81% Of Malaysian Workers Want to Return to Office

According to Savills' recent survey "What Workers Want – Malaysia", 81% of Malaysian office workers stated they would prefer to return to the office.

Although the hybrid working model seems to have become a major focus in Malaysia for the foreseeable future, over 90% of respondents believe that matters such as meeting work targets, creativity and collaboration, and achieving career growth are best met in the office environment. 

Why do employees want to return to the office?

With Malaysia emerging from a two-year epidemic, Savills Malaysia deputy managing director Nabeel Hussain said businesses were starting to open up. As a result, he believes the physical office is critical to business recovery and a quick return to routine.

He said that since the hybrid working model seems to be here to stay, businesses should focus on these areas during the reopening phase to achieve the best performance:

• Strike a careful balance between business and economic needs, and,

• Employee preferences.

In addition to the physical office setting, other variables are likely to be needed to make returning to work in the existing environment more appealing. Nabeel added that reliable hardware and software solutions have become more important than ever and are crucial to supporting the evolving work environment. 

Meanwhile, Fong Kean Hwa, associate director of Savills Malaysia Research, said that most office workers would not hesitate to return to work since they believe that going to work promotes their physical and emotional health and their professional and personal life development.

The report said that many Malaysians still see the physical office playing an important role in professional growth and collaborative work.

More about the survey

For over a decade, Savills has conducted "What Workers Want" polls in the United Kingdom and other European countries to evaluate the opinions of office workers.

The Savills Office FiT survey was started in 2020 to collect information on how the office should adapt, evolve, and improve in response to Covid-19. Over 100,000 people from the UK, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) participated in the survey.

In the Malaysian context, Savills used a similar approach for the What Workers Desire survey, which was conducted over six weeks to determine what Malaysian workers want when they return to work.

Workers in Malaysia believe their productivity is the same whether they work from home or in the office, unlike workers in EMEA. According to the study findings on productivity key factors, the latter believe they are more productive at home.

Although productivity remains high, 30% of respondents report mental and physical tiredness because of working from home arrangements, and over one-third report working longer hours as a result of blurring work and home boundaries.

According to the report, many Malaysians still regard the actual workplace as crucial, particularly for professional development and collaborative work.

If you would like to learn more about the survey, please click the link here to read the full report. 

Source: New Straits Times

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