Susie O’Brien: Stop making excuses and get back to office

Stop being a sloth and get back into the office — your city and company needs you to start being productive again, writes Susie O’Brien.

It’s time to start trying again, says Susie O’Brien. Picture: Stock image

Selfish workers, get out of your PJs and get back into the office.

Your company and your city needs you to stop being a sloth and start being productive again.

As someone who’s enjoyed rolling out of bed at 8.59am each day for a 9am start, I understand the reluctance to go back to the commuter grind.

(Confession: I am writing this from my bed office in the suburbs.)

But I know that all good things must come to an end, and this includes working full-time from home.

Being at home has been good for most of us — no commuting, more time with the kids, easy access to the fridge and comfy clothing.

We’ve all enjoyed working in our PJs, but it’s over. Picture: Stock image

So, I am not surprised that City of Melbourne research shows two-thirds of workers don’t want to come back to the office full-time.

However, I suspect many are using concerns about COVID as an excuse for not wanting to break their morning routine of logging on from bed at 9am with the dogs as co-workers.

With COVID case numbers in this state so low, this is no longer a valid excuse for staying in the ‘burbs.

If the city is ever going to recover, businesses will need to start forcing workers to come back into the office. It might not be full-time, but it should be most of the time.

Monday is the first day back for many thousands of workers, and yet the city remains a ghost town compared to this time last year.

We are meant to have 50 per cent of workers returning but it seems nowhere near this number are doing so.

While working from home is good for many workers’ mental health and snooze time, it’s not been so good for productivity.

One boss I spoke to reckons one fifth of his workers have done somewhere between “bugger all and f..king nothing” from home, while still receiving full pay.

Another third have done work, but much less than normal, he says.

He’s desperate to get people back into the office where they are more accountable, but his company is scared to make anyone go back against their will.

This will soon become untenable.

The prosperity of our state depends on full worker productivity, which for many will only happen in the office.

The state government should play its part and make half of all state workers return to the office, not 25 per cent.

There is no reason for public servants to be out of step with private employees.

Now that we no longer have to wear masks sitting at our desks, there’s no real reason not to get out of bed and jump on the train.

Let’s get this city and state pumping again.

But first, we’ll have to get our of our PJs.

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@susieob