Most, or 61.7%, of employers in Malaysia want to continue working a hybrid model where employees work from home and from the office, according to a survey from the Malaysian Employers Federation and newspaper The Star.

The survey comes as the Federation urges employers not to rush in asking their employees to return to the workplace full-time as it may increase the risk of infection.

According to the survey, 55.6% of employers are also considering continuing normal/fixed hours only while 29.6% are considering continuing flexible working hours. At the same time, 18.5% want to continue working from home only, 16% want shift work/rota work and 13.6% prefer staggered work.

For businesses which are unable to implement working from home, MEF president Datuk Syed Hussain Syed Husman said employers should rearrange the workplace to allow sufficient physical distancing between workers and limiting employee capacity within the workplace.

Meanwhile, Syed Husman said there were challenges that came with implementing working from home, such as losing out on the team building, interaction and discussion aspects of the job.

SME Association of Malaysia national president Ding Hong Sing said that working from home arrangements can be a challenge for small and medium enterprises due to limited workforce and resources.

“It will be tough to go back to work full WFH (working from home) because we need the staff on-site,” Sing said. “Some SMEs just have five or six full-time employees.”