Singapore office workers amongst the least productive

They spend only 60% of their time on primary tasks.

A study by Unit4 revealed that office workers in Singapore are the least productive in terms of the time they spent on their primary job function. 

According to the study, Singapore workers spend only 60% of their time on primary tasks, compared to the global average of 72%. More so, they spend roughly 380 hours a year, equivalent of 47.5 work days, completing administrative and repetitive tasks.

On average, respondents aged 41 and above estimate they spend significantly more time on their primary duties compared to those aged 26-30.

Singapore office workers identified the amount of time they spend on specific daily administrative tasks that prevent them from focusing on their primary duties, which include manually collating and entering data (30%) tracking their project status (26%), handling invoices (20%) as well as submitting their expenses and planning travels (11%).

Unit4 CEO Stephan Sieber said this productivity issue is crippling businesses, particularly services firms which rely on the strengths and output of their people.

He pointed out to the results of the study saying that the cost to the service industry in lost productivity due to excessive administration is more than US$2.87t ($6.95t) annually across the 11 countries surveyed. In Singapore, it was US$26.3b ($36.5b).

When asked if they would trust technology – such as a digital / virtual assistant or software application – to manage repetitive tasks, a majority of Singaporean office workers at 83% said they would.

“The shifting of roles and responsibilities that come from technological advancements will see more people spending their time on value-added services to help a business grow. We believe that the future of work will be supported by the best technology, enabling the best people to deliver more value to their customers than their competitors,” Sieber said.