More than a third of Australians are still working from home (WFH), a sign that flexible working conditions have become the norm despite irritating 82 per cent of bosses.
Analysis of data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Committee for Economic Development of Australia revealed that working from home conditions have remained constant over the past two years.
But the latest data from the Director Sentiment Index Survey by the Australian Institute of Company Directors shows that 82 per cent of Australian bosses want their workers back in the offices full-time.
About 36 per cent of Australian workers reported regularly working from home in August, only slightly down from 37 per cent in 2023.
In 2016, working from home was only available to five percent of workers.
A large portion of those who chose to take advantage of flexible working conditions were managers and professionals (60 percent), unchanged from 2023.
Meanwhile, only 21 percent of other occupations work from home.
Flexibility was the main reason people chose work from home (25 percent), while almost 24 percent said they had a job from home and 20 percent used work from home to catch up with tasks outside of office hours.
More than a third of Australians still working from home, years after the Covid pandemic
Hybrid workers showed high job satisfaction and lower tranquility rates, particularly non-managers, female employees, and those with long commutes.
CEDA highlighted some statistics showing that people who were “previously less likely to have a job continue to benefit from the shift to hybrid work,” including eight percent of women working from home for family and childcare reasons.
‘New household income and workplace dynamics in Australia Survey data released last week shows that labor force participation in jobs where people can work from home increased by nine per cent for women with young children and 4.4 percent for people with a disability or health condition from 2019 to 2023,” it said.
However, the results may not be enough to change the minds of many employers who want to see workers permanently in the offices.
‘A KPMG survey of more than 1,300 CEOs in 11 countries found that 83 per cent now expect a full return to the office within the next three years, a notable increase from 64 per cent in 2023. In Australia, The result was similar, with 82 percent. percent,” CEDA said.
The committee urged employers to consider the benefits of flexible working arrangements, including access to a larger hiring pool.
A recent study by Stanford University economics professor Nicholas Bloom found several other positive aspects of work-from-home arrangements, including better employee retention.
The randomized study, published in Nature Earlier this year, it surveyed more than 1,600 workers at a Chinese technology company.
Those who worked from home two days a week had high job satisfaction and peace of mind rates lower by a third.
Around two-thirds of Australian business directors agreed that flexible working conditions improved staff retention.
The greatest positive difference was noted between non-managers, employees and those with long commutes.
Additionally, the research found no differences in the performance ratings or promotion rates of hybrid workers over a two-year period.
About two-thirds of Australian business directors agreed that flexible working conditions improved staff retention, attraction and health, ACID found.
‘Their views on the impact of working from home on productivity and innovation have improved slightly over the last year, but remain negative: only 39 per cent believe working from home is good for productivity, while only 28 percent believe that working from home is good. for innovation,” said CEDA.
However, with hybrid working conditions a major incentive for employees, the committee urged bosses not to make the change “a battleground in labor relations.”