Business leaders call for end to train strikes to encourage workers back to the office

Data shows working from home is starting to decline, but business leaders say there is still one major blocker hindering the momentum to get people back into the office.

Business leaders are calling on the NSW government to resolve Sydney’s ongoing train dispute before it derails momentum to get work-from-home employees back to the office in 2025.

The risk of further industrial action by the Rail, Tram and Bus Union – and the Electrical Trades Union – will threaten the predicted transition, Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolau has warned.

His comments come as NSW Tourism Minister John Graham expressed confidence that a move to more office working this year will deliver a much-needed boost to the hospitality sector and tourism more broadly.

Local business owners on the fringe of the Sydney CBD have also revealed they are experiencing significant uplifts from an unmistakeable return-to-office trend.

People crossing York Street at Wynyard Station alongside the bus stops in the Sydney CBD near Wynyard Station. Picture: Newswire /Gaye Gerard

Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“We need industrial peace to rebuild confidence that returning to the office is a both doable and attractive option,” Nicolu told The Daily Telegraph as Sydney emerges from the holiday season lull.

“I’m hearing from small to medium businesses that they’re now encouraging their staff to come in at least three to four days a week.

“That’s important. The more people we get into the city the better. I know businesses that are telling people they need to be in. One employer told me if ‘I don’t see them I don’t need them’.

“I’m also hearing from younger people that they do want to be back in the office now, they want to engage, they want to learn, they want to be promoted, and they want to earn their bonuses.

“But we remain concerned that the impact of this long running rail dispute might slow that transition from home back to the office.”

Chief economist at MacroBusiness, Leith van Onselen, suggested the threat was real, saying commute times were already the major constraint to winning over employees who preferred to work at home.’

“People don’t want to commute,” he said. “They argue it’s a massive waste of time and they can be more productive in the home environment. It makes getting people back more difficult.”

The 2024 Sydney Trains Annual Report says the rail network moves “up to one million passengers every day”.

But the RTBU and the ETU have not ruled out ongoing industrial action in the months ahead.

Nicolau said improved transport infrastructure with new road and metro options coming online since COVID would assist the back-to-office push.

Tourism & Transport Forum Australia CEO Margy Osmond was also adamant Sydneysiders returning to office-based working would give the city additional “vibe”.

“It’s what visitors want,” she said. “People want to go where the locals are, they want to be in a vibey place.”

Crowds of passengers packed onto the platform waiting for delayed trains at Central Station, Sydney. Photographer: Ted Lamb

Margie Osmond, CEO of Tourism and Transport Forum. Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Minister Graham added: “I’m optimistic about the Sydney CBD in 2025.

“With the arrival of the Sydney Metro, more people returning to the office and interest rate cuts on the way — 2025 could be the year where the Sydney CBD bounces back to levels we haven’t seen since before COVID.

“We want to see thriving CBDs across the state, and workers are a very important part of the mix. CBDs and town centres bring communities together, they’re crucial for hospitality and entertainment operators, and vitally important for tourism.

“Premier Chris Minns has been a leading voice encouraging workers back to our CBDs with his August 2024 directive that all NSW public sector workers should be physically present in their workplace as the default arrangement.”

Australian Bureau of Statistics data confirms the trend for employees returning to the office after COVID-19 dramatically altered the landscape.

Fifty years ago, about 12 per cent of Australians had worked from home at some point. Coming out of COVID in 2021 more than 40 per cent were working from home regularly. In 2023 it was 37.4 per cent and last year the number dropped again to a still significant 36.3 per cent.

NSW Minister for Tourism John Graham during the Australia Day 2025 program launch on Tuesday. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

What the ABS data does not detail is the number of days employees are working from home.

It is a key issue for corporates and small to medium business owners who are focused on increasing days in the office.

Recruitment firm Robert Half surveyed 1000 office workers in June 2024, revealing 39 per cent of respondents were mandated to work five days a week in the office, up from just 19 per cent the previous year.

Those required in the office four days a week fell from 28 per cent to 12 per cent, three days a week decreased from 26 per cent to 17 per cent, two days a week rose from 12 per cent to 14 per cent and one day a week was up from 2 per cent to 4 per cent.

Fourteen per cent of workers maintained complete flexibility.

“The pendulum is swinging back to pre-pandemic levels where working from home was an anomaly rather than an expectation,” a Robert Half spokesperson said.

Big companies already insisting on workers returning to an office-heavy hybrid model or on a full-time basis include Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, Westpac, Tabcorp, Amazon, JPMorgan and mining company Mineral Resources.

One Sydney law firm partner, speaking on condition of anonymity, said President Donald Trump insisting that US federal workers “must return to the office in person” would likely accelerate similar edicts from corporate giants in Australia, especially those with American-based headquarters.

Originally published as Business leaders call for end to train strikes to encourage workers back to the office