The increase in hybrid or remote working represents one of the largest changes in Australian workplaces in generations. In recent months, the Australian media has reported how some employers are actively encouraging, or in some cases, mandating employees to return to the office or physical place of work. In addition, some research is suggesting that hybrid working patterns will revert back to the pre-pandemic trend.
This report explores whether these stories are representative of Australian workplaces by comparing our baseline Hybrid and Flexible Working 2022 data, which includes more than 1,000 employers, with the 2023 survey data.
Key Findings
Hybrid/remote working
- Almost half (48%) of employers say that they have a minimum requirement for full-time employees to be at the workplace between 3 and 5 days a week compared with 37% last year.
- The three most popular hybrid working arrangements are for full-time employees to be at the workplace for 3 days a week (32%), no minimum requirement but employees are encouraged to attend the office (25%) and for full-time employees to attend the workplace for 2 days a week (14%). In 2022, the most popular working arrangement was no minimum requirement, but employees were encouraged to attend the workplace (34%).
- Almost a quarter (24%) of Australian organisations expect remote or homeworking to increase over the next two years, and 14% say that they expect it to decrease over the next two years.
- On average, 53% of the respondents’ employees regularly work from home while 14% work continuously from home.
- Over two thirds (69%) of employers say that they have consulted with their staff about hybrid work arrangements. Direct employee feedback (79%) and staff surveys (78%) are the most popular methods among those organisations that have consulted with staff.
- Just over a third (34%) of organisations have provided training to line managers on how to manage remote or hybrid working.
- Better work-life balance (77%), higher retention rates (62%) and a greater ability to attract candidates (61%) and are perceived to be the top three advantages of hybrid working.
- A feeling of disconnection between colleagues (75%), reduced staff collaboration (58%) and monitoring performance (43%) are perceived to be the top three disadvantages.
- As in 2022, there is a perception among employers that employees who work from home or who work in a hybrid way are, on average, more productive. More than four in ten employers (43%) say that it has had a positive effect on productivity levels at their organisation compared with 10% who think it has had a negative effect.
- On average, survey respondents reported that 36% of their employees cannot work from home. Two thirds of organisations offer other flexible working arrangements to staff who cannot work from home.
- Almost half (48%) of HR professionals say that their employees are required to attend the office more often compared with the same period in 2022. The main sources of pressure to return to the physical workplace are senior management (85%) and the board (30%).
Other flexible working arrangements
- Almost all (97%) organisations offer some form of flexible working arrangement, excluding hybrid working (95% in 2022).
- The most popular flexible working arrangements in Australian workplaces are part-time working (85%), flexi time (53%), compressed hours or compressed work weeks e.g. 4-day working week (45%) and career breaks (44%).
- Looking ahead, more than a fifth (21%) of organisations say they plan to expand the use of compressed hours or compressed work weeks e.g. four day working week in the future.
- Other arrangements that may see an increase include part-time working (12%), purchased leave (10%), flexi-time (9%) and career breaks or secondments (9%).
Right to request flexible working
- Around half (47%) of employers say that eligible employees can formally request flexible working arrangements from day one of employment. The second most common arrangement is after 12 months’ service (17%).
- More than three quarters (77%) of survey respondents think that all employees should have a legal right to request flexible working (the right is currently restricted to certain groups of employee). 72% of organisations say they already offer the right to request flexible working to all employees.
- 54% of organisations have changed their internal process to consider requests for flexible working arrangements to take account of the recent changes to the legislation. More than a quarter (26%) say that they are more likely to grant flexible working requests as a result of this legislative change.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Julie McNamara
Media Specialist, Mahlab
[email protected]
0419 595 688
