The I Quit! Just Kidding Award goes to the return-to-office backlash that never materialised

SINGAPORE – If 2024 was the peak of flexible work frenzy, 2025 was the year that workers quietly fell back in line.

A 2024 Randstad Singapore survey found that about half (49 per cent) of the 759 Singapore-based workers polled would consider quitting their jobs if asked to spend more time in the office. This sentiment was most pronounced among Gen Z workers, with 69 per cent of those polled making that stand.

That same year, the Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests were introduced, calling for employers to fairly consider flexible work arrangements from December 2024.

It is 2025 and the enthusiasm for working from home appears to have receded.

According to Google Trends data, interest in the term “flexible work” peaked in April 2024, when the tripartite guidelines were first announced, before plummeting in 2025 – when the guidelines took effect.

Return-to-office (RTO) mandates have since rolled out across the board. The National University of Singapore now requires staff to work on campus five days a week. Tech giants Amazon and Grab have announced similar measures.

Where previous years saw loud pushback against such policies, the response in 2025 has been muted, as economic anxiety has overtaken flexibility as workers’ primary concern.

Job hugging – the phenomenon of workers clinging to their positions out of fear rather than loyalty – appears to be on the rise. Singapore’s annual resignation rates reached historic lows of 1.3 per cent in 2024, the lowest since current records began in 2006. The first two quarters of 2025 saw this figure dipping further to 1.2 per cent.

Ms Tasha Enright, people partner at marketing and tech consultancy Algomarketing, tells The Straits Times that the tech sector, which has long led the way on employee benefits, is experiencing an industrywide realignment.

A survey conducted by the Singapore National Employers Federation between June and August found that nearly three in five of the employers surveyed plan to freeze headcount in 2026 in the light of the uncertain outlook for businesses. This marked an increase from the 50 per cent of employers who said the same for 2024.

The around 240 companies surveyed collectively hire more than 120,000 workers.

Another telling shift can be seen in what young workers say they want.

A Singapore University of Social Sciences study published in October found that young Singaporeans still value flexible work arrangements as a key priority. However, they also now see job security and financial stability as more important priorities.

So, exit the stage, the great return-to-office backlash that never came. And congratulations on 2025’s I Quit! Just Kidding award. As dark economic clouds loom ahead, it appears that workers have little choice but to hug their jobs than storm out the door in search of greener pastures.