‘You can do way better than this’: NUS staff disappointed by how management communicated the new work arrangement

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SINGAPORE: When the National University of Singapore (NUS) announced earlier this month that all full-time staff would have to return to the office five days a week, the news didn’t exactly go down well. Many employees were caught off guard and left rather disappointed.

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One staff member, however, recently spoke up and said that while he had no issues with the five-day schedule itself, he was disappointed by how poorly the management communicated the decision.

In an anonymous post on the NUSWhispers Facebook page on Friday (Oct 10), he shared that the management gave staff “very little time to respond” and failed to consult employees before making such a major change.

“As you might have read in the news, it didn’t matter whether staff had the opportunity to attend a Town Hall about this or not – none of our voices were taken into regard,” he wrote. 

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“Please don’t get me wrong. I have been working at NUS before the pandemic, and working five days in the office isn’t a problem for me. It’s how this whole change was considered and communicated that really got me thinking about whether the management even gives a hoot about us.”

He added that based on his own experience and what he had heard from colleagues across different departments, the management tended to circulate only the messages they considered “safe” from criticism. These usually included presidential updates or cheerful email flyers promoting productivity and staff engagement.

In contrast, announcements that directly affected employees, such as changes to work arrangements, were left to individual departments to communicate.

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He also noted that nearly a week had passed since the new work arrangement was announced, yet management had remained completely silent. 

He ended his post by saying that a well-established institution like NUS should be more thoughtful in how it manages its people. 

“Yes, I know the adage that ‘no one is indispensable’. But surely, such a well-established organisation ought to be more careful in how they manage so many employees?” he said. 

“Very sad behaviour….I can’t speak for all of my colleagues, but I do know, from the grapevine, that quite a number of us are unhappy because of how much we matter to the university. To the NUS management: you can do way better than this. We, as your staff contributing to your strategic goals, deserve better than this treatment from you. For the sake of improving engagement, please reflect on your actions.”

“Make the best choice for yourself.”

Many quickly took to the comments to criticise the staff for being too “entitled.”

One said, “Not happy, then resign lor. So many companies already require their employees to report back to work after CCB ended.”

Another commented, “The issue may not be NUS management. The issue may be the entitled NUS staff. Perhaps NUS should consider a purge of its staff? We should spend taxpayer money wisely, after all.”

A third wrote, “Then quit and move on. Look for a company that allows you to WFH. Don’t assume WFH is an entitlement”.

A fourth shared, “NUS Senior Management is a compassionate lot. In the good old days, even with a 5.5-day work week, superiors would give time off to staff for caregiving or medical appointments. Do work out an acceptable arrangement with your team leads.”

A fifth commenter, however, defended the staff member and said that others might not have understood his point.

“If you guys could read, he already said it’s not about having to work 5 days. Forget it, ba, your words are wasted on these old fogeys. Make the best choice for yourself and let natural selection happen to employers/companies who don’t understand what it means to lead people,” they wrote.

Earlier this month, NUS announced that it is ending the one-day-a-week work-from-home arrangement that had been in place since the end of 2023.

An NUS spokesperson told CNA that the change was introduced gradually, with some employees returning to a full office schedule from Sept 1, before it was expanded to all full-time staff from Oct 1.

Read more: ‘It’s not a two-way conversation’ —Some NUS staff unhappy with new five-day work-from-office policy





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