NSW has ordered all public servants back into the office and other employers could soon follow suit.
An expert has warned that more Australian workers are about to be forced back into the office. The nation’s largest employer has sparked outrage for winding back work-from-home privileges for NSW public service workers.
Some employees are fighting against the NSW government’s new mandate, highlighting the “financial burden”. A public servant hired while work-from-home was permitted lives nowhere near their office and told Yahoo Finance the commute alone would be a nightmare for their finances and work-life balance.
“Currently, I commute to the office once a week, which involves $20 in tolls and a drive of about an hour and ten minutes each way,” they said on condition of anonymity.
While this is manageable on a weekly basis, the prospect of increasing my days in the office presents significant challenges.
“The additional toll costs, fuel costs and wear and tear would be financially burdensome.
“Avoiding tolls by choosing alternative routes would substantially increase my travel time by 20-30 minutes each way, assuming traffic is OK.
The worker said public transport was “not a viable alternative” as they would need to change between multiple times between buses and trains.
This would extend their commute to “roughly four hours of travel each day.”
Warning for ‘comfortable’ work-from-home staff: ‘It’s coming’
Recruitment expert Graham Wynn told Yahoo Finance the directive was not surprising given a recent push back into the office in the private sector.
“We knew it was coming. It was always going to happen that companies would want people back in the office. It was just a question of when,” he said.
“So I’m not surprised by it. I know the other states are not following suit yet, but I believe they will eventually.”
That is a jump from the one in five recorded last year.
The vast majority of Aussie companies (86 per cent) require staff to come into the office at least once a week. Five days is the most common arrangement, followed by three days a week (17 per cent) and four days (12 per cent).
Flexible work arrangements are a growing priority for Australian workers.
A recent poll of Yahoo Finance readers found 72 per cent of people would leave their jobs if they couldn’t work from home.
An online petition calling for a backflip on the policy has attracted more than 1,800 signatures.
However, Wynn does not think concerns about the workers’ commute or financial impact will result in the NSW government reversing the decision.
“I think people are trying to find excuses now to not go back to the office because they’ve enjoyed the working from home lifestyle,” Wynn told Yahoo Finance.
“Realistically, people have to accept it is going to happen.”
Strike action or threats of quitting aren’t likely to be effective, the recruitment expert warned.
“There’s enough people out there looking for work,” Wynn said.
“But if people who choose to not conform to this way of working and want to leave those organisations, [the employer] will find somebody else.”
More employers are expected to follow suit
Victoria and Queensland both said there were no plans to change their work-from-home arrangements.
However, Wynn said that could change following upcoming state elections.
University of Sydney associate professor of work and organisational studies Chris Wright also said many more employers could take a similar approach.
“The NSW government is one of the biggest employers in the southern hemisphere, and it influences what private sector employers do,” he said.
“Businesses typically take stock or take note (of government decisions).”
He warned that remote work has allowed people who “wouldn’t be able to work as readily” to enter the workforce, and issued a sobering warning.
“If too many private sector businesses follow suit this could have some unintended consequences economically by reducing the participation of workers who feel they’ve got to come into the office every day and who aren’t able to,” he said.
How many days will government workers be required in the office?
The NSW premier said many public service workers are unable to work from home and clarified that there are no minimum in-office days stipulated in the mandate.
“The expectation is that our public servants will work predominantly from their office – that could be three days a week for someone who works five days,” the premier said.
“We want to get the balance right.”
Each department will have to formulate its own plan.
The NSW Public Service Association (PSA) raised concerns that offices were not equipped to take the influx of returning staff after consulting management from different departments.
“They have informed us that many office locations cannot accommodate all staff working on-site and that present arrangements will not change,” the PSA said.
The public service worker also claimed they were told there wasn’t enough space for everyone in the office.
“[This] raises practical concerns about how such an arrangement could be feasibly implemented without severely affecting productivity and employee well-being,” they told Yahoo Finance.