Companies in Singapore are starting to lift their hiring freezes and move back to "cautious hiring" status, according to the latest pulse survey from Aon. The professional services firm has been tracking the impact of COVID-19 on hiring and compensation, among other workforce strategies, for the last few months, and the latest survey is the fourth in its series.

Aon's earlier studies found that back in April, 30 percent of surveyed businesses had put a complete freeze on hiring, but the number has since fallen to 18 percent as of mid-June. Similarly, businesses in the "cautious hiring" state have risen from 46 percent to 60 percent during the same period. These results represent a stabilization, according to Alexander Krasavin, partner, Radford, and regional commercial head, APAC & MEA at Aon. "While layoffs are slightly on the rise, more businesses are moving to cautious hiring practices while adjustments to rewards have averted widespread downsizing efforts," he said.

The number of surveyed businesses that confirmed layoffs rose from 4 percent in April to 15 percent in June, possibly due to companies having exhausted other cost control options such as salary cuts, or because some firms had begun to run out of cash reserves.

At the same time, many companies have taken the impact of COVID-19 as impetus to overhaul their workforce, digital, and compensation strategies, said Krasavin: "We hear from clients that they are looking beyond the immediate economic impact of COVID-19 and planning for longer-term structural changes to operations and workforce strategies. They are seeing opportunity within a very difficult situation."

The survey found that 56 percent of businesses are accelerating their digital transformation agendas, and 89 percent are planning for different working models with a heavy emphasis on permanent work-from-home arrangements and flexible working hours, especially for employees with young children.