DBS Has a System Called ‘Job-Sharing’ Whereby 2 Employees Do the Job of 1 FT Role

Now, if this is the first time you’re hearing of the term, Job-Sharing, it’s not a new thing.

Or, at least, it’s not a concept that’s unique to DBS.

Job-Sharing

According to The Straits Times, 1.3% of companies in Singapore offer job-sharing opportunities as of June 2019.

The definition of job-sharing, according to the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), is where two (or more) people share the responsibilities of a single full-time role.

For example, let’s say a company need a full-time social media manager for 8 full hours.

Instead of giving it all to one person, they decided to split it four hours instead and assign it to two employees.

Naturally, the pay will be adjusted to the amount of work done.

Unlike part-time jobs, an official handover is required between employees sharing the workload.

Job-sharing allegedly helps give employees more time for upskilling and work-life balance, increase the productivity for employers and help reduce voluntary turnover.

Interesting, no?

You can read more about it here.

And Now, DBS Is Jumping On The Bandwagon

On 18 Nov 2020, it was reported that DBS will be formally introducing the job-sharing scheme for employees.

Under DBS’s scheme, two employees will share the workload of a full-time employee.

This is part of DBS’s initiatives to provide more flexible work arrangements for its employees.

The best part?

It’s entirely voluntary and employees who opted into the scheme will retain their full medical benefits and continue to benefit from the bank’s insurance.

Not A Cost-Cutting Measure

The bank emphasised that this move isn’t made to cut costs but to help employees adjust to working in the post-pandemic world.

Singapore Human Resources Institute president Low Peck Kem said that job-sharing is a great concept to adopt “when used properly.”

It gives employees the freedom to decide how much they want to contribute to their work and the economy at different stages in life.

Besides job-sharing, the bank is also going to introduce more part-time work arrangements for employees as well.

More Remote Work

Other than the two initiatives mentioned above, DBS is also allowing its employees the option to work remotely for up to 40% of their work hours.

“Project-specific, data-driven squads” comprising of members from various departments and expertise will be put together, the bank added.

Equipped with a 12,000-strong workforce, more than 7,200 (or 60%) of their workforce will be upskilled or reskilled in skills of the future.

This includes:

• Design Thinking
• Data Analytics
• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

A new workspace measuring 5,000 sqft will also be launched to help employees facilitate and collaborate better.

It’s Not Just DBS

United Overseas Bank (UOB) is giving its employees the choice of spending two of their workdays per week working remotely once the Covid-19 ban is lifted.

Turns out, after a review, it was found that 65% of UOB’s non-customer-facing roles can actually work from home.

UOB is of the opinion that the workplace of the future is one where employees can choose where to manage their work commitments.

An example given is how people prefer to meet face-to-face for collaborative projects but “connect online” for routine work.

OCBC, too, has pledged to continue to be “agile” and transformative in the way that they work.

Featured Image: TK Kurikawa / Shutterstock.com