95% Singaporeans value commute time when considering a job: Survey

SINGAPORE: A YouGov survey commissioned by Budget Direct Insurance found that 95% of Singaporeans consider commute time an important factor when looking for new job opportunities. The survey, which had 1,055 respondents, showed that longer commutes lead to greater dissatisfaction among Singapore workers, with 77% saying that commute time between 61 and 75 minutes daily was excessive.

Singapore Business Review reported that 60% of Singapore workers take the train, 56% use public buses, 25% walk to work, while only 23% said they drive to work. Meanwhile, only 12% of people use ride-hailing services. The rest use bicycles (6%) and motorcycles (3%).

More than half of respondents (69%) said that convenience is their top priority when choosing how to commute, followed by travel time (66%) and cost (60%). According to the survey, 57% of respondents are fully back in the office, while 40% work in hybrid or fully remote setups.

Among hybrid workers, 69% said they go to the office on Wednesdays, making it the busiest day for in-person work. Attendance falls to 41% on Fridays, and even fewer head in over the weekend, with only 10% on Saturdays and 5% on Sundays.

Last week, a Singaporean worker who commutes to work daily in a crowded MRT during rush hour asked netizens online where he could find jobs with decent pay that wouldn’t require him to commute during rush hours. He noted that while he was okay with commuting through public transport, he just really hated feeling like a “packed sardine”.

In the city-state, public transport is being improved to achieve a car-lite society. By 2030, the MRT network is expected to reach 360 kilometres, while the cycling path network is expected to reach 1,000 kilometres by 2040. There are also plans to implement Walk Cycle Ride SG. Other infrastructure projects expected to aid in reducing commute time in the city-state include the Cross Island Line and the Jurong Region Line. /TISG 

Read also: 96% of Singaporeans disagree with PM Wong: Working longer isn’t a choice, says poll

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