Victoria’s work-from-home proposed laws may kill internships at manufacturing giant Bosch
Manufacturing giant Bosch has threatened to axe its long-running internship program and halt Victorian investment over the state government's proposed work-from-home laws.
Manufacturing giant Bosch has warned it may scrap
The Victorian government is pushing legislation to give employees the legal right to work-from-home for at least two days a week, if their role allows.
Bosch Oceania president Gavin Smith is the latest business leader to have lashed out at the proposal, saying he didn’t think the Victorian government “fully appreciated” the implications it would have on future investment in the state.
“I’m saddened today to say that our twenty year collaboration with the tertiary institutions to take interns into our Victorian business may be coming to an end,” he said.
“Just one of the many unintended consequences of the (government’s) decision to enshrine in legislation a minimum two days a week working from home.
“Sorry to those 80 students a year that likely won’t get the opportunity to work in this fortune 100 company as part of their preparation for entry into the workforce.”
Mr Smith said he was among other business leaders invited to a recent consultation session with the Department of Premier and Cabinet which he blasted as “disingenuous”.
“I joined a DPMC initiated round table last week along with several others, but to be honest, the cart is in front of the horse and this seemed disingenuous at best,” he said.
“The intention to legislate (albeit unconstitutional) is already announced, before the economic modelling is done and before any consultation with industry.
“We don’t need government intervention, and losing control of how we manage our workforce.
“Moving isn’t an option but placing all new investment elsewhere than Victoria is.
“It really does beggar belief. No financial modelling supporting it, no understanding of the unintended consequences, and a “votes” first mindset. I despair for the future of Victoria.”
Mr Smith said he had no issue with flexible work, noting the company had enforced a flexible work policy for more than 20 years.
“We extended this post Covid to allow employees that can work away from their primary office location to agree up to 20 per cent of their time where they aren’t in the office,” he said.
“The interns need to be in the office, if their co-workers aren’t, it doesn’t work.
“Our flexible work policy has worked well because it blends company needs and workplace requirements with the challenging hours associated with multi national teams and time zones.
“The issue is that the government seeks, unconstitutionally, to legislate which employees come to work and when. Rather than the business deciding based on (its) business needs.”
Bosch is estimated to employ over 750 staff across its Australian subsidiaries, with a large manufacturing site in Clayton in Melbourne’s southeast.
Bosch declined to provide further comment.
Melbourne is already the work-from-home capital of Australia, with almost two thirds of employees logging in from their home office at least once a week.
Melburnians’ WFH rate was 64.6 per cent – according to data revealed in the 2025 Australian Digital Inclusion Index – seven percentage points more than workers in Sydney and Brisbane.
CBD businesses are particularly keen for workers to return to the office, amid fears the work-from-home edict would keep staff out of the city.
A Property Council of Australia report in August found that almost one in five Melbourne CBD office spaces had sat empty for more than 12 months.
It comes after chairman of biotech powerhouse CSL Brian McNamee blamed Victoria’s deeply ingrained working-from-home culture as partly contributing to research and development failures at its Melbourne laboratories.
Mr McNamee said there was “something fundamentally wrong” with how the global company functions in the state, highlighting the inability of its Melbourne-based research team to turn scientific breakthroughs into medical treatments for patients.
The boss of plumbing giant Reece also made headlines earlier this year after declaring working-from-home had stifled innovation and flushed profits for the foreseeable future – particularly in its home city of Melbourne.
Chief executive Peter Wilson said Reece was weathering “a perfect storm”, that laid bare the ongoing toll of the pandemic on Victorian businesses.
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Originally published as Victoria’s work-from-home proposed laws may kill internships at manufacturing giant Bosch
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