Business leader’s grim warning about working from home in Australia

A business leader has made a horrendous prediction about what will happen if Australians continue to work from home.

It’s a relic of the Covid era that many of us have found to be a lasting benefit to our lives, but an Australian business leader has offered a dire prediction of what will happen if we continue to work from home.

Business SA chief executive Andrew Kay warned jobs could be moved offshore if employees continue to work from home, claiming the practice is “bad for the economy”.

He told news.com.au working from home could lead some “employers choosing to outsource certain services to the best offer – typically offshore - rather than employ workers who they never see in the office anyway”.

“If we assume that artificial intelligence and digitalisation are going to reshape the workforce in the years ahead, we need to seriously consider the impact of any policy decisions that make attendance in the workplace the exception rather than the rule,” he warned.

Business SA chief executive Andrew Kay has warned of job losses caused by working from home.

Mr Kay said he had “serious concerns” about the trend of employees working from home and urged employers to tackle the issue head on.

“Employers need to create environments where people want to engage and collaborate with their colleagues in person, even when flexible arrangements are possible,” he said.

Remote working expert Dr Daniel Schlagwein from the University of Sydney told news.com.au that an acceleration of offshoring was a “real possibility” post-Covid.

“Given that jobs can now be done entirely remotely, we are entering an internationally competitive global market – one in which you are competing with people worldwide” he said. “This is the globalisation of labour.”

Dr Schlagwein viewed the situation as both a threat and an opportunity.

“On one hand, Australian workers are now in competition with overseas workers in many sectors beyond those in which this was common before the pandemic – such as software development and call centres,” he said.

“On the other hand, Australian workers have the opportunity to work from home, work remotely within Australia, or even work as ‘digital nomads’ from overseas using the same ‘work-from-anywhere’ policies.”

The pandemic forced many to work from home. Picture: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP

He observed that Covid has brought about a shift in workplace culture.

“Many people and organisations believed that their work could not be performed remotely, but when they were forced to do so, it proved successful”, he said.

Dr Schlagwein noted that in his research program on remote work, he has seen some companies transition their entire workplace to a remote model – “remote-first”.

He cited examples like Airbnb, which has seen a huge global interest in its fully-remote positions, and Meta (formerly Facebook), which has allowed employees to relocate and work remotely, albeit with a pay cut due to the lower cost of living in their new locations.

Dr Sue Williamson from the University of New South Wales told news.com.au that while the pandemic had shaken workplace practices, she doubted the idea that working from home would play a part in work being sent offshore.

“I think if employers want to go offshore they will do it anyway,” she said.

Dr Wiliamson said offshoring was “very serious” and organisations would examine a range of factors when deciding whether to proceed.

There are warnings companies could offshore work to cut costs,

She also noted it wasn’t just economics at play and it can result in lower morale in the host country as well as cultural problems with employees not providing the same level of service due to language barriers.

The comments on offshoring come as federal government public servants are celebrating the abolition of a cap on working from home days, with the flow-on effect set to hit the private sector.

Last week, former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett slammed Aussies who work from home and argued in favour of them having their salaries cut.

In a bid to reinvigorate corporate Australia and increase productivity in the public sector, Mr Kennett argued public servants who work from home should be paid less than other frontline-oriented professionals like teachers, nurses, hospital staff and police.

“Those who have no alternative but to physically attend their workplace everyday,” Mr Kennett told Melbourne’s Herald Sun.

“Clearly, Victoria’s financial position is such that we cannot afford to be increasing salaries, so the most appropriate method is if a person chooses to work from home, whatever the number of days a week, their salary is reduced by the ­reduction in costs they would have otherwise incurred,” he added.

‘The Great Sacking’ coming

This all comes as a top employment expert has warned Australians to brace for mass layoffs at their companies as bosses look to dramatically change their work structure.

Employment lawyer Jonathan Mamaril claimed the Great Resignation is about to make way for the Great Sacking.

He predicts wages will fall and retrenchments and redundancies will rise in the coming months.

He says that businesses are moving to correct a culture of staff overpayment, which was a result of Covid, as unemployment rates were at a historic low in 2022 and businesses had to offer lucrative salary packages to secure staff.

The NB Employment Law director says mid-to-large size businesses are restructuring their workforce as they seek at ways to cut costs.

“The first major wave of the wages correction cycle is likely to hit just before Christmas, extending into the first quarter of 2024,” Mr Mamaril told The Courier Mail.

“Overpaid employees will be the first on the chopping block. In many instances, desperate businesses were forced to pay 30 per cent above industry and job level averages to secure staff.”

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