CBA orders 49,000 staff back into the office

A battleground is looming on working from home as another major Australian employers cracks down on the popular measure.

CBA CEO Matt Comyn has ordered staff back to the office. Picture: Adam Yip

Commonwealth Bank has ordered its 49,000 staff back into the office – demanding they show up at least 50 per cent of their working time.

The office mandate came from CBA chief executive Matt Comyn and his executive team in an email delivered to inboxes on Monday.

“We have now set the expectation with our office-based people that from mid-July, they will be required to come into the office for at least 50 per cent of their work time per month,” CBA group executive of human resources, Sian Lewis told The Australian Financial Review.

She said the move was prompted by a decision to drive innovation and colloboration with face-to-face interactions.

“We’ve learnt that on average, we actively connect with 11 more colleagues each day when we are together in the office and spend 20–30 minutes more time collaborating,” she said.

“Our people also spend 40 per cent or more time connecting with their leader and peers when in the office. We have seen that innovation is an outcome of our people physically working together.”

Chief Executive Officer at Commonwealth Bank Matt Comyn has ordered staff back into the office. Source: Supplied by CBA

The major bank was forced to follow up on the directive in another email on Tuesday too.

“We understand how positively everyone has embraced hybrid working and you will still be able to work from home,” the leadership team said.

“However, as we’ve said before, being together in our corporate offices provides stronger levels of connection, which help us in our own learning, as well as in collaborating to build services for our customers and in sharing and co-developing with our colleagues.”

CBA is latest company to make the move and sets the scene for an emerging battleground on working from home – which became commonplace during the pandemic and is one of the most important things to employees.

Yet, a growing number of leaders are pushing for staff to get back in the office.

The major bank doubled down on the directive after the first email. Picture: NCA NewsWire / James Gourley

These include Australian companies such as NAB chief executive Ross McEwan and Mineral Resources boss Chris Ellison, as well as high profile figures overseas like Elon Musk.

NAB has gone to the extreme with senior staff expected in the office five days a week, while Mr Ellison said there are no jobs for people at the mining company if they want to WFH.

Recently, Australian CEO of CR Commercial Property Group, Nicole Duncan, courted controversy when she went so far as to brand the younger generations “just selfish” for wanting flexible working options.

She also complained about workers being distracted while doing their jobs from home.

But CEO of Ari Group Aimee Baker said blaming workers reluctance to come into the office on a lazy generation is “ridiculous” and many of us couldn’t think of anything worse than sitting on public transport for two to three hours a day, especially post-pandemic.

Meanwhile, the Finance Sector Union has been locked in a battle to have working from home protected under the enterprise bargaining agreement with ANZ.

Electric car maker Tesla CEO Elon Musk doesn’t agree with WFH. Picture: Ludovic Marin / POOL / AFP

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said people working from home are living in “la-la land” and are insulting people who show up to the office.

In a wide-ranging interview with CNBC’s David Faber, the former world’s richest person lashed out at the work-from-home culture that became the norm during the Covid-19 pandemic and said it was morally dubious.

IBM’s global chief Arvind Krishna also ordered their 260,000 staff back into the office.

A recent report from LinkedIn revealed many companies hope to get teams back into the office, despite the data also showing flexibility is now one of the things employees value most.

The top search term on job site Seek is “work from home” and has been since June last year.

The Taking the Pulse of the Nation study, a 2020 publication by the University of Melbourne and the Melbourne Institute, found that 70 per cent of Australians who have been working from home because of the Covid-19 pandemic wanted to keep doing so.

About 41 per cent of people employed in Australia regularly worked from home, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported in August 2021 — a large increase compared to previous years.

About 41 per cent of people employed in Australia regularly worked from home. Picture: iStock

New data released by the Regional Australia Institute earlier this month also showed that nearly three-quarters of Australians living in metropolitan areas said the ability to work from home has fuelled their appetite for living in regional Australia.

Younger Australians, aged 18-29 years, were the most optimistic about regional job prospects.

Regional Australia Institute CEO Liz Ritche said regional centres are prepped and primed for Aussies considering the move.

“During the pandemic we saw thousands of Australians make the ‘move to more’, trading the hustle and bustle of the city for a life in the regions,” she said.

“People are realising a move to regional Australia doesn’t mean compromising your career, income or lifestyle.

“There are well-paying, professional, skilled and entry-level jobs waiting to be filled in country areas. From Toowoomba to Tamworth, Wollongong to Warrnambool, there are dozens of dynamic regional centres ready to welcome city folk with open arms. There’s never been a better time to move to more.”