Now in Australia, while small businesses are relaxing requirements that require employees to visit the office a certain number of days per week, major business groups have reacted angrily to calls from state and federal chief health officers for companies to encourage employees to work from home again due to rising COVID-19 case numbers.
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Hybrid work trends in Australia
Major business groups have reacted angrily to calls from state and federal chief health officers for businesses to encourage employees to work from home again in light of the rising number of COVID-19 cases, arguing that such a move would jeopardize the economic recovery.
Larger employers declared they wouldn’t alter their current work rules. The Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank declared they will keep the current hybrid policy, which mandates that employees come into the workplace a predetermined number of days each week. As well as accountancy behemoths Deloitte and PwC, digital companies Atlassian and Canva also declared they will keep full flexibility.
Some small and medium-sized businesses have permanently relaxed return-to-work regulations that previously stipulated that employees must be present at the workplace for a predetermined number of days.
Based on Swinburne University of Technology Report, before Covid 19 started, 57% of workers preferred the traditional way of working – working in an office.
During the epidemic, since workers were not able to return to the office, 35.4% of workers said that they became accustomed to working from home. Today, a survey reported that 37.8% of workers prefer to work flexibly to achieve a balance between life and work.
More hybrid working trends: https://ones.software/blog/2022/09/14/10-hybrid-work-trends-in-australia/
The Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank recently have stated that they will maintain their existing hybrid policies, which require employees to visit the office a certain number of days per week. Meanwhile, tech firms Atlassian and Canva, as well as accounting behemoths such as EY and PwC, have stated that they will maintain complete flexibility.
Some small and medium-sized businesses have permanently relaxed return-to-work regulations that had stipulated that employees must be present at the workplace for a predetermined number of days.
Flexible work can retain talents
The main reason why hybrid working will keep in Australia is that it provides flexibility to both employers and employees which can retain talents.
Based on Swinburne University of Technology Report, 43% of Australian knowledge workers said they would consider leaving an employer that does not offer flexible working for one that does, rising to 46% in Sydney and Melbourne.
Also, by the response from Gen Z workers, the leading reasons they want to return to the office are to avoid distractions at home (e.g., roommates), for their mental health and well-being and to maintain relationships with colleagues, and to feel included.
These young workers would prefer to work in the office for 3 days each week. In the other working time (around 2 days), they would like to work remotely.
If the employers do not offer flexible working to the employees, most of the workers expect a pay rise as their leading trade-off. Another top two and three reasons for respondents are they want more leave or time off and better job security.
In the survey, 13% of respondents said flexible working is non-negotiable, and that could make many employees a flight risk in search of roles that are flexible. Only 15% of workers said they didn’t need to convince them to stay.
What would you need to work in the hybrid office?
So how to implement your first hybrid office in order to keep your talents?
ONES is one of the famous all-in-one smart office systems that can help you to easily implement hybrid working at ease. You can easily perform virtual meetings, desk-hoteling, and digital office management with our Room Booking, Desk Booking, and Visitor Management features.
You can also explore our leaflet to understand more of our features: https://ones.software/assets/booking/main/2022_ONES_leaflet_v1.pdf
Contact us: hello@ones.software, or visit ONES Software official website for more information: https://ones.software/.