‘Draining’: 25-year-old reveals why she can’t work from home revealing common problem

A young Aussie has revealed the reason she can’t work from home exposing a common problem plaguing workers.

Working from home might be trendy, but one young Aussie has found that it always ends in disaster, revealing a common problem.

Leyla Perez, 25, is a financial analyst who lives in southwest Sydney. It takes her an hour and a half on public transport just to get to the office.

That means when she comes into the office, she makes a three-hour round trip, which she finds “exhausting,” but working remotely isn’t an option for her.

The reason? Her internet is unreliable and constantly freezes in important meetings, which is embarrassing and unproductive.

Speaking with news.com.au, Ms Perez said that working from the office is “enjoyable” because she loves the social aspect of it, but the commute is tough.

“A 3-hour round trip to go into the office is quite draining mentally and physically,” she admitted.

“I don’t have the energy to socialise or meet up with friends after getting home around 7pm and I leave at 6.30am.”

MORE: 5 ways to make working from home better

The 25-year-old explained why she can't WFH. Picture: Supplied

It takes her an hour and a half to get into the office. Picture: Supplied

Ms Perez has attempted to contact her internet provider several times, but she is always “diverted to an offshore call centre”, making it difficult for her to understand the customer service representatives.

She’s completely given up on WFH as an option, so she’s downgraded her home internet plan to cut costs. At one point, she was paying $129 for unreliable internet.

“That was the final straw for me,” she admitted.

Ms Perez said that in her professional experience, working from home can be “tricky” because one is so reliant on one’s own utilities.

“WFH is definitely harder than what is perceived. You have to have a great internet connection as well as desk set up,” she argued.

MORE: The good and the bad of working from home

She wishes she could WFH. Picture: Supplied

She finds the 3-hour round trip exhausting. Picture: Supplied

Working from home has become a hot topic in Australia.

It exploded during the pandemic, but now that the dust has settled, there’s an ongoing debate on whether it is productive or bad news for employers.

In 2024 major companies like Amazon, Dell, TapCorp, and even the NSW Government ordered workers back to their offices.

In August 2024, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that 36 per cent of Aussies usually worked from home, a slight decrease from the 37 per cent reported in August 2024.

Despite some companies rolling back WFH options, it is certainly still common and the rise in hybrid work also means there has been an increase pressure on internet providers.

The latest data from the NBN shows that the average Australian household downloads 10 times more than it did a decade ago.

That number is expected to double again by 2029.

An NBN spokesman said told news.com.au that “where customers are having issues with their internet service and reliability they should in the first instance contact their provider who will trouble shoot the issue.

“This may involve a modem reset, and adjusting device settings. Failing this, internet providers will work with nbn to resolve the issue and we will do further investigation and send a technician if required.”

“Small things like where a modem is placed inside the home can greatly affect internet performance and wifi reliability. We have a range of tips customers can use to troubleshoot themselves at home on our website.”

Working from home has put more strain on internet providers. Picture: iStock

The strain on internet providers hasn’t gone smoothly.

Slow internet and dropouts topped the list of complaints made to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, with a 13 per cent increase in complaints during the last quarter of 2024.

Phillip Luo, CEO of Australian internet service provider Occom, has noticed how workers have increasingly become dependent on their internet provider to do their jobs.

“Australians deserve and should expect better when it comes to their internet. For too long Australian consumers have been accepting slow connections, poor customer service and delayed response times,” he said.

“In many cases it’s compounded by them not actively switching from their current providers and looking for a better option.”

The internet boss said Aussies deserve better. Picture: Supplied

Mr Lou added that when he came to Australia over a decade ago, he was “shocked” to have to wait three weeks for an ADSL connection.

“I couldn’t believe people accepted that as being a normal service,” he said.

The internet boss explained that he believes Australia’s acceptance of slow and patchy internet in 2025 is just another example.

 “We’re definitely starting to see more consumers waking up to the fact that they deserve and can get better service with providers outside the big players in the market.”

Originally published as ‘Draining’: 25-year-old reveals why she can’t work from home revealing common problem