Covid to change our working life forever

Employees are asking for free food and pay rises in return for coming back to the office after months of working from home during the pandemic.

L to R: Janice Elsley, Matt Leslie, Kristi Simpson, Andrew Pyke, Naomi Lynn, Liana Callaghan, Peter Lock, Kerry Atkinson, Cameron Douglas, Paula Holden and Leah King at the BDO/Courier Mail (Queensland Business Weekly) boardroom lunch. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Employees are asking for free food and pay rises in return for coming back to the office after months of working from home during the pandemic.

A BDO/Courier Mail lunch attended by Queensland business leaders this month said the modern office was unlikely to ever be the same again with flexible work arrangements and more collaboration spaces just two of the likely changes.

Hassell Studio principal Kirsti Simpson, whose architectural firm designs work spaces, said offices would be used more for collaboration in the future.

“Whereas before people would go into the office to work individually, now they will attend specifically to collaborate,” said Ms Simpson. “What Covid-19 has shown is that you can work anywhere but most people miss the collaboration.”

She said international surveys of employees had shown that people wanted more from their bosses in order to come back to the office, with free food and pay rises top of the list.

Heritage Bank chief executive Peter Lock said the firm had to carry out two redesigns of its new Toowoomba headquarters to allow for social distancing and more collaboration spaces.

“In Brisbane, we have had so many of our people returning to the office after working from home that we had to take an extra floor,” Mr Lock said.

BHC Creating Liveable Communities human resources manager Leah King said the “Great Resignation” seen in the US would eventually come to Australia posing challenges for companies trying to attract quality employees.

L to R: Janice Elsley, Matt Leslie, Kristi Simpson, Andrew Pyke, Naomi Lynn, Liana Callaghan, Peter Lock, Kerry Atkinson, Cameron Douglas, Paula Holden and Leah King at the BDO/Courier Mail (Queensland Business Weekly) boardroom lunch at City Winery, Eagle St Pier. Picture: Steve Pohlner

The “Great Resignation” refers to the record 4.27 million Americans who quit their jobs in August as they reassessed their lifestyle after the pandemic.

The ability to work from home for months has allowed people to rethink their priorities and make job and career decisions to achieve a greater work/life balance. “People want more from their work,” said Ms King.

She said more members of Generation Z would be going overseas for a gap year in the future meaning companies would have to do more to attract people.

She said pressure was already growing on salaries with job candidates in the technology and data sectors asking for double digit salary increases.

She said work/life balance had been replaced by a “blended work life.” “People have shifted their views about work since Covid-19,” she said. “Candidates are looking for a social contract and companies will have to stand for something.”

Troocoo managing director Andrew Pyke said issues not apparent in the early days of the pandemic were now coming home to roost for companies as they attempted to adjust to changing workplaces. “These include workplace health and safety, mental health and data security,” said Mr Pyke.

Employees are asking for free food and pay rises in return for coming back to the office.

Mr Pyke said workers also were demanding more flexibility in work hours and conditions to fit in with their lifestyle.

Suncorp executive manager, people and cultural strategy Matt Leslie said all companies now had to be concerned about mental health given the major work and lifestyle changes that had occurred during the pandemic.

The Black Dog Institute has identified a number of mental health challenges associated with people working from home during Covid-19

They included feeling isolated, lonely, or disconnected from other people, being unable to ‘switch off from work’ and reduced boundaries between work and personal life. Some people have reported difficulty staying motivated and feeling uncertain about their productivity.

BDO Brisbane Head of People and Culture Kerry Atkinson said she had noticed her colleagues in Sydney and Melbourne had understandably struggled during the extended lockdowns in those cities as opposed to staff in Brisbane who had not been locked down as much.

She commented that team members based in the Brisbane office are happy and choosing to work in the office a majority of the time because there is a feeling that at any time they could be in a similar position to their southern colleagues.

Hassell Studio’s Kirsti Simpson said managers would have to adjust to how they handled a more geographically diverse workforce in the future. “It will require different management skills,” she said. “Many leaders have not had to manage such things before.”

Business leaders at the lunch said mandatory vaccinations were likely to be expanded across the corporate world in the coming months.

Heritage’s Peter Lock said the bank was surveying staff on the issue. “Banking is an essential service and we have a duty of care to staff who have to face the public,” he said. “We do not want a super spreader event in one of our branches.”

Originally published as Covid to change our working life forever