This Month
‘We have listened’: Dutton dumps work from home crackdown
The opposition leader has abandoned his pledge to crack down on public servants working from home following backlash from women and the growing perception he was aping Donald Trump.
Labor targets Dutton’s WFH wind-back as ‘straight from DOGE playbook’
Labor will launch an attack on the Coalition’s return-to-the-office plans and public sector cuts by comparing them to Elon Musk’s cost-cutting outfit under Trump.
March
Reports of WFH’s death greatly exaggerated
New research from the Australian HR Institute has found major employers that have introduced stricter office attendance rules are swimming against the tide.
‘No winners’: CEO of software giant SAP urges end to Trump tariff war
The head of the group, which lists clients such as Coles, Woolworths and Woodside, says all countries and businesses will lose if the trade war continues.
Dutton softens pledge to ban WFH after anti-woman criticism
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton now says he would like pre-COVID rates of remote work, after saying he wanted public servants back in the office five days a week.
Qantas cancellations hit charities
Readers’ letters on customer service at the national airline, David Littleproud’s view on renewables, flexible working, mooted changes to NSW workers’ compensation claims, and the US abandoning allies.
Agency with half staff at home says it’s ‘saving taxpayer money’
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, where 50 per cent of staff work remotely, says its people strategy is a smart one.
Coalition’s Jane Hume was once a flexible work cheerleader
It’s not even three years since the senator was once citing flexible work as core to women’s economic security.
February
Employers link office attendance to pay, bonuses
Some companies around the world are not just stiffening their office mandates but including them in performance metrics.
The baffling (and little-known) WFH statistic
Businesses are tightening hybrid work rules, but working-from-home levels have so far barely budged.
‘The world has shifted’: CEOs query penalty rates, right to disconnect
As executives ramp up pressure on Labor and the Coalition to do more to reverse a productivity slump, more flexible workplace laws have become a priority.
December 2024
WFH is a mess for ASX giants. It will only get messier
While Australia’s biggest companies have accepted hybrid work is here to stay, they remain uneasy about its impact. The debate is far from settled.
Study reveals the biggest winners from working from home
New research finds flexible working has boosted workforce participation for carers, working mums and people with a disability or health condition.
October 2024
Office mandates on the rise as jobs market softens: experts
The trend back to the office has further to run in the short term as power swings back toward employers. But there may be limits to that shift.
Japan joins the race to woo digital nomads
Meet-ups, start-ups and special visas. Japan is doing everything it can to attract the work-from-anywhere crowd.
Four-day week comes to the finance industry
Insignia has become the first company in financial services industry – known for its long hours – to trial a four-day week for workers, under a union deal that also includes greater recognition of AI.
September 2024
WFH is hugely more productive than CEOs admit
Demands for workers to return to the office full-time have a rose-tinted view of in-person work.
Auditors warn WeWork hubs face ‘uncertainty’
Even though the co-working giant’s US parent has emerged from bankruptcy with considerably less debt, its local loss-making operation faces “significant doubt”, its auditors say.
Amazon orders staff back to the office five days a week
The new rule appears to be the most stringent return-to-office decision among big tech companies and could be a harbinger of more to come.
Deloitte monitors staff logging in from overseas
Businesses that offered flexible “work from anywhere” perks after the pandemic now struggle to keep a lid on workers who relocate around the globe.