems or contributing to systems that protect society?
Further, workers today are trying to remain engaged in conditions of heightened uncertainty, amid reports of retrenchment trends among degree holders and the accelerating AI disruption. In such conditions, people are more likely to stay engaged if they see that their employer is also invested in a future where their contributions remain relevant.
Employers can demonstrate their commitment to helping employees pursue human goods in practical ways, for example through learning opportunities, career counselling, upskilling, internal mobility and stretch assignments.
Above all, meaningful engagement is intensely relational.
Gallup found that managers account for 70 per cent of the variance in team engagement. Managers who provide clear direction, personalised recognition, frequent coaching conversations and individualised development tend to lead highly engaged teams.
Work friendships have also been linked to joy, meaning and organisational commitment. Employees should be able to learn from others, mentor and be mentored, feel consulted, weigh in on decisions that affect them, and experience community.
Employers should therefore cultivate relational workplaces that encourage psychological safety, collaboration, creativity and shared purpose. Employers must also hold managers accountable when they damage these conditions of flourishing.
A RICHER VISION OF WORK
Ultimately, workplace surveys such as the Jobstreet and Gallup reports are useful only if they enlarge our imagination about what work could be, rather than define it.
Disengagement need not become a self-fulfilling expectation in Singapore. Workers can aspire to flourish at work, while employers can strengthen the conditions that make such agency meaningful.
I invite employers and workers to share a richer vision of work where people can genuinely participate in human goods, especially when it occupies so much of our lives.
Nick Chiam is an adjunct lecturer at the Yong Pung How School of Law, Singapore Management University. He also serves as an in-house legal counsel to a global multinational company.
Source: CNA/zw(el)
Sign up for our newsletters
Get the CNA app
Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories
Get WhatsApp alerts
Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST
Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
About The Author
