‘Forced’ return to office orders are doomed to failure

The State’s Government’s well-intentioned plan to force public servants back to their Melbourne offices is doomed to failure.

Wangaratta Mayor Dean Rees is leading a campaign to lure city slickers to the country. Pictured here with his kids Oliver, 5, and Lexi, 9. Picture: Alex Coppel.

The State’s Government’s well-intentioned plan to force Victorian public servants back to their Melbourne offices three days-a-week is doomed to failure.

Why? Because many workers have already made the move to the country or coast and like it so much, they have no intention of returning to the city.

Scores more are in the process of moving, or actively property hunting in regional areas.

They may not have packed their boxes yet, but mentally, they’ve made the leap. Even to the point of scouting around schools and clubs for their kids.

If those working parents are ‘forced’ to return to their city offices and commute for hours three-days-a-week, many will simply quit and spruik their skills elsewhere.

And that probably goes double for Millennials.

Those companies and organisations which embrace, or at least allow, working-from-home, will emerge the winners as they pick up the sort of highly-skilled and experienced workers they only ever dreamt of employing in the past.

Donavan Jacka doesn’t regret his family’s move to a new life on a Wangaratta goat farm after moving from a Melbourne terrace and city public servant jobs. Picture: Alex Coppel

But those which lay down the law and insist on workers sitting at their desks in the office at least three days-a-week rather than at their – well set-up – desks at home, risk being the losers, as some of their most valued team members quit and walk away.

Many working mothers in particular have found, over the last year, they have been better able to juggle their professional work demands with the demands of parenting, when working from home.

Because of that, they have been happier, less exhausted workers, and possibly also better parents.

They have found, to their shock, they actually can come close to “having it all” - a rewarding career and fulfilling family life.

Importantly, many employers have acknowledged workers’ productivity has not dropped away as a result of working remotely, and for many, it has improved.

Real estate agents have been telling us for months of the unprecedented demand for country and coastal property, with prices soaring, as Melburnians look to make a life for themselves with tree and sea changes.

And Regional Australian Institute data reveals one in five people are actively planning a move from capital cities to the regions, in the next year.

The exodus is real.

There is no getting away from the fact our beloved Melbourne is the loser in this seismic shift from the city to the regions, which started before COVID but is gaining pace.

Especially as international tourists are also kept away.

CBD businesses, bleeding financially after multiple lockdowns, need office workers and visitors back in the city to begin to get back on their feet and clear their huge debts.

And it’s completely understandable the City of Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp and the city’s many business and progress groups would lobby hard for a return of workers.

They should. That’s their job, and our capital city matters.

But there are scores of regional councils simultaneously celebrating the shift and gearing up to create more housing estates and expand infrastructure to meet the booming demand in their towns.

Whether we like it or not, Victoria has changed over the last year, and some changes will be permanent.

A shift from the city and suburbs to the regions, and working from home, are among them.

Legal experts have told the Herald Sun the Fair Work Commission is preparing for “a big year” of return-to-work wars between employees and employers as workers resist return-to-office orders.

If that’s the case, the only winners will be the lawyers.

Perhaps we just need to accept Covid has forever changed our working world.