Working from home has been challenging for almost six in ten Singaporeans (58%), who felt that their company’s technical infrastructure was not fully prepared for the transition, according to a new regional report “Video Streaming is the New Norm for Work” from content delivery network and edge cloud services provider Limelight Networks.
The report is based on responses from 1,000 professionals across India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea who have worked from home during the coronavirus pandemic, said the company.
In addition, majority of Singaporeans — 71% — also report feelings of frustrations due to network issues and latency – such as difficulties accessing the internet, uploading and downloading files, poor video quality when streaming webinars and live content, or lags and delays during video conference and calls, the report indicates.
Respondents faced similar frustrations with video latency when streaming videos for entertainment and home-based learning, said the company.
More than 60% of the frustrations largely arise out of poor video quality, slow speed in loading, or video re-buffering, the firm added.
Survey highlights
- Though 74% of Singaporeans agree that they have been more productive working from home, the increase in productivity did not necessarily lead to working fewer hours.
- 43% of Singaporeans say that they are working the same number of hours and another 44 per cent work longer hours, much higher than the average of 33% among the Asian countries surveyed.
- During the pandemic when homes become offices for many people in the foreseeable future, Singaporeans are most likely to have their productivity impacted due to juggling multiple demands from work and at home (66%), compared to the regional average of 47%.
- Other common obstacles to productivity include weak network resulting in internet connection issues (48%), social media and internet distractions (45%), and latency when streaming video content (45%).
- Though 47% of Singaporeans feel that chat apps, video calls, and instant messaging platforms enable quality interactions, another 50% report that technology is working as an interim solution at best, with the need to balance this with in-person interaction, and 3% feel that technology can never measure up to face-to-face interactions.
Despite the above challenges, most people wish to continue working from home, said Limelight Networks.
Given that a majority of respondents in Singapore (78%) feel that they are equipped to work from home on a long-term basis, it is not surprising that 95% of respondents are keen to continue working from home, either occasionally or on a permanent basis, Edwin Koh, Regional Director, Southeast Asia at Limelight Networks pointed out.
“As remote working continues post circuit-breaker, a robust technical infrastructure is critical for businesses to minimise disruption to workflows and ensure business continuity no matter where employees are located,” Koh advised.
