4.1 Million Malaysians Could Fully Work From Home In A Few Years

The International Labour Organisation has estimated that 2.7 billion or more than 4 out of 5 workers in the world have been affected by Covid-19, challenging companies to adopt a work from home policy.

Deloitte’s new report Remote work | A temporary ‘bug’ becomes a permanent ‘feature’ said that flexible work arrangement is the correct step in handling this crisis and it is shaping up to be a permanent feature. Even 74% of CFOs predict flexible work arrangements will continue to exist, citing significant cost savings from decreased real estate, travel and infrastructure costs as the main points.

Based on the report, up to 47.8 million people in the ASEAN-6 countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam) could move to work remotely in a few years.

Singapore and Malaysia are leading the pack as these countries have a potential remote workforce of up to 45% and 26% respectively because of the relative dominance of service industries.

Deloitte potential workforce transition to remote working arrangements across ASEAN 6 nations

The analysis also shows how this shift to remote work will probably unfold, from a sector and job perspective. The top three sectors are professional services, technology and telecommunications.

Given the nature of the jobs to be done, the tertiary (services) industry can be expected to have a more important shift to work-from-home arrangements.

Deloitte predicts that between 25% to 67% of the workforce will move to permanent remote arrangements in the medium term. Leading the way will be the professional services and technology and communications industries. These industries have the potential to transit 90% of the workforce to remote working.

Deloitte potential workforce transition to remote working arrangements across the services sectors

According to Deloitte, certain occupations are more suited to remote working arrangements than others. For example, back-office support and enablement functions such as HR, administration, legal, IT and security will make the largest wholesale transition to remote working. 

On the other end of the spectrum, hybrid occupations, to be completed in specific locations, or requiring specialised equipment such as field operations, will see the least movement to remote working arrangements.

Whereas customer-facing occupations are likely to adjust slower as they adjust to new customer interaction expectations and technology requirements.

Deloitte potential workforce transition to remote working arrangements across occupations

When it comes to rank, Deloitte said that senior leaders have the highest potential for remote working. But they are facing problems when it comes to the skills and mindsets needed to lead virtual teams.

It takes a new language, skillset and toolset for managers and employees to work remotely. Many managers who are used to have daily face-time with their teams are not yet ready in how to achieve the trust and ways of working required for highly effective virtual teams. 

The shift of senior executives to remote formats is important in accelerating the transition to remote working. Especially in ASEAN countries’ hierarchical social construct.

In order to reap the benefits of remote working, companies should create new ways of:

• Setting goals,

• Creating alignment,

• Assigning work,

• Monitoring progress,

• Providing feedback and coaching,

• Resolving conflict

All levels of management must understand and adopt these new standards. If organisations wish to stay competitive with digital-first companies, they will need to address the transition to remote working as soon as possible.

Though COVID-19 has quickened the pace of the transition to remote working, working from home has its problems. Therefore, Deloitte predicts that over the next six months organisations are going to study their remote working arrangements and search for alternatives to this form factor.

One potential solution is ‘work near home’ - a ‘win-win’ scenario where employees work based out of communal/shared suburban worksites which provide the functional requirements for the remote workforce of large and small employers alike.

The rise of these spaces has the potential to fundamentally change the way large companies plan and deploy space for their workforce, creating a third solution for employees between the office and home.

Source: Human Resources Online

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