12 Most Flexible Home-Based Jobs in Singapore
Flexible home based jobs in Singapore have recently been under the spotlights because of the regulations surrounding the recent pandemic that required so many businesses to provide remote work options to continue operations. That being said, it turns out that remote work isn’t always for everyone. Common complaints from remote workers include insufficient support, poor work environments, and a growing sense of loneliness and isolation.
Some people, on the other hand, have benefited greatly from the increased flexibility that remote work arrangements often provide. They primarily relish the convenience and freedom that remote work provides, as well as the reduced cost of commute and work-appropriate clothing. What it really seems to come down to is what you as an individual are looking for in a workplace and what you find fulfilling. If you’re committed to working from home and you’ve researched the downsides, then read on to find out more about how to find a home-based job that suits your needs in Singapore.
Is Singapore a good place for Home-Based Jobs?
In terms of the push for work flexibility, Singaporean workers have largely embraced increasingly flexible work arrangements. While some of this may undoubtedly be attributed to the effects of covid-19 and the slurry of regulations that were implemented to lessen its impact, a majority of Singaporeans (77%) have indicated that they would prefer more flexible work schedules even after pandemic regulations have been eased.
The Singaporean government has also been cautiously supportive of employers implementing more flexible working arrangements going forward. Gan Siow Huang, the Minister of State for Manpower, made formal statements indicating the increasing prevalence of remote working arrangements even prior to the covid-19 pandemic, though the government intends to take a measured approach toward regulating industry practices.
Despite the reluctance to regulate, however, the government nonetheless encourages employers in Singapore to provide options for their employees. The tripartite partners of the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), National Trade Union Congress (NTUC), and Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) have expressed clear and strong support for employers implementing permanent flexible work policies because of their positive effects. They specifically note that such policies not only increase general welfare and happiness, but also increase productivity when smartly implemented. Employers also benefit from increased employee retention.
With such positive reception from both the Singaporean workforce and the government, it’s likely that most employers in Singapore feel the pressure to move forward with permanent remote work policies. There’s no doubt that Singapore’s a great city to live in for pursuing home-based jobs.
How to find Home-Based Jobs in Singapore?
Your best bet at finding a home-based job in Singapore is probably going to be online, through a job portal or other job posting website. That tends to be the most intuitive way to both post and apply for jobs because most remote jobs involve using a computer with internet access. There are also a slew of benefits associated with using an online job board as well like easier application to multiple positions, easier communication with potential employers, and a greater range of job listings, just to name a few.
You should note that most job boards have specialties—they either cater either to a specific industry, audience, or specialize in providing specific services that other sites might not. With that in mind, these are some of the most popular online job boards in Singapore:
- GrabJobs – GrabJobs is particularly popular for its job-matching services that help connect employees to their preferred roles.
- JobStreet – Jobstreet is an extremely popular service across other Southeast Asian countries, providing a good regional scope.
- Indeed – Indeed is usually the niche choice for career professionals who have specialized skills.
If you’re hoping for a site that suits your niche a little better, access the full list of the best job sites in Singapore.
Top 12 Most Flexible Home-Based Jobs in Singapore
Web developers develop websites, hardly a surprise to anyone. Home-based web developers usually take on projects from clients to alter or publish websites with a specific purpose. You might also be tasked with improving a website’s usability, performance, or traffic capacity. Depending on the other skills you’re comfortable with, you might also be involved with the final design. Salaried web developers usually make at least about $70,000 a year but freelance web developers have a much more variable income since fees usually vary by project.
With how far technology’s come along, assistants don’t necessarily have to work in an office anymore. Virtual assistants may carry out any of a wide variety of responsibilities because what you’ll be tasked to do depends greatly on the needs of your employer. You might be asked to coordinate schedules, respond to emails or phone calls, do research, make spreadsheets or presentations, and more. Since there’s so much variability in what virtual assistants do, that means that the pay rate also varies a lot—the more responsibilities you have and the more specialized your job, the more you should be paid.
As a writer, you’ll have a lot of options for remote work because it’s almost completely unnecessary to write in an office environment. Many home-based writers freelance for other companies and help create documents for all kinds of needs. Some writers prefer making technical documents, some prefer publishing blogs or other marketing materials. As a writer, you have options!
It goes without saying, of course, that you’ll need to have strong language skills, and both your breadth of vocabulary and a keen understanding of grammar are crucial for long-term success. There’s a lot of variability in the income that writers earn, with the most successful pulling in yearly 6-digit salaries.
Bookkeeping is another highly valued position, primarily because just about every company will at some point need to bring an accountant on board. It’s simply too much work for the owner of a business to handle indefinitely and it’s better to have an employee or contractor dig into the minutiae. If you’re just helping with paperwork and filing, you won’t need special qualifications to be hired as a bookkeeper, but accountants must be certified.
As a home-based educator, you’ll share a lot of the same basic responsibilities as a schoolteacher—meaning your job won’t just be about teaching, you’ll need to be comfortable with basic childcare as well. It’s important that home-based teachers or tutors understand the needs of children as well as state-defined standards for education so you can ensure that you’re helping them stay up to date with their peers.
What you can expect to make depends greatly on what level of education and subject you’re teaching, generally increasing as you move upward to university-level courses. Tutors widely start at between $10-$20 hourly, but that can increase substantially if you’re teaching or tutoring an upper-level university course.
There is a distinction between legal assistants and paralegals in Singapore. Paralegals in Singapore must be certified by an education program approved by The Law Society of Singapore. Legal assistants and paralegals usually help lawyers with the mountains of paperwork that they have to compile, process, and file. Paralegals usually handle more sensitive materials or perform more detailed work, thus the requirement for certification.
A paralegal in Singapore can usually expect to earn at least $3,000 monthly but that can double or almost triple depending on the nature of your work.
Translators are especially desirable in Singapore because of the multitude of languages spoken and shared by Singaporeans. As a translator, you might be tasked to translate written documents or recorded audio, and possibly some of both. It’s unlikely that a home-based translator would have to translate a live conversation, but it really depends on your employer. What you’ll make depends on the languages you know and your proficiency. Generally, you can expect at least $2,000 monthly.
Before you get excited, you should take note that blogging is usually a very long road to success. It involves a lot of commitment to the crafts of writing, research, design, and social media interaction. It takes time for a blog to build a reputation and a following and, more often than not, simple passion is not enough. You have to be self-motivated, find a niche to blog about, be well-educated about your niche, connect with your audience, and probably guest writes for other blogs to build up your SEO rankings. Blogging can be, in the long run, a lucrative form of semi-passive income, but it takes a lot of time and dedication.
Digital marketing is actually a rather broad category that now encompasses a number of specialized roles. You can work with social media, SEO, content marketing, or paid advertising. Regardless of your niche, however, you’ll need a working familiarity with modern analytics software to really measure your performance (and simplify your job). Most home-based digital marketers are freelancers so your income could vary widely depending on your client, scope of work, and (of course) job performance.
Graphic design is another job that’s usually highly in demand and that you can perform easily as a freelancer. You’ll of course have to know the basics of graphic design and probably bring your own hardware and software to the table as a freelancer. Many freelance graphic designers find their own clients and projects, but others work on retainer and design graphics for specific companies on a regular basis. There’s a lot of variation and depending on what kind of graphics you produce—logos, content, art, icons, etc.—your income can vary quite widely.
Drop shipping is a fairly lucrative way to make money from home, especially if you are confident at developing and designing websites. The way it works is that you’re basically the front end for a manufacturer. You produce a website, market products, and when customers place orders you simply forward their information to the manufacturer (or a wholesaler), and they handle final delivery. Your profit margins will of course be lower than if you sold products you developed yourself but it’s nonetheless a fairly popular and reliable source of income.
As with most independent small businesses, your income as a drop shipper will vary widely depending on the success of your business. It will depend on your success at marketing as well as the manufacturers with whom you develop relationships since that will be your product source.
Centralized call centres are not as popular as they used to be because they incur unnecessary infrastructure costs for businesses and calls are much more efficiently handled with VoIP where modern software can be integrated to facilitate business functions as well. As a result, customer service has become an increasingly popular option for businesses to relegate to remote workers.
There’s some breadth to the job scope of customer service but you’ll usually be fielding customer questions and complaints. It’s a fairly simple job and you’ll usually be provided with training on how to handle the bulk of your interactions. Customer service representatives usually take home around $1,800 monthly.
Closing Thoughts on the Most Flexible Home-Based Jobs in Singapore
Home-based jobs are much more common than they used to be, especially after the coronavirus pandemic. Many businesses have come to realize the benefits of shifting some work to remote workers because it also reduces overhead. If you’re committed to looking for remote work online and you haven’t found something that suits you yet, try this list of the top 24 online remote jobs in Singapore.
That being said, not all remote jobs are entirely flexible. Some, like customer service, still require you to commit to specific hours which isn’t always feasible—especially if you’re working at home with small children. If you’re looking only for work that you can complete on your own time, these are the top 13 work-from-home jobs for stay-home moms in Singapore.
