Mercury IT’s AJ Williams on the work-from-home boom and the opportunity it represents for the Gold Coast economy
The work-from-home boom provides a major opportunity for Gold Coast employers to attract and retain key talent, a leading IT sector figure says.
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THE work-from-home boom is providing a major opportunity for Gold Coast employers to attract and retain key talent, a leading IT sector figure says.
Mercury IT’s AJ Williams, whose Gold Coast business helped dozens of companies make the transition to working from home during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, said the shift in working arrangements was here to stay.
“I think it is going to give the workforce a lot more flexibility,” Mr Williams said.
“A lot of our staff are working at least three days minimum from the office – some are working more because it suits them better.
“As long as your company can scale around that and have the proper processes and governance, it works quite easily.”
Mr Williams said while most staff on the Gold Coast, heavily dominated by the SME sector, had returned to work, a significant percentage had not.
“A lot of people with children will be working from home more to give them the balance to drop and pick up their children from school.
“I think people from Melbourne are moving up here because it’s half the price. If you don’t need to go to the office it doesn’t matter where you live.
“That will be a pivotal play for employers. They will be able to improve retention.”
Wyndham Destinations Asia Pacific was one of the first Gold Coast-based companies to shift its workforce to working from home when COVID-19 spread in March.
The company has undertaken a refurbishment of the ninth and 10th floors of the Wyndham Corporate Centre to create a flexible work space in preparation for its staff returning to work.
“We are excited to be creating a workplace of the future here in Bundall, with state-of-the-art hygiene measures in place and a space cohesive to collaboration, creativity and innovation, while being mindful of social distancing,” president Barry Robinson said.
“We may have some employees who will work from home permanently and therefore will forego their assigned office space, but can still utilise designated space at the Wyndham Destinations Corporate Centre when needed.”
Wyndham senior vice president of human resources Bruce Harkness said Wyndham strived to offer staff as much work flexibility as possible.
“We are a company that aims to always be innovative and we recognise there is no one-size-fits-all solution given the variety of roles, core competencies and business needs we have. What we know is that our employees are happier and perform better in a balanced, flexible work environment,” Mr Harkness said.
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