Blackbox

May your Deepavali be filled with light, joy, and endless prosperity! 🪷

After all the talk of the #futureofwork, is work culture going back to the past instead? Recent announcements by Amazon and Grab calling their workers back to the office full-time caused much surprise, plenty of debate, and no little consternation among employees. The shift back to pre-pandemic modes of working seems inexorable in Singapore, albeit slightly slower than in other regions. Blackbox data shows that most Singaporeans are already back to the office full-time, with a 7% year-on-year increase in office-based work and a corresponding decline in hybrid setups. Full-time remote workers have become a rare sight (literally and figuratively). What’s striking is how these moves clash with employees' preferences. Our research consistently finds that flexible work arrangements (FWAs) are top of mind for Singaporean employees—even outranking salary as a job draw. Employers must be betting that the benefits of in-office productivity and collaboration outweigh the risks to employee satisfaction, which is a tough circle to square. What the government must think about all this only a few months after its own announcement compelling companies to offer FWAs to employees is another question. Without buy-in from major MNCs—particularly in industries once seen as leaders of progressive work policies—implementing this policy could face even more challenges than first anticipated.

📰 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑵𝒆𝒘𝒔 𝑫𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆: 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝑪𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑨𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒆?   Our latest #SensingSG Media Monitor reveals how different age groups in Singapore are consuming the news – and the contrasts are striking. From sports to speeches, here’s what’s making waves: 🧑🏻 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟓𝐬 are the least engaged age group – only half of this cohort found any story worthy of their attention in the past quarter! What does capture their attention tend to be global stories like the 2024 Paris Olympics and the Trump-Harris debate. As for local politics? Not so much—PM Lawrence Wong’s National Day Rally made the top-5 cut, but Iswaran’s trial didn’t.  👨🏻 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝟑𝟓-𝟓𝟎 crowd is focusing on stories with a direct impact on their lives, with national policies and leadership taking centre stage. Local political developments, such as the Iswaran trial, also of interest.  👴🏻 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝟓𝟎𝐬? Fully engaged. From national policies to global affairs, they’ve got their finger on the pulse of both Singaporean and international news.    Want to see how these trends are shaping the news? Full analysis in the link!  https://lnkd.in/dHsuZph5    #decisionintelligence 

Our #SensingSG data and analysis for Q32024 has landed, after we engaged the Singapore community on a wide array of issues that matter most to them.  Wondering how many of us are happy with their personal expenses? Or feeling positive about the national economy? See if you can guess the correct numbers in our video! 

🚇 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐕𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐎𝐟𝐟 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤 🚇 Our latest #SensingSG data for Q3 is in, and while governance satisfaction in Singapore remains solid overall, public transport has hit a bump in the road (or rather, the tracks). A -𝟗𝐩𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩 to 69% shows how last month’s MRT disruption on the East-West line threw public sentiment into reverse! 😬  Most other community satisfaction indicators are cruising smoothly, but that week-long breakdown? Well, it’s left a few passengers stuck at the station. Check out our full perspective on the SensingSG Q3 data (link in comments), and let’s see if transport standards – and accompanying passenger sentiment – get back to working like clockwork in the final quarter of the year.⏱️ #decisionintelligence #probablytoomanypuns

We were pleased to be asked to share regional #cybersecurity insights from both personal and business perspectives this week at the SMEICC Conference Series 2024. Our CEO David Black asked 'Are We Safe?' in the face of the evolving cyber fraud menace, and engaged in an enlightening discussion with domain experts Shane Chiang, Kevin Zhang, and Veronica T. Our thanks to the organisers for the invitation, the speakers for their insights, and the audience for their engaged attention. ☟ We have shared our presentation slides below for anyone interested in contemporary intelligence on Southeast Asia's scam scourge.

📢 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐒𝐆 𝐢𝐬 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊! (Has it really been 3 months already??) Our #SensingSG data and analysis for Q32024 has landed, after we engaged the Singapore community on a wide array of issues that matter most to them. As always, we found plenty to intrigue, inform and surprise. ☛ Click through the 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 below ☛ Read our full 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 on this quarter's insights:https://lnkd.in/g6yQWwjT ☛ Explore the 𝐝𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 for yourself: https://lnkd.in/gSu-pDxF 𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑆𝐺 𝑖𝑠 𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑, 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑟, 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑒. 𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒: 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡@𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑏𝑜𝑥.𝑐𝑜𝑚.𝑠𝑔

Had the opportunity to discuss all things AI and cybersecurity today at SMEICC. Shout out to my well versed and experienced panel discussion partners Kevin Zhang and Shane Chiang and our terrific moderator Veronica T. from the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore. It was great to field questions from many Singapore SME owners keen to embark on their own AI journeys. Thanks all!

👵 𝐈𝐬 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲? 👴  As Singapore approaches becoming a "super-aged" society by 2026, it is crucial to shift how we view aging. While the country has made great strides in preparing infrastructure to support its aging population, changing societal mindsets will be key in ensuring that seniors are not seen as burdens, but as valuable contributors. This is the central theme of CNA TODAY’s 𝐵𝑖𝑔 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑, which highlights both the progress made and the challenges ahead: https://lnkd.in/gEDehw4Y Our recent 𝐿𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝐸𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑦 mini-study in SensingSG further emphasises the societal and economic opportunities that come with an ageing population. With one-in-four people in Singapore projected to be over 65 by 2030, this demographic shift is often seen as a challenge. However, our study shows that 88% of Singaporeans believe that the greying population will create significant business opportunities for opportunistic enterprises, while 61% think the government is doing a good job in developing social and community services that cater to the elderly. This data illustrates sizable public optimism about the possibilities as we grow older, and serves as a reminder that a thriving economy and society can still emerge from a super-aged society, provided we create a more inclusive and supportive environment for all ages.

📱 From #TikTok bites to trusted news sites, how do YOU like your daily dose of info? Online news site TODAY stopped reporting this week ahead of its merger with CNA, marking a major shift for the local media scene. With #SensingSG, we have been tracking Singaporeans’ media intake for the past year and have uncovered some fascinating trends that are driving this turbulence in the news landscape. At the heart of it all we find that as we scroll further into the digital media age, the real story is how we’ll balance 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡. 🧐 𝐖𝐡𝐨’𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐬? 👉 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦: https://lnkd.in/gJzaZekz