Singapore launches new workplace safety and health resources

● Singapore enters next phase of efforts to support safer and longer working lives

● New initiatives aim to strengthen workplace safety and health (WSH) outcomes 

● AI-enabled SAGE platform will help WSH professionals access official guidance faster and strengthen risk management decisions

New national workplace safety and health initiatives have been unveiled at the Singapore Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Conference 2026. 

Source: WSH Council. From left: Tan Hee Teck, President, SNEF; Abu Bakar Bin Mohd Nor, Chairman, WSH Council; Singapore Minister of State for Manpower, Dinesh Vasu Dash; and Ngien Hoon Ping, Group CEO, SMRT Corporation.

Held at Marina Bay Sands, the 9th edition of the biennial conference focused on how Singapore’s WSH ecosystem can better anticipate emerging risks, strengthen shared ownership and translate safety insights into practical action across workplaces. Over 1,500 policymakers, business leaders, WSH professionals and industry practitioners attended activities under the theme Insight to Impact: Collective Effort for Stronger WSH Outcomes.

Singapore Minister of State for Manpower Dinesh Vasu Dash launched the Safety Advisory and Guidance Engine (SAGE), an AI-enabled knowledge and decision-support tool developed by the Workplace Safety and Health Council in partnership with the Singapore Institution of Safety Officers. 

Designed for WSH professionals, SAGE helps users retrieve relevant information, identify workplace hazards and apply best-practice control measures based on Singapore’s WSH framework. SAGE provides guided task categories that help users navigate common WSH activities. This lowers the barrier to using AI for WSH tasks, making the platform easier to use regardless of the user's familiarity with AI. 

By making authoritative guidance easier to access, the tool aims to support faster, more consistent decision-making in safety-critical environments while complementing the experience and professional judgement of WSH practitioners.  

 The move comes as Singapore enters the next phase of its WSH journey. According to the Workplace Safety and Health Report 2025 released by the Singapore Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in March 2026, two all-time lows were achieved in the country. 

The workplace fatal injury rate fell to a record low of 0.96 per 100,000 workers in 2025, while major injury rates across most workplace settings declined to 15.7 per 100,000 workers.* However, reported workplace injuries rose by 2.5%, underscoring the need for continued vigilance even as Singapore remains among the safest working environments globally. 

Mr Dinesh also unveiled the Alliance for Action on Safety and Health for Employment Longevity (AfA-SHEL), which supports safer, healthier and longer working lives. The initiative will look at how workers can be better supported to remain in, or return safely to, employment after injury or illness. 

He said: “Singapore’s workplace safety and health progress is not a static achievement, but a continuous national effort. As we advance the WSH 2028 agenda, our focus must be on sustaining the progress we have made, strengthening support for workers, employers and WSH practitioners, and ensuring that our
WSH system remains responsive to the needs of a changing economy. By working together, we
can continue to raise WSH standards and build safer, healthier and more resilient workplaces.”

The AfA-SHEL was introduced by the minister during the MOM's Committee of Supply Debate in March 2026. Jointly led by MOM, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), the AfA brings together employers, workers, relevant government agencies, healthcare institutions, solution providers and other stakeholders to co-create practical, industry-led solutions to strengthen WSH and support employment longevity.

The AfA will focus on developing practical solutions in three areas: 

• Injury prevention for the general workforce, beyond high-risk workplaces

• Supporting returning to work after a serious injury or health episode

• Workplace adaption and job redesign to make work tasks, processes and environments safer and more suitable for Singapore's workforce, which comprises people with varied physical and health needs

The WSH Council further introduced a new WhatsApp channel to provide employers, workers and WSH practitioners with mobile-first access to events, alerts, advisories and resources. This complements the Council’s existing WSH Bulletin, social media channels and website.

Abu Bakar Bin Mohd Nor, Chairman of the WSH Council, said the next phase of WSH progress will require stronger shared ownership across the ecosystem. “As workplace risks become more complex, the next phase of WSH progress cannot rest on any one party alone. Workforce ageing, more unpredictable weather patterns, and new technologies are changing the risks that employers, workers, and WSH professionals have to manage," he said. 

"That means we must keep adapting our systems, tools and mindsets, while ensuring every part of the ecosystem plays its role in anticipating risks earlier, designing for safety from the outset, and embedding WSH practices on the ground. This shared ownership will be critical as we continue strengthening Singapore’s WSH culture.” 

The Top Executive WSH Programme (TEWP) has also been enhanced. From 1 September 2026, the TEWP will place greater emphasis on executive accountability, governance and due diligence. The enhanced programme was redesigned by the Institute of Adult Learning and Singapore University of Social Sciences in consultation with MOM, the WSH Council, training providers and the Singapore Institute of Directors. 

New enhancements include:

● Special emphasis on governance and executive leadership
● Targeted learning designed for C-suite leaders and board directors
● More examples of scenario-based and application-focused learning
● Greater focus on the CORE Framework and the 17 Approved Code of Practice measures
● Enhanced emphasis on evidence of leadership commitment and due diligence

The conference concluded with a call for organisations to strengthen shared responsibility, practical innovation and adopt a people-centred approach to workplace safety and health. 

Details

AfA-SHEL 

MOM is inviting Singapore-registered organisations to participate in the AfA through an open call ending 31 August 2026. Selected organisations will participate in an innovation programme to develop their prototypes over approximately 14 months, beginning in August 2026. Participants will receive funding support, access to WSH and industry experts, and consultancy support from an assigned account manager. 

Applications will be evaluated by the AfA Secretariat, comprising MOM, NTUC, SNEF, and the WSH Council. Around 30 organisations will be selected, with balanced representation across the AfA's three focus areas. 

Interested organisations can submit their proposals via https://go.gov.sg/afashel2026opencall by 31 August 2026. 

SAGE

Beta testing for SAGE begins in August 2026, with the full public launch slated for January 2027. The tool will be available in multiple languages – English, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil, Bengali, Hindi and Burmese.

WhatsApp 

Subscribe at https://www.whatsapp.com/channel/0029VarATmI4yltLGpon1z0j 

*Workplace Safety and Health Report 2025, Minister of Manpower. Source: https://www.mom.gov.sg/-/media/mom/documents/safety-health/reports-stats/wsh-national-statistics/wsh-national-stats-2025.pdf 

Technology, talent and trust are redefining workplaces: IWG

2026 will see businesses doubling down their focus on their people. As not only their biggest asset, but also one of their greatest investments - companies are ensuring that their teams are being offered the wellbeing, training, development and new technology-driven learning opportunities that they need to thrive, said the International Workplace Group (IWG).

With companies increasingly prioritising their employees, they are also recognising that productivity and engagement are driven by how, when, and with whom they collaborate rather than solely where they work.

Organisations of all sizes are embracing flexible and hybrid working models to attract and retain the best talent. Recent technological advancements will further accelerate this shift, enabling smarter collaboration and more dynamic ways of working as businesses invest in data-driven workplace design and AI-powered personalised experiences. Increasingly, career pathways will be defined by skills rather than traditional degrees, and personalised human-AI collaboration will become an increasingly valuable skill for business success.

In 2026, the attention will now turn from where work happens to focus on a company’s profitability, productivity, and the wellbeing of their teams. Businesses will invest in flexible workspace memberships, allowing employees to work closer to home where they will be most productive, avoiding costly, unnecessary commutes. For most, this will mean working from suburban commuter hubs, small towns or emerging 15-minute cities, with work becoming more local, more personal and more intelligent than ever before.   

IWG's 2026 global predictions include: 

AI in the daily workflow

In 2026, hybrid teams will more regularly integrate AI copilots into their daily operations. These systems will significantly reduce the need for simple tasks such as admin, knowledge retrieval, and scheduling. Employees will find themselves with more time for creative work, able to tackle complex problem-solving tasks, and develop meaningful relationships. Moreover, this transformation will enable individuals to better manage their work-life balance, ultimately leading to increased productivity and job satisfaction.

Recognising this profound shift, Singapore is taking decisive action to secure its future as a leading AI hub and ensure its workforce is AI-ready, IWG said, pointing out that under the refreshed National AI Strategy 2.0, the government has earmarked over S$1 B for AI development and deployment over the next five years. 

Speaking at Singapore FinTech Festival 2025, Singapore's Deputy PM Gan Kim Yong reinforced the importance of upskilling in AI, urging employers to treat training as a form of investment in their workforce, and for Singapore workers to proactively seek out training so that they are “able to adapt, evolve together with the evolution of jobs.”

This proliferation of AI copilots within the workplace is being accelerated by a new wave of intergenerational collaboration. Research from IWG has revealed that 62% of Gen Z employees are already coaching older colleagues on how to use AI to boost productivity and efficiency. In turn, 77% of Directors and Senior Directors have said this has boosted productivity levels, while 80% said it unlocked new business opportunities. 

Capitalising on this trend, employers will increasingly use AI and workplace analytics to create “personalised hybrid plans” for each employee, including optimised schedules, ideal collaboration days, and preferred office or coworking locations. 

Reversing a S$73.6B productivity loss 

Unlike “quiet quitting”, where employees deliberately do the bare minimum, “quiet cracking”describes something subtler: employees who are still performing, but feel mentally and emotionally checked out, resulting in burnout, stalled progression, and a lack of purpose.

In Singapore, the related concept of “job hugging,” where employees stay in their roles despite dissatisfaction, has gained attention. Annual resignation rates hit a historic low of 1.3% in 2024, despite low employee engagement, IWG said. The country ranks second-lowest across Southeast Asia for employee engagement, with 61% of employees reporting burnout and rising stress levels. Experts estimate this disengagement is costing the nation S$73.6 B annually in productivity loss, putting Singapore’s status as a high-performance hub at risk.

With 57% of workers saying they’re more likely to disengage when they feel undervalued or micromanaged, companies will put more emphasis on employee wellbeing and flexible work options to remain competitive, IWG said. As wellbeing becomes a bigger focus, companies are also expected to move past traditional perks and start using new “well-tech” tools - like stress-tracking wearables, AI mental health reminders, and wellness challenges that gamify healthy habits and make them more engaging.

Fractional C-suites

As they navigate economic uncertainty, more companies are turning to fractional executives, opting for part-time or contract-based C-suite talent who bring in laser-focused expertise without the cost of full-time appointments.

With nearly nine in 10 (87%) CEOs and CFOs concerned about the impact of ongoing macroeconomic instability and two thirds (67%) already reducing operating costs, businesses are looking for smarter leadership models. This flexibility allows companies to secure world-class strategic insight when needed, while enabling experienced professionals to work across multiple organisations.  

The concept is only beginning to gain traction in Asia. Organisational consulting firm Korn Ferry reported six times more requests from Singapore-based firms seeking fractional leaders in 2025 compared with last year. This trend is set to accelerate with increased support for Singapore organisations exploring solutions such as fractional work. 

For example, the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore is developing a fractional talent model to help SMEs engage senior professionals on a part-time or project basis – a solution which it hopes will address SME’s challenge of attracting and retaining skilled leadership.  

Rising Gen Z workforce

Gen Zs account for nearly a third of the labour force and are projected to be the largest generation in the workplace by 2035. They come with clear expectations that go beyond pay, prioritising wellness, mental health, flexible hours and meaningful work that aligns with their core values, IWG said. 

As the global population ages, retirements accelerate and talent gaps widen, business leaders must understand and respond to these shifting priorities to remain competitive. Companies that embrace flexibility, autonomy, and meaningful work will attract and retain the next generation of leaders; those that fail to do so risk falling behind, IWG said.  

Multi-office work

Companies of all sizes are moving away from loosely-defined hybrid policies toward more structured, multi-location models, IWG forecasted. Employees are increasingly empowered to work from more convenient places closer to home. Instead of a traditional Return to the Office, the shift is now toward a Return to Several Offices. 

Microsoft recently announced that by 2026, many of its US employees will need to work from their nearest Microsoft office at least three days per week – a policy expected to be implemented across its international offices, including Singapore, IWG noted. Elsewhere, companies are enabling staff to work across a network of coworking or flexible workspace locations.

Skills stacking

Hybrid workers will stack “micro-certifications” - bite-sized, skill-focused credentials - instead of relying on traditional degrees or annual performance reviews. Employers will support this by funding on-demand learning platforms, creating more agile talent pools. This trend will change internal mobility, with skills becoming more portable and accessible.  

Fifteen-minute cities

The 15-minute city concept – where everything from work to leisure is accessible within a short walk or cycle – is entering a new phase in 2026. Until recently, this had been a story of adaptation: retrofitting existing neighbourhoods to bring work, living, and recreation closer together. In 2026, 15-minute cities will be taking an entirely new form, built from the ground up and designed to encourage connectivity, sustainability and community.

According to IWG, Singapore’s URA Draft Master Plan 2025 outlines a future built around self-contained neighbourhoods, with upcoming housing areas, parks, community hubs and local centres designed to support work-live-play needs within short distances. These developments reflect the broader move toward compact, connected urban districts characteristic of 15-minute cities.

Hybrid work is making these urban ecosystems viable, as professionals choose to live and work locally while businesses decentralise their footprints to be closer to where people are.

Hospitality-led environments

The workplace will increasingly look and feel like a boutique hotel, IWG believes. "In 2026, expect concierge-style services, curated food and beverage options, and sensory-led design that elevates comfort and wellbeing," the company predicted.

IWG’s March 2025 partnership with residential design brand YOO exemplifies this shift: by combining design-led hospitality expertise with IWG’s flexible workspace network, these new spaces will blend work, social connection and wellbeing, transforming the office into a lifestyle experience.  

Sensory-led design prioritises wellbeing with the use of lighting, texture and similar design characteristics. 

On-demand offices

Day offices are set to become a key part of the landscape, providing a professional and productive office space whenever and wherever it is needed. Whether employees are seeking quiet, focus rooms or collaboration spaces for ad-hoc team days, these “on-demand” options eliminate the need for long-term commitments while offering all the amenities of a traditional office. 

With wellbeing firmly on the agenda, features such as natural light and on-site wellness amenities will differentiate day offices, helping employees work efficiently, flexibly, and with purpose. 

Local loyalty

Hybrid work will foster a renewed connection to local communities, IWG predicted. Companies may encourage employees to integrate volunteerism, local partnerships, or skill-sharing into their work week, strengthening employer brands while supporting civic engagement in the communities where employees live and work.

Mark Dixon, Founder and CEO of IWG, said: “Continuous improvements in technology including AI and new approaches to training and development will be significant drivers of productivity, engagement, and loyalty, enabling companies to create a future-ready workforce and working environment that propels business growth.

"We will continue to see a fundamental shift in the geography of work with the centre of gravity moving towards local communities. The remarkable advances in cloud technology and video conferencing software – both vital to enabling effective hybrid working – mean workers no longer need to travel long distances on a daily basis. Innovations in technology will continue to advance in years to come and will radically underline and fuel the flexibility of location.

"The rising demand for more localised working has led to the majority of our new IWG centres opening in the heart of local communities, suburbs and rural areas, enabling many people around the world to say farewell to long daily commutes.”

IWG’s 23 centres in Singapore are positioned across major residential and commercial zones, supporting the city’s shift toward decentralised, close-to-home work options.  

World Wellness Day: Dyson invites reconnection through innovation

In the spirit of Global Wellness Day, which falls on June 14 this year, Dyson encourages individuals to embrace meaningful reconnection – whether it’s through clearer air, calming sound, or restorative routines.

The company is offering exclusive offerings Malaysia-wide throughout June across key innovations including the Dyson OnTrac, Dyson WashG1, and Dyson Purifier Big+Quiet Formaldehyde.

Quiet from chaos

Source: Dyson. The Dyson OnTrac headphones.

Designed for all-day wear, the Dyson OnTrac combines a lightweight frame with soft memory foam and pressure-balanced ear cushions for extended comfort. Featuring 40 mm neodymium drivers, these headphones deliver clear, full-spectrum sound with low distortion, ideal for music, calls, or meditation. Wear detection sensors enable auto-play and pause for seamless use.

The headphones are engineered for immersive, high-performance audio with intelligent noise control. Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) technology continuously monitors and blocks unwanted sound in real time, creating a more mindful listening environment. 

Details

From now till 30 June 2025, customers can receive complimentary Ear Cushions and Outer Caps (worth RM518) with every purchase of the Dyson OnTrac headphones.

Clear space

Source: Dyson.
The Dyson
WashG1.

The Dyson WashG1 is designed to deliver powerful, hygienic cleaning of hard floors across large spaces. Equipped with a 1-litre clean water tank, it can cover up to 3000 sq ft on a single charge. 

Combining hydration, absorption, and extraction technologies, the Dyson WashG1 effectively removes wet and dry dirt, along with tough stains, while automatically separating debris for more hygienic maintenance. Unique separation technology divides debris and dirty water for no-touch disposal. 

A self-cleaning mode flushes the system after each use, and two highly-absorbent rollers counter-rotate for powerful stain removal. Custom hydration control options allow users to select cleaning intensity based on flooring type, ensuring optimal performance.

Details

From now till 30 June 2025, customers can save RM700 when purchasing the Dyson WashG1 wet floor cleaner. They will also receive Dual Microfibre rollers, worth RM239, as a gift.

Clean air

Source: Dyson. The
Dyson Purifier
Big+Quiet Formaldehyde.

With a low-noise profile, energy efficiency, and minimal maintenance required, the Dyson Purifier Big+Quiet Formaldehyde offers a high-performance purification experience.

The purifier is engineered to deliver powerful and quiet purification for large spaces. Designed with Cone Aerodynamics, it projects purified air over 10 metres while operating at 56 dB – making it ideal for open-plan areas, shared spaces, and restful environments. 

Equipped with a fully-sealed HEPA H13-grade filtration system, the Dyson Purifier Big+Quiet captures 99.95% of ultrafine particles as small as 0.1 microns, including dust, allergens, and bacteria. Its advanced Selective Catalytic Oxidisation (SCO) filter continuously destroys formaldehyde without needing replacement, breaking it down into water and CO₂ molecules.

The device’s solid-state sensor monitors indoor air quality in real time, while Auto Mode intelligently adjusts purification levels based on detected pollutants.

Details

Buyers across Malaysia can save RM300 if they get the Dyson Purifier Big+Quiet Formaldehyde by end-June, 2025.

Hashtags: #WorldWellnessDay, #ReconnectMagenta

NTUC LearningHub reveals perception gap on learning between leaders and employees

Source: NTUC LearningHub. Infographic on the leadership gap uncovered by recent research.

Leaders today are expected to thrive in a dynamic and digitally driven workplace, while cultivating human-centric capabilities and competencies, said NTUC LearningHub. In research conducted by the organisation, over four in five business leaders (11% "very well", 72% "quite well") believe they demonstrate emotional intelligence well, whereas only half of employees believe their leaders possess the skill (2% "very well", 48% "quite well").

According to employees, emotional intelligence (31%) is in fact the top skill they believe their leaders are lacking, followed by effective communication (30%), and people development (30%).

Similarly, the majority of business leaders are confident in their ability to lead effectively and achieve organisational goals (13% "very confident", 73% "quite confident"). However, only half of employees are equally confident in their leaders’ capabilities (3% "very confident", 52% "quite confident").

This disconnect between the two groups is evident in how most business leaders believe they understand their employees’ needs (17% "very well", 72% "quite well") and meet their evolving expectations (11% "very well", 73% "quite well"). Yet, less than half of the employees share the same sentiment, where 46% agree leaders understand their needs “very well” or “quite well”, and 45% agree leaders meet their evolving expectations “very well” or “quite well”.

These are some of the key findings from NTUC LearningHub’s Leadership and Coaching Report, which investigates the essential skills and competencies that future leaders must cultivate. The research also explored the role of coaching in driving individual and organisational growth across all levels and roles.

Based on a survey involving 150 business leaders and 300 full-time working professionals, the report also examines how organisations can develop and sustain strong leadership pipelines by leveraging people-centric approaches and emotional intelligence to build resilient, high-performing teams.

More than nine in ten business leaders (41% "very important", 51% "quite important"), as well as employees (32% "very important", 56% "quite important") view emotional intelligence as important in leadership.

Business leaders cited the ability to communicate more effectively (55%), make better decisions (55%), be more flexible and adaptable to changes (53%), build strong relationships with employees (51%), and motivate employees more effectively (50%) as the top reasons why they perceive emotional intelligence as important for leaders. While employees voiced similar sentiments, they also highlight the ability to better manage and resolve conflicts (65%) and react to challenges or highly pressurising situations calmly (58%) as other key reasons.

The perception divide also shows up in leadership styles where business leaders are most likely to apply democratic leadership (40%), followed by situational leadership (39%), and laissez-faire (hands-off) leadership (31%). Meanwhile, employees ranked situational leadership (44%) as their most preferred leadership style above democratic leadership (43%) and transformational leadership style (41%).

Business leaders have to contend with keeping their teams engaged and motivated (38%) as a consequence, managing relationships with employees (35%), and balancing performance with employee wellbeing (29%) in today’s workplace. This is also accompanied by other challenges cited such as developing future leaders (29%) and adapting to change and uncertainty (28%).

On the other hand, three in five business leaders (60%) acknowledge gaps in their leadership abilities and have identified areas for improvement. However, fewer than half of business leaders (44%) have participated in relevant training to enhance their leadership skills in the past year, with two in five (39%) rarely attending training. Lack of time (48%), high workload (47%), and lack of motivation (31%) are among the top challenges business leaders face when participating in leadership training programmes.

Paradoxically, roughly four in 10 business leaders (38%) express a desire for more frequent training to develop their leadership skills. Three in four business leaders (9% very effective, 67% quite effective) also believe that the leadership training they received was effective in developing their abilities.

Jeremy Ong, CEO, NTUC LearningHub said: “The apparent disconnect between leaders and employees highlights an urgent need for leadership to evolve in tandem with workforce expectations. As leadership expectations broaden beyond formal roles, organisations are looking to cultivate a culture where more employees feel empowered to take initiative, make decisions, and contribute to team direction.

"Technical skills alone are no longer enough today, as a more balanced and human-centric approach towards leadership has become a key competency that will enable leaders to adopt the right leadership approach, connect meaningfully with their team, sustain employee engagement, and ultimately drive organisational success. Therefore, it is important for leaders to continuously improve themselves through learning and development as a strategic imperative to bridge existing skills gaps and nurture future emotionally intelligent and visionary leaders.” Details

Download the Leadership and Coaching Report at www.ntuclearninghub.com/media/research-reports/2025/leadership-coaching

More information about the courses, training, and grants can be found at www.ntuclearninghub.com.

Zoom's new AI-first platform innovations

Zoom Video Communications has unveiled new AI-first work platform innovations for Zoom Workplace and Zoom Business Services that will transform team communication, collaboration, and productivity and help customers get more done.

The announcements include the Zoom AI Companion 2.0, a new add-on option to customise and personalise AI Companion, Zoom Tasks to help users take action across Zoom Workplace, and enhanced employee and customer experience innovations underpinned by AI.

“At Zoom, we’re not just reimagining communication—we’re revolutionising the entire work experience. Our vision is to create an AI-first work platform for human connection that empowers teams to achieve more than ever,” said Eric S. Yuan, founder and CEO of Zoom. 

“With AI Companion already enhancing productivity, we are helping our customers transform the way they work. This is more than an evolution; it’s a complete overhaul of how we get things done in the digital age.”

Zoom AI Companion 2.0

Source: Zoom. Zoom AI Companion 2.0 at work.

New capabilities include:

Persistence: Users can now engage with AI Companion via a convenient, persistent side panel, with seamless availability throughout Zoom Workplace, delivering an AI-first user interface (UI) that seamlessly integrates graphical and conversation UIs to allow for better information flow across workplace-wide.

More context: AI Companion gains advanced contextual understanding based on what the user is looking at in the Zoom Workplace app and on previous conversations to provide intelligent suggestions and responses that come with citations.

Better synthesis: AI Companion can pull in interactions from across Zoom Workplace, and, when connected, information from Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, Google Calendar, and uploaded files from Microsoft Office and Google Docs to help users summarise content and interactions and get caught up fast.

Connected: AI Companion will be able to answer user questions and look up information from the web in real time.

Taking action: AI Companion will be able to detect, track, and complete actions across different workloads in Zoom Workplace to help users get more done.

For example, users can:

- Use prompt suggestions and generate answers from AI Companion via a convenient side panel across Zoom Workplace, including Zoom Meetings, Zoom Team Chat, Zoom Docs, Zoom Calendar, and Zoom Mail.

- Expand the context of information with data from across Zoom Workplace and, when connected, information from Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, Google Calendar, and uploaded files from Microsoft Office and Google Docs. AI Companion will remember previous conversations you’ve had within the side panel and interactions from across Zoom Workplace.

- Generate next steps from a meeting summary and AI Companion can automatically turn those next steps into Zoom Tasks to help keep teams aligned and on track to deliver projects on time. Zoom Tasks is planned to be available in December 2024.

- Summarise unread messages within a Zoom Team Chat channel. Within the new home tab, AI Companion will be able to provide users with a list of updates based on unread chats and emails.

AI Companion 2.0 will be available in the coming weeks at no additional cost with paid services in Zoom Workplace accounts.

Custom add-on for AI Companion

A new optional add-on that allows for a customised and personalised AI Companion experience for individual customers will allow customisation with company glossaries, offer enhanced search capabilities, and take action on the user’s behalf. With expanded data access to apps beyond Microsoft and Google email and calendar services and additional company data sources to expand its knowledge, the add-on will provide a new level of performance to the experience. Key components of the new add-on include:

Customised experience with AI Studio: Organisations can tailor the AI Companion experience with custom dictionaries, meeting summaries, and knowledge collections, in addition to helping improve response accuracy by connecting to company data sources.

Connected third-party apps: An option to connect third-party data sources that integrate with Zoom's AI capabilities will allow AI Companion to get answers and orchestrate actions across third-party apps like Atlassian (Jira & Confluence), Glean, Workday, Zendesk, ServiceNow, Box, Asana, Hubspot, and more.

Personalisation: With the custom AI Companion add-on, individuals can also grow their skills with personal coaching capabilities and save time and production costs with custom avatars for Zoom Clips. Users can avoid multiple takes by using a personalised, AI-generated avatar to create clips with a user-provided script.

Custom AI Companion add-on will be available for US$12 per user per month and is planned to launch in 1H25.

Zoom Workplace advancements

New Zoom Workplace innovations include an AI-first product, Zoom Tasks, which will use AI Companion to help detect, recommend, and complete tasks for a user based on conversations from across Zoom Workplace; Zoom Phone AI-first enhancements, including real-time queries, which will provide summaries of Zoom Phone calls as they happen and automated Zoom Phone voicemail greetings from the user's voiceprint that are tailored to the user’s calendar events to avoid manual voicemail greeting updates.

Zoom Workplace users will be able to have more productive meetings and collaborate more effectively with AI Companion producing meeting agendas and real-time meeting summaries. A library of pre-selected avatars in Zoom Clips can help them generate professional video content from text; while Zoom Docs will offer new organisation and permission options for finer control, new Data Table views and columns for collaboration on projects, APIs and workflow automation, plus new AI Companion skills to generate content tailored for writing scenarios and additional data sources.

These Zoom Workplace enhancements are included at no added cost with the paid services in Zoom Workplace accounts.

In-person experiences

Zoom further announced AI Companion for in-person meetings, which provides meeting summaries and action items via the Zoom Workplace app on a mobile device. For in-office meetings, AI Companion is expanding within Workspace Reservation to recommend what days employees should go into the office based on when their teammates are there, and recommend rooms based on location and size.

Employee engagement

New AI-first employee engagement solutions that help foster connection include AI Companion for Workvivo, which helps keep employees informed, engaged, and connected by creating content faster, and Workvivo Employee Insights, which helps measure employee engagement, happiness, and performance.

Zoom Customer Experience

Zoom introduced enhancements to self-service solutions and improved agent and management support features to help provide world-class customer experiences.

Zoom’s self-service chatbot, Zoom Virtual Agent, now includes multi-intent detection to handle more complex customer issues. It can process several problems within a single engagement and automatically update customer intents based on learnings from active trends or common queries. Zoom is also launching an AI virtual voice agent to bring Zoom Virtual Agent’s capabilities into self-service voice calls.

The new Auto Quality Management allows supervisors to gain comprehensive insights into agent performance, automatically scoring customer interactions.

New AI Expert Assist capabilities include dynamic agent guides—AI Expert Assist analyses the conversation context, notices which steps the agent has already taken, and then guides them to the relevant next step.

Six in 10 APAC companies report stable office attendance Sixty percent of APAC companies say office attendance is stable

A new CBRE survey has found that over 60% of companies in the Asia Pacific region say office attendance has reached a steady state, reflecting acceptance of flexible and hybrid working models as the future of work. About a third (32%) of firms expect office usage to increase, while 4% anticipate a decrease.

The survey highlighted that 43% of Asia Pacific companies have achieved a peak utilisation rate of 80% or higher. This trend presents opportunities for companies to recalibrate their workplaces to align with evolving work styles and attract top talent, CBRE said.

Unassigned seating (hotdesking and activity-based working) and collaborative spaces are emerging as effective ways to boost workplace efficiency, with companies are increasingly adopting flexible seating and higher desk sharing ratios to achieve this goal. Additionally, 49% of companies plan to expand their use of flexible spaces in the next three years, with interest in utilising on-demand event spaces, CBRE said. 

Cost remains a critical factor influencing both lease renewals and relocations. Among respondents, 50% cited better lease terms and rents as well as cost savings as the primary motivation for relocating to new offices. Despite these financial concerns, 58% of the companies are committed to enhancing employee experience and 45% focused on boosting employee productivity.

“Asia Pacific occupiers are seizing cost saving opportunities in tenant-favoured markets to upgrade to higher quality buildings in better locations with minimal cost escalation,” said Luke Moffat, Head of Advisory & Transaction Services, Asia Pacific for CBRE.

“Sustainability and wellness are another area of focus for occupiers. Therefore, the more proactive landlords are offering green building and wellness certifications, green lease clauses, electric vehicle charging stations, and various energy-saving features, the more they can attract occupiers to their assets.”

The survey found that 70% of companies want employees back in the office at least three days a week, with half aiming for a five-day workweek. Employees in Asia Pacific are showing slightly higher office attendance than requested as 73% of them reported working in the office at least three days a week. 

The survey also highlighted uneven office attendance throughout the week, with Tuesdays and Wednesdays seeing the highest attendance rates across the Asia Pacific, except in mainland China where attendance is the highest on Mondays. Fridays show the lowest attendance, suggesting that companies may need to implement initiatives to maintain vibrancy and engagement for those who choose to come in, potentially increasing turnout over time. 

“Companies should rethink how they measure and interpret office utilisation to accurately estimate current and future space needs,” said Ada Choi, Head of Research, Asia Pacific, for CBRE. 

“With hybrid work patterns leading to uneven attendance, it is essential to maintain a vibrant environment during off-peak times while accommodating maximum capacity without compromising the work experience.” 

Source: CBRE’s 2024 Asia Pacific Office Occupier Survey. Infographic summarising key findings, including the use of unassigned seating, ESG and tech adoption, and cost factors.

*CBRE’s 2024 Asia Pacific Office Occupier Survey was conducted from 6 June to 12 July 2024, featuring insights from around 130 corporate real estate executives in the region.

IHH Healthcare, NUS, Otis and PSA raise the bar on leadership and workplace mental health

WorkWell Leaders (WWL), a Singapore-based registered charity that focuses on workplace wellbeing and mental health as a strategic ESG and leadership priority in private and public sector companies, has announced the winners of the WorkWell Leaders Awards 2024.

The WorkWell Leaders Awards recognise best practice standards in addressing systemic change at a societal level in the biggest catchment area, the workplace. WWL said that they are the only awards that break out the specific elements of workplace wellbeing that drive business outcomes across separate categories, and also recognise leadership behaviours that underpin cultural change within an organisation.

“Singapore needs to address mental health and wellbeing upstream more urgently in promotion and prevention, in addition to supporting caregivers and individuals with mental wellbeing challenges,” said Founder and Chairperson of WorkWell Leaders, Anthea Ong.

“With 70% of people in Singapore working and spending most of their waking hours at work, the workplace is and must be the catalyst to support workers, and in turn their families.”

In a prerecorded video address, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam urged corporate leaders to: "Make your company a role model, a beacon of a culture of empathy, a culture which provides proactive support to those with different shades of anxiety or depression. Make it an enjoyable place for everyone to work.” 

Source: WorkWell Leaders. President Tharman urged the audience at the awards ceremony to make their companies role models for encouraging employee wellbeing.

To dive deep into the critical role of leadership in supporting mental wellbeing, WorkWell Leaders also announced a new national benchmark to be established that will demonstrate the intersection of the business risks of mental health, the role of leadership and culture on workplace wellbeing and the impact on business outcomes and stakeholder value. 

The charity explained that existing global and local workplace mental health benchmarks, while useful, tend to hone in on perceptions of employee support at an individual level. The WorkWell Leaders benchmark will focus on the status of organisation-wide transformation that delivers worker wellbeing, organisational performance and long-term value for stakeholders.

“Whilst the WorkWell Leaders Awards winners are the vanguard of the urgent cultural shift needed in the workplace, the benchmark will establish the progress of institutional change that we are making collectively to help boards, CEOs and businesses chart their own strategic roadmaps for more resilient and happier employees and work communities for sustainable growth,” said Ong.

The Be Well Awards recognise leadership. The winners are:

- Dr Prem Kumar Nair, Group CEO, IHH Healthcare, for the Wellbeing CEO Award. This award is for the CEO (or equivalent) who has made the biggest impact on their organisation by using their own wellbeing journey to enhance understanding and acceptance in addition to committing to executive sponsorship for workplace wellbeing in vision, leadership actions and investment.

- Clarence Ti, Deputy President, National University of Singapore for the CEO’s Wellbeing Partner Award. This is awarded to the senior partner of the CEO (or equivalent) who has shown the strongest commitment to mental health and wellbeing throughout the organisation by integrating mental wellbeing into strategy through developing, implementing and evaluating programmes to drive better health and business outcomes.

The Lead Well Awards recognise organisation-wide strategies and actions. The winners are:

- PSA Corporation for the Wellbeing Innovation Award. This award recognises an organisation that has developed a unique idea or programme to address wellbeing and mental health challenges for employees.

- National University of Singapore for the ESG Wellbeing Strategy Award. This award recognises an organisation that positions employee wellbeing as a strategic opportunity to drive ESG-led business growth that empowers employees and work communities to thrive.

- Otis International Asia Pacific for the Healthy Workplace Culture Award. This award recognises the unique character and personality of an organisation that enhances a safe and supportive environment where employees thrive by living its values every day.

- The overall Wellbeing Organisation of the Year Award was presented to Otis International Asia Pacific. This award recognises the organisation that has done the most to Be Well and Lead Well to drive change towards a thriving workplace for employees and work communities.

Proceeds from the award ceremony will go towards funding the development of tools and programmes for leaders and organisations to take actions on their employees’ mental health and wellbeing, ultimately building thriving workplaces across Singapore.

Singaporeans place mental health as the biggest health problem (46%) facing the country today (Ipsos). Duke-NUS & IMH found that workplace anxiety and depression are costing the local economy S$15.7 B annually, or approximately 2.9% of GDP.

WorkWell Leaders is an action-oriented network of cross-industry private and public sector leaders. It began in 2018 as an informal working group and became a registered charity in Singapore in November 2022. It is the only non-profit collective of CEOs and leaders to champion mental health and workplace wellbeing as a strategic, leadership and ESG priority to drive better employee experience to benefit communities and society, while delivering positive business results.

Randstad names the top employers in Singapore for 2023

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has been voted the Most Attractive Employer in 2023 by 2,753 locally-based respondents in an independent survey commissioned by Randstad Singapore.

This is the 6th time the company won over the hearts of employees and job seekers in Singapore in 12 years of employer brand research in Singapore. The last time SIA claimed pole position was in 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic, Randstad said.

SIA is also the first and only employer to be inducted into the Randstad Employer Brand Hall of Fame for being the most-voted company consecutively from 2012 to 2014. The company returned to the Most Attractive Employer ranking from 2018 onwards.

Jaya Dass, MD of Permanent Recruitment at Randstad Asia Pacific said: "We would like to congratulate all the winners for being the most attractive companies to work for in Singapore. No matter your ranking this year, it is a remarkable achievement that reflects your hard work and dedication in creating work that feels good for your employees and the workforce at large. These companies have set a high standard, especially amid a competitive hiring environment, where employers have to constantly innovate and adapt to the evolving market conditions and changing talent expectations.

"This year’s winners have demonstrated what it takes to stand out and appeal to the best and brightest in a dynamic environment. We commend them for their employer branding excellence and look forward to partnering with them to engage and attract talent.”

2023 Randstad Employer Brand Awards

- Singapore Airlines

- Danaher Corporation

- Changi Airport Group

- Pratt & Whitney

- Edwards Lifesciences

- Marina Bay Sands

- Procter & Gamble

- Dyson

- DBS

- ExxonMobil

Goh Choon Phong, CEO, Singapore Airlines said, “We are grateful for our outstanding colleagues, who dedicate themselves to offering the best possible travel experience to our customers every single day. This recognition from Randstad validates the SIA Group’s longstanding commitment to attract and retain talent in Singapore and around the world. We know that the SIA Group can only remain competitive and resilient in a dynamic operating environment by offering our people a meaningful and rewarding career, taking care of their wellbeing, and prioritising their growth and development.”

Companies in the survey were rated on their relative employer brand awareness and attractiveness. The top attractiveness score was 69.15 out of a maximum of 100, which is 9.49 higher than the previous year.Compared to 2022, Danaher Corporation improved the most in attractiveness score, gaining 13.05 points in a year. Two other companies that have recorded more than 10-point gain in a year are Changi Airport Group and ExxonMobil, increasing their scores by 10.84 and 10.86 respectively.

Both Danaher Corporation and ExxonMobil are the new entrants in this year’s top 10 most attractive companies to work for in Singapore. Jai S. Krishnan, President for High Growth Markets at Danaher said, “We are truly humbled by this recognition, which reflects the passion and commitment of Danaher colleagues in Singapore and the region to serve our customer needs. Our success also would not be possible without the world-class innovation, science and business ecosystem that Singapore provides. At Danaher, our associates (employees) are inspired every day to constantly improve our work and fulfil our purpose of Helping Realize Life’s Potential.”

The relative employer brand awareness and attractiveness scores are also measured at the industry level. Out of the 10 industries in the voting, the life sciences sector was ranked top with 59.2 points out of a maximum of 100, making it the most attractive sector to work for in Singapore. The industry recorded a 6.4 point increase from 2022.

The top three most attractive industries to work for in Singapore this year are life sciences, hospitality and recreation, and services, which includes security, facilities and catering. The semiconductor manufacturing sector recorded the best improvement, as their year-on-year attractiveness score increased from 39.2 to 49.3.

The 2023 Randstad Employer Brand Research provides employers with a unique opportunity to uncover new insights and validate their assumptions of employees and job seekers. Randstad said this independent research is the most representative employer brand study in the world, reaching out to 163,000 respondents across 32 markets, including 2,753 who are based in Singapore in January 2023.

Smarten Spaces offers AI-based desk management for safe distancing

Source: Smarten Spaces. The 10-Step Response
Plan to adapt to the new normal.

Smarten Spaces, a proptech startup headquartered in Singapore, has launched Jumpree WorkFlex, an artificial intelligence (AI) desk management solution to automate seat planning, allocation and social distancing.

Businesses can expect visibility on patterns in desk usage and the effective identification of available office capacity when they use Jumpree WorkFlex. The solution gives real-time occupancy and tracks occupancy levels.

With the Jumpree WorkFlex algorithm, businesses can easily make changes to enjoy error-free and scalable seat planning with desk management automation technology:

• Change social distancing measures or in building capacity limits
• Enter safe distances between seats at each floor or location 
• Get the best seating plan without manual intervention, taking into account the distance of a seat from all surrounding seats

"The call of the hour for organisations is to find smart solutions which ensure the returning workforce feel reassured to return to the office. Businesses are constantly on the lookout for technological advancements which ensure a safe and compliant workplace to return to - a bonus especially if cost savings are in the mix," said Dinesh Malkani, CEO of Smarten Spaces.

"Jumpree WorkFlex is an AI-powered, fully automated, desk management solution that helps workplaces optimise their floorplan, auto-assigns seats to maintain social distance amongst workstations, and enables users to virtually navigate the office and book seats in their department to foster a strong collaborative culture. Its unique algorithm erases the margin for error, while also significantly saving up to 30% of office space cost as the occupancy of the workforce changes." 
Jumpree WorkFlex complements Jumpree WorkSafe, an AI-backed platform for workplace safety and readiness that was launched in May 2020. Smarten Spaces envisages the use of both products for a "complete back to work solution".

Jumpree WorkSafe helps to map the employee journey at work. Through a 10-step Response Plan, the solution ensures every employee, tenant or visitor is pre-screened for travel and health, tracking every entry and exit along with temperature readings.

Employees can book and select seats and view their sanitisation status, book a sanitised meeting room, adhere to social measures at common areas, take staggered lunch breaks and make contactless payments at the staff cafeteria.

It also gives the business a central platform to give instant updates to their employees and share any new protocols, along with a one-touch access to the company helpline.

Malkani said at the launch of Jumpree WorkSafe, "The top priority for businesses is to bring their employees back to work safely and manage their spaces effectively. Apart from safety elements, employees can book sanitised workstations and have visibility on when meeting rooms have been cleaned. At the same time, workforce distribution, seat and space allocation need to come together while factoring in all the new laws around social distancing.

"Jumpree WorkSafe and our 10-Step Response Plan help workplaces ensure all the required precautions are in place. This makes us one of the world's first end-to-end AI platform to disrupt a US$19.9 billion smart space industry. We are delighted with the traction we are getting and the solution can now be deployed globally via our partner network."

According to a portfolio update from Symphony International Holdings in August 2020, there are now 51 Jumpree WorkSafe sites in seven countries, including Australia, China, India and Singapore. New clients include Blackstone in India, Hitachi, and Singapore's Ministry of Defence. This is up from 30 sites announced at launch in May.

Colliers introduces Internet of the Workplace concept

Colliers International, a global leader in commercial real estate services, has released Flex, Core and the Cloud: A Blueprint for the Future Asia Pacific Workplace.

The report, based on field research and interviews with some of the world’s leading organisations in the technology, financial services and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industries, addresses the adoption of cloud technology in companies’ workforce models and broader implications for productivity and employee wellbeing.

Cloud computing, fuelled by the Internet of Things (IoT), has given rise to a new era of real estate possibilities for Asia Pacific companies and their workforces, the report says. By allowing firms to store and process virtually limitless amounts of data remotely, the cloud is enabling what Colliers International terms the Internet of the Workplace (IoW) – a digitally integrated enterprise architecture that exists in the virtual as well as the physical realm, connecting employees and allowing them to collaborate regardless of location.

According to Rob Wilkinson, Associate Director, Corporate Solutions APAC at Colliers: “Applying the IoW gives enterprises the ability to ‘cloud their workforce’ - adopting decentralised structures that mirror the cloud computing environment, based around multiple remote teams that can be rapidly combined or scaled as needed, rather than a large central office. This can make companies more agile and cost-effective, with positive impacts for employee wellbeing and productivity.”

Like any transformation, clouding the workforce can prove disruptive for enterprises and the commercial real estate industry, forcing landlords and occupiers to adapt to new demands. Through careful planning and the right approaches companies can navigate this disruption while capturing the benefits of the cloud.

“Some companies are investing in equipment such as interactive whiteboards, videoconferencing facilities and chat platforms, and making changes to the physical space such as ‘decoupling’ employees from permanent desks in a move towards activity based working (ABW), utilising flexible workspace in a flex and core model, or developing open-plan offices to foster spontaneity and collaboration across teams,” added Wilkinson.

Colliers also has recommendations for occupiers and landlords:

Occupiers

- Determine which business services or processes would be more cost-effective and efficient to deliver via the cloud, and develop a roadmap for cloud migration

- Consider adopting a bring your own device (BYOD) policy and encouraging employees to work remotely where feasible

- Adopt IoW technologies, and minimise or reduce the number of dedicated workspaces, to make offices more scalable and encourage cross-team collaboration

- Develop an overarching plan for the clouding of the workforce, overseen by a cross-functional team

Landlords

- Develop more flexible lease structures and spaces to accommodate changes in occupier demands

- Ensure buildings and office spaces are designed in a way to respond to rapid changes in occupier headcount

- Consider alliances with flexible workspace operators to enhance the flexibility of their property portfolio

- Evaluate whether the technical infrastructure of properties is sufficient to support IoW models

Adapting workforce culture to the new normal

Source: Microsoft. Digital transformation requires change both externally and internally.

The changing face of Singapore’s workforce has resulted in a need for organisations to foster a new culture of work to achieve digital transformation success, a Microsoft study* has concluded. In fact, 77% polled felt that more can be done by their organisations to invest in culture development.

The Microsoft Asia Workplace 2020 Study found the following factors influencing the culture of work in Singapore today:

Increasingly mobile workforce and exposure to new security risks

The rise of mobility and proliferation of mobile and cloud technologies have resulted in individuals working across multiple locations and devices. In fact, the study found that only 38% of respondents are spending all of their work hours in the office, and 84% of respondents are working off personal smartphones. The latter raises new security challenges for organisations.

The rise of diverse teams

The research also found that 26% of workers in Singapore are already working in more than 10 teams at any one point in time. This makes the availability of real-time insights and collaboration tools crucial to get work done.

Gaps in employees’ digital skills even as leaders are in the process of embracing digital transformation

As the bar is raised with new technologies adopted across industries, deployment is uneven. In fact, 74% of respondents feel that more can be done to bridge the digital skills gap among workers.

Said Borko Kovacevic, Director, Productivity Solutions, Microsoft Singapore: “The rise of digital technologies, along with a new generation of Millennials entering the workforce, has brought about a need to address changing workers’ expectations, knowledge and skills, as well as the tools they use. And with more than half of the world’s Millennials residing in Asia, the workplace will need to transform to adapt to the technology habits of these digital natives. In addition, due to deployment of advanced and emerging technologies, organisations need to relook at reskilling its workforce to develop creative and strategic skills for the future.”

Even as 75% of business leaders in Singapore acknowledge the need to transform into a digital business in order to succeed**, successful digital transformation will ultimately depend on people and the tools they are provided with.

“People are at the heart of digital transformation. Their expectations, knowledge and skills, as well as the tools they use for work, are determining factors in the level of transformation that any organisation can achieve. The challenge that they face now is how to implement new ways to foster a modern culture of work to better empower Asia’s workers, especially those at the frontline. By estimates, there are 2 billion firstline workers globally, and make up majority of our workforce today,” said Kovacevic.

Firstline workers serve as the initial point of contact between companies and the rest of the world - they are first to engage customers, represent brand, and see products and services in action, Microsoft said. The company suggests unlocking the potential of employees, organisations need to address and elevate their workforce, especially firstline workers, through addressing the core values of the new culture of work: 

Unlocking employees’ creativity

Collaboration fuels innovation through sharing of ideas and enables flexibility in how people work through a connected experience, while working seamlessly across devices. However, the Microsoft Asia Workplace 2020 Study found that majority of respondents feel restricted in the way they work today, with 58% highlighting that they needed to be physically present in office as equipment or tools used for their line of work is only available in the workplace.

Fuelling teamwork

By giving all workers a universal toolkit for collaboration, organisations offer its people choice and ownership as to how they work together and collaborate in real-time. In fact, the Microsoft Asia Workplace 2020 Study found that two in five workers highlighted that access to technology for collaboration such that they can respond in a timely manner to internal and external requests was important in their line of work. 

Strengthening security

Today, 61% of respondents are working on employer-issued PCs, but 84% are also working on personal smartphones or using corporate devices for personal activities, which underscores potential security risks. In fact, 66% of respondents admitted to checking personal emails on company-issued devices, and are doing so for the convenience. Therefore, leaders need to strengthen their security not to put organisation’s confidential data at risk to address the need for workers to work without barriers and without impeding productivity. 

Making it simpler

With the rise of apps, devices, services and security risks in the workplace, there is a need to streamline the IT management, break down service siloes so that disparate data can be combined and reasoned in new ways and reduce complexity. In fact, a Microsoft Asia Pacific IT leaders study*** found that 72% of IT decision makers (ITDMs) in Singapore agreed that there is a need to reduce complexity of managing their existing IT security portfolio.

“We believe that every worker – from the factory floor to the front desk, to the executive boardroom – can contribute to an organisation’s collective endeavours. It is our view that involving firstline workers in digital transformation will drive unprecedented opportunity – for workers, the organisations that they work for, and the industries and society at large,” added Kovacevic. “At Microsoft, we see the opportunities that can be unlocked with technology by equipping frontline workers with the right tools, such as Microsoft 365. Ultimately, digital transformation projects can only succeed if the right tools are in place for workers to leverage and maximise upon.”

Microsoft has been diversifying the Microsoft 365 family to address workforce challenges with Microsoft 365 F1, a version of Microsoft 365 which provides purpose-built capabilities that help foster firstline culture and community, train and upskill employees, digitise business process, deliver real-time expertise, and minimise risk and cost. New intelligent search capabilities, a vision for intelligent communications centring on Microsoft Teams, and security and IT management enhancements to help customers stay secure and compliant were also introduced at Ignite:

- Microsoft 365 F1 brings together Office 365, Windows 10, and Enterprise Mobility + Security to empower the more than two billion firstline workers worldwide, who serve as the first point of contact between a company and its customers, or who are directly involved in making products.

- A new vision for intelligent communications, including plans to bring Skype for Business Online capabilities into Microsoft Teams, along with cognitive and data services. This makes Teams the true hub for teamwork in Office 365, including persistent chat, voice and video.

- Intelligent search experiences use AI and machine learning to deliver more relevant search results across Microsoft 365.

- Microsoft 365 is delivering improved advanced threat protection (ATP) features like enhanced anti-phishing capabilities, expanded protection to SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Teams and integration between cloud and on premises identity threat detection capabilities.

- For organisations still on Office 2007, end of support will happen on 11 October. Customers who are still using Office 2007 products and services are encouraged to move to Office 365 or Microsoft 365 to stay supported, and ensure uninterrupted support from Microsoft.

Kovacevic said: “With cloud-based productivity tools being a key pick among Asia’s mobile workers to drive greater collaboration among teams, we urge organisations to take the opportunity to evaluate Microsoft 365 as an option to modernise their workforce.”

Source: Microsoft. Infographic illustrating findings of the Microsoft Asia Workplace 2020 Study,

Interested?

Read the TechTrade Asia blog post about the Ignite announcements

*Microsoft Asia Workplace 2020 Study, conducted between February and March 2017 involving 4.175 respondents in 14 Asia markets. The 14 markets include Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. All respondents were prequalified as at least spending 30 hours per week in a full-time role, or spending at least 20 hours per week in a part time role. This included 307 respondents from Singapore.

**Microsoft Asia Digital Transformation Study. The study surveyed 1,494 business leaders from Asia, including 118 from Singapore. All respondents were prequalified as being involved in shaping their organisations’ digital strategy. The study found that only 34% of business leaders in Singapore have a full digital transformation strategy while half are in progress with specific digital transformation initiatives for selected parts of their business. Another 16% of respondents said they had a very limited or no strategy in place.

***Microsoft Asia Pacific survey of 1,200 IT leaders across 12 markets, including Australia, mainland China, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Four in 10 (41%) of respondents are working in organisations with 250 to 499 PCs; 59% work in organisations with 500 and more PCs.

Jabra Evolve 75 is wireless, has active noise cancellation

- New Evolve wireless headset designed for bustling open office environments

- First headset to receive Microsoft Skype for Business’ Open Office and Outdoor certification

- First Evolve headset to feature both active noise cancellation and Bluetooth capability

Source: Jabra. The Evolve 75 in action in an open office.

Jabra has extended their Evolve range of headsets for modern office workers with the release of the wireless Evolve 75. For the first time in the Evolve line, Jabra has combined wireless capability and active noise cancellation (ANC)* into a portable, compact package.

Taking its cues from the popular Evolve 65 and Evolve 80, Jabra listened to feedback to fill the gap between the two - a wireless model without ANC, and a wired model with ANC. The Evolve 75 has integrated the best features of these two industry mainstays, and also improves on them by offering unparalleled sound quality, portability and noise isolation.

Jabra says the headset is ideal for concentration and collaboration by remote workers, desktop  workers, corridor warriors - the ones who need to make calls in the corridors to avoid distracting others - and flexible hub (coworking space) workers. Patrick Khor, Jabra Country Manager, noted that workplace trends are towards open offices, hot desking, and workers who are out in the field most of the time but who still require a private space at the office when they return. At the same time, companies are doing away with expensive physical phones, adopting voice over IP (VoIP) solutions like Skype for Business or 'soft phones' that work via software instead - but laptop audio can fall short compared to physical phones, Khor said. 

He shared research conducted by Jabra** which showed that 78% of office workers believe their productivity is negatively impacted by on-site noise, while as much as 24 minutes is lost each day due to workplace interruptions. "Concentration and collaboration are not suited for today's open office work spaces. The least productive workplace is the open office," Khor said. "People are struggling to be as productive as they used to be."

Jabra has designed the Evolve 75 to tackle the problems of today’s open offices, by giving users their own virtual private space at the flip of a switch, while still maintaining the collaborative potential that open offices offer. In demonstrations of the Evolve 75 at the media briefing, using the headset as opposed to using the phone alone showed a clear difference in sound quality - vehicle noise in the background could not be heard when the headset was in use. This writer personally tried the headset and with ANC on it sounds like there is a bubble of silence around you.

"The mobile call comes to the headset, the laptop call comes to the headset. (It's) crystal clear sound," Khor explained. "We're blocking noise around you in the office."

Wayne Lee, APAC Lead for Product Management and Alliance, Jabra, introduced the headset as "the best wireless headset for concentration in the open office". The headset shuts out ambient noise, offers a better sound experience for both callers and the called, and can be connected to two devices at the same time. "We think design is one of the things that makes our product unique," said Lee.

Khor gives the big picture on Jabra and why Jabra headsets.

Certified by most major unified communications platforms such as Skype for Business, Cisco WebEx, and Google Hangouts, the Evolve 75 is also compatible with Jabra Direct – Jabra’s cloud-based software for headset customisation.

The Evolve 75 is the only wireless ANC headset to boast Open Office and Outdoor certifications from Microsoft’s Skype for Business Certification Program. Due to the vast number of products endorsed for Skype for Business, the quality of these products ends up varying wildly. This has led Microsoft to introduce a new Skype for Business Certification Program, which brings with it more stringent requirements for certification.

The Evolve line - launched only in Q414 - has been very popular, Khor says, and grew 100% by volume from 2015 to 2016 with this year showing similar numbers to date. The Evolve 75 fits in between the Evolve 60, which is wireless but does not have ANC, and the high end Evolve 80, which has ANC but is wired.

Products seeking to get certified for Skype for Business must now pass two tests in the Open Office and Outdoor categories. To pass the Open Office test, a microphone must not pick up chatter from adjacent users, making it usable in crowded offices like call centres, where multiple people are speaking. Meanwhile, the Outdoor test pits products against several different noise profiles, ranging from a cafeteria to the inside of a car to a railway station. A certified headset should be able to effectively cancel out ambient noise and maintain audio clarity in all of the above situations. The

To achieve this, engineers at Jabra spent over four years developing a software solution that integrates both the boom microphone and ANC microphones to create a noise-free zone around the user, with the boom microphone as the centre point. All noise picked up by the ANC microphones in a 60-centimetre radius is recognised as background noise, and will be appropriately filtered out by the Evolve 75. The software can also recognise and transmit only when the user is speaking, ensuring optimal call quality.

Aside from offering superior noise cancellation, the Evolve 75’s 30m range for laptops (10 for smartphones) also allows for unmatched freedom of movement in the office. Offering dual Bluetooth connectivity, the Evolve 75 can connect to up to two devices simultaneously, letting users have one integrated communication solution for both their laptop and smartphone.

Jabra focuses on the growing unified communications space for enterprise headsets.Research predictions for unified communications include a US$37 billion market by 2018, and 86 million unified communications users by 2021. Khor said that the Singapore business is getting "this type of growth".

Open offices are unproductive. According to Jabra, 78% of open office worker respondents in a survey said that they are impacted by noise and disturbances, impacting productivity.

“The premise behind the open plan office is to foster collaboration and improve communication among employees. But despite their many benefits, they have become breeding grounds for unsatisfactory labour output,” commented Holger Reisinger, SVP, Jabra Business Solutions. “Interruptions from colleagues and the noise generated in these environments are negatively impacting workers and contributing to lacklustre performance. Increasingly, knowledge workers are being forced into isolation to do their jobs. The Jabra Evolve 75 provides businesses with an alternative solution to support an open office philosophy that’s conducive to better performance.”

Lee does a deep dive into the Evolve 75 headset.

Key features include:

• High-definition (HD) voice for crystal clear calls and music
• Superior active noise cancellation (ANC) 
• Integrated "busylight" clearly shows when the user is busy
• Wireless range of up to 30m away from the laptop and 10m from the smartphone
• Flexibility to connect two Bluetooth devices at the same time for calls and music – for example, to both a computer and a smartphone
• Integration with leading unified communications (UC) platforms including Skype for Business and Cisco certification
• Up to 15 hours of battery life
• All-day comfort leather feel ear cushions and an on-the-ear wearing style for all day comfort
• Discreet boom-arm: Boom-arm can be clipped into the headband when not on calls
• Listen-in: Easy to reach button on the ear cup allows users to hear announcements without removing the headset
• Optional charging stand

Jabra, part of the GN Group, is a leading developer and manufacturer of communications and sound solutions. The GN Group specialises in medical-grade hearing appliances, as well as audio devices for enterprise and consumer markets.

Interested?

The Jabra Evolve 75 is available at a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of S$512.53 (inclusive of charging stand), or S$434.42 excluding the stand.

*ANC refers to the ability to switch noise cancellation on and off, as opposed to passive noise cancellation, which is cannot be switched off.

**Jabra knowledge worker survey 2015.