From productivity to purpose

Navigating workplace expectations across Asia and in the Philippines

By Krystal Anjela H. Gamboa

Across Asia and the Pacific, workplaces are going through a profound transformation. The combined forces of technological disruption (i.e., automation, artificial intelligence (AI), remote tools) and structural economic changes (i.e., shifting from manufacturing and agriculture toward services, digital, export-oriented work) are reshaping what the career landscape looks like. Many countries, including the Philippines, are also grappling with broader development challenges: raising productivity, creating quality jobs, investing in human capital, and making growth inclusive.

Against this backdrop, workplace-level dynamics are increasingly becoming relevant not just for human resources, but for national competitiveness, economic resilience, and social stability.

WorkL’s Global Workplace Report 2025 provides a timely insight into how employees perceive work as it highlights several themes that define the modern workplace that are deeply relevant to Asia Pacific.

Transformative trends

One of the most transformative is the normalization of remote and flexible work. Across Asia, flexible arrangements such as hybrid setups, staggered schedules, and flexi-time are becoming more accepted.

WorkL finds that remote workers tend to report higher trust in management than full onsite employees, suggesting that flexible arrangements may improve not only work-life balance but also relational dynamics between employees and leaders. Flexibility has thus moved from being a pandemic-era workaround to becoming a permanent and highly valued component of the employee experience.

Also, compensation and financial benefits remain important, but they are increasingly viewed alongside non-monetary factors. According to the report, among the most frequently cited factors that would improve “workplace happiness” were pay and financial benefits. Flexibility, then, is not only about remote work; it also means control over working hours, autonomy and the ability to balance personal and professional life. Workplace flexibility yields the same well-being benefits as a modest pay increase.

Third, engagement and well-being are fragile and uneven. WorkL reports that remote- or home-based employees who have frequent work-from-home days tend to show higher engagement levels than those in more rigid on-site roles. Even with flexibility and benefits, maintaining engagement remains a challenge globally.

WorkL’s data shows divergent outcomes across sectors and regions, suggesting that structural contexts, management practices, and organizational culture strongly influence whether flexibility translates into meaningful satisfaction.

Fourth, sectoral and regional disparities continue to shape the workplace experience. According to the report, technology emerges as a top performer globally in terms of both engagement and confidence in leadership. In contrast, other sectors, particularly those more exposed to economic pressures or with less stability, underperform relative to global benchmarks. This underscores the growing divide between high-value, often knowledge- or tech-based roles and more traditional or lower-value work.

Lastly, workplace happiness remains multi-dimensional. When employees were asked what changes would most improve their happiness at work, pay and benefits came out on top, but closely followed by themes of flexibility, supportive management, and a sense of purpose.

This evolving value set marks a departure from older norms where salary and job security stood dominant. While compensation remains important, many workers now weigh it alongside flexibility, well-being, the meaningfulness of work, and opportunities for growth.

For employers, this means that pay, while still necessary, may no longer be sufficient on its own for attracting and retaining talent.

Vitaly Gariev | Unsplash

National realities

Although WorkL’s report aggregates data from many countries worldwide, its findings carry important implications for Southeast Asia, especially the Philippines.

For employers, the rise of remote and flexible work highlights the importance of culture, communication, and trust. Filipino companies that embrace hybrid setups will need to invest in new forms of leadership and performance management to keep employees engaged.

Yet, success in adopting flexible work will depend heavily on management, culture, and infrastructure. As WorkL’s global data shows, flexibility does not automatically yield engagement; the quality of leadership and organizational support matters.

Well-being emerges as a critical area. Filipino employees, especially younger ones, expect their employers to address mental health. Mental health has become an urgent issue in many Asian countries, where long working hours and high societal expectations have historically overshadowed conversations about burnout or emotional resilience. Companies cannot treat well-being as an optional add-on. Instead, it becomes a competitive advantage.

Employers in Southeast Asia must therefore be intentional: build trust, ensure clear communication, support remote/hybrid workers, and design workflows that maintain cohesion even when teams are distributed.

Compensation remains important, but in an environment where pay solely will not guarantee loyalty, employers should view salary benefits as baseline. For Filipino companies must articulate clear values, create inclusive cultures, and foster environments where employees feel they belong and can grow.

To truly retain and engage employees, especially younger professionals, they need to complement financial compensation with growth opportunities, flexibility, well-being support, and a workplace culture that values people beyond output.

Sectors such as technology, which WorkL identifies as high-performing globally, may serve as benchmarks for regional firms seeking to elevate workplace quality. For tech companies, outsourcing or digital services in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, replicating the engagement and leadership strategies seen in leading global firms could improve employee satisfaction and productivity.

Need for improving labor quality

While WorkL provides insight into workplace level attitudes and experiences, the World Bank’s 2025 Growth and Jobs Report offers a broader, structural view of the Philippine economy, labor market, and the factors shaping job quality at scale.

From 2010 to 2023, the country enjoyed strong economic performance, averaging around 5.2% growth per year. Over this period, the economy created more than 11 million jobs and real wages rose by nearly 24%. These gains helped lower poverty and expand the middle class, improving the economic well-being of millions.

However, the quality and productivity of jobs remain uneven. Much of the job creation occurred in non-tradable services which tend to exhibit lower productivity compared with tradable or export-oriented sectors.

Total factor productivity contributed less than 10% to overall gross domestic product growth, while human capital improvements were described as “negligible” in their contribution. This reveals a structural issue: growth has been driven more by labor quantity than labor quality.

The World Bank argues that the Philippines is now at a critical juncture. To progress toward upper-middle-income or even high-income status, the country must shift from input-led growth to productivity-led growth. This will entail investments in education and skills, digital and physical infrastructure, and reforms to improve the business climate.

Challenges remain substantial. The Philippines continues to suffer from skills mismatches, where employers report difficulty filling roles due to insufficient digital or technical skills among applicants.

Firm dynamism is constrained by regulatory barriers, limiting the ability of companies, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to expand or adopt new technologies.

Climate vulnerability further complicates the situation as frequent natural disasters disrupt operations and constrain productivity. Technology adoption is also relatively slow, hindering competitiveness in a world where automation, digitalization, and AI are rapidly rewriting the rules of the labor market.

Opportunities

If Filipinos are to thrive in the evolving landscape, they will need to pursue continuous learning and skills development. Digital skills, cross-cultural communication, and adaptability will be essential in increasingly globalized and technology-driven workplaces.

At the policy level, the government has a crucial role to play in shaping and enabling environment for quality jobs. Investments in education, health, digital connectivity, and climate resilience must accelerate. Regulatory reforms to encourage competition, lower barriers to firm entry, and promote innovation are essential for enabling the private sector to generate more globally competitive jobs.

Supporting SMEs, which employ a large share of workers, is equally important, especially in helping them adopt new technologies and practices.

If current trends and reforms align, the next decade could see Philippine workplaces transformed. Companies could develop more holistic employee value propositions that combine fair pay with strong cultures, career pathways, and an authentic sense of purpose. As more firms modernize, adopt technology, and compete in global markets, the country could see substantial growth in high-quality jobs.

Achieving this vision entails commitment. Employers must rethink leadership and organizational culture. Workers must embrace lifelong learning. Policymakers must push forward reforms that enable resilience.

With the right combination of policy reform, business innovation, and worker empowerment, the country has the chance not only to adapt the future of work, but to shape it.

Learn more about the BusinessWorld Best Places to Work 2025 results and explore the 2026 cycle at https://www.bworldonline.com/bwbestplacestowork/.