It’s safe to say that traditional office designs with cubicles and rigidly-arranged rows of desks are pretty much dead.
These days, many offices have embraced the open concept approach instead, in an attempt to foster conversations and collaboration among employees.
‘Hip’ workspaces was once seen as an outstanding element of the startup scene, but it’s now getting increasingly popular in the white-collar world too.
Here’s a list of some cool corporate offices in Singapore that will make you green with envy:
1. Uber Singapore
You might be surprised to see Uber on this list, considering that Grab acquired Uber’s regional business in March 2018.
Fast forward to about a year later, Uber announced the launch of its new Asia Pacific Regional Hub at Frasers Tower in the heart of Tanjong Pagar.
Uber explained that it never really left Singapore — at least in terms of having an office here — but maintains that post-merger, Singapore remains a “non-operational market” for them.
The new 2,000 square-metre space manages operations in 9 countries across the region, including Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India and Australia.
As a central site that overlooks these markets, the Regional Hub is cleverly designed with cultural elements from the different countries that Uber has a presence in.
2. GovTech
Founded in 2016, the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) is an offshoot of the merger between former entities Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) and Media Development Authority (MDA).
It’s responsible for pushing out e-Government services that are useful and relevant to citizens, businesses and governments. Some of their works include apps and platforms like Beeline, Parking.sg, SingPass and data.gov.sg.
GovTech’s creative team is housed at The Hive @ Sandcrawler — a cool space that will make you immediately chuck aside any preconceived images of a traditional public sector office.
3. Airbnb Singapore
Inspired by the name “air mattress B&B”, Airbnb is an online marketplace that connects people who want to rent out their homes with people who are looking for accommodation.
With presence in over 81,000 cities across 191 countries worldwide, Airbnb leverages on technology to empower users to unlock and monetise their spaces, and become hospitality entrepreneurs.
Airbnb also offers ‘Experiences’ which grants users access to local communities and interests through unique activities hosted by the people, for the people.
4. TransferWise Singapore
London-based TransferWise has been dubbed a ‘unicorn’ for its billion-dollar valuation.
The remittance fintech firm allows users to transfer money abroad at a rate that is up to eight times cheaper than a bank. It bypasses pricey international payments entirely by using two local transfers instead of one international transaction.
It has a large global licensing footprint, so Singapore customers can send money to 67 countries and receive transfers from 42 countries.
5. honestbee
Singapore-based honestbee started off as an online grocery company, but it has since expanded its offerings to include other services like food delivery and laundry.
honestbee recently merged online and offline experiences with habitat, its ‘NewGen Retail’ concept. Spanning 60,000-square feet, the tech-enabled supermarket and dining space offers a fully-automated experience with its cashless checkout and robot packers.
The firm has offices in seven other cities — Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand; and has over 160 full-time employees globally.
(Update: honestbee has since halted services in Hong Kong and Indonesia, as well as its food arm in Thailand. Meanwhile, operations in the Philippines and services in Japan has been temporarily suspended.)
6. Shopee
Founded in 2015, Shopee is an e-commerce platform under the Sea group (previously known as Garena). It has since grown to become one of Southeast Asia’s largest e-commerce platforms.
Unlike its competitors who see mobile as an extension of their desktop sites, Shopee’s free-to-use service centres around its mobile app. This means that users can purchase or list items for sale in under 30 seconds, even while on the go.
7. DBS Bank
Singapore-headquartered DBS Bank has more than 250 branches in 17 countries around the world.
DBS’ Asia Hub is one of three major DBS facilities in Singapore. Along with the technology, operations and support departments, branch operation simulation training, leadership training, and other educational activities are also based here.
Spanning 340,000 square-feet, the nine-storey building is home to approximately 3,000 people, which accounts for about 40 per cent of the total DBS staff headcount in Singapore.
8. Twitter Singapore
Online social networking platform Twitter opened its Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore’s central business district back in 2015.
Spanning 22,000 square-feet, the office serves a range of business functions, including sales, partnerships, marketing, HR, finance, user services, legal, policy, trust and safety.
The office also features a #RealTImeLab, which is a social media centre that creates, executes and shares live Twitter campaigns, analytics and data visualisations with customers and partners.
Want To Work In Offices Like These?
There was a period of time when the benchmark for innovative and inspiring workspaces in Singapore were the offices of multinational tech giants like Google and Facebook.
But it’s clear that more companies are revamping their offices to create a fun, yet productive, workplace.
The idea is simple: if staff enjoy spending time in the office, they will in turn be motivated to produce better work and be more efficient.
If you’re motivated to send in your resumes to these companies, or these other companies with awesome employee perks, then be sure to first learn how to write a winning job application email so you can increase your chances of getting hired!
This article first appeared on Workforce Singapore (WSG). Look for your next job here!
Featured Image Credit: Vulcan Post
