Employers and employees in Singapore are ‘strongly’ encouraged to be open to flexible work arrangements, including four-day work weeks, reports The Straits Times citing the Minister of State for Manpower Gan Siow Huang.

Huang said, “As with any work arrangement, a four-day work week may work well for some employers and employees, but not others. We should adopt a flexible mindset. The ministry, together with our tripartite partners, strongly encourages employers and employees to be open to flexible work arrangements in all their various forms to identify and adopt those that best suit their unique business needs and the workers' needs." Some of the key concerns that surfaced include the reduced work week's impact on productivity, business costs and employee well-being. While productivity improvements have been reported in some cases, they depend on the sector and job type, Huang said. Other countries have four-day work-week pilots including the UK, Ireland, Japan and Spain.