Workers demand better incentives if they are forced to return to the office

While major companies insist staff get back to their office five days a week, a survey has revealed that over half of white-collar workers believe working from home is a fundamental right.

More businesses are demanding their employees get back to the office in the post-pandemic era.

As pressure mounts on employees to return to the office, a survey has found more than half of white-collar workers believe working from home is a fundamental right.

As global tech company Dell and Flight Centre have become the latest companies to issue return to office mandates, a survey from leading recruitment agency Randstad found more than three-quarters of office workers said if employers offered better perks they could be persuaded to return to the office. The Randstad survey revealed that 52 per cent of white-collar workers viewed working from home as a “fundamental right” and feared it was being unjustifiably taken away.

Faced with mandated office returns, 24 per said they would actively search for hybrid roles and 6 per cent would resign without another job lined up.

Randstad Australia executive general manager Angela Anasis said it was understandable that office workers felt apprehensive about the current push toward traditional workplace norms of spending more time in the office. “After four years of remote and hybrid work, office workers feel they have earned the right to work from home and many have made life choices, such as buying a pet or relocating further away from the office based on the assumption that this flexibility was here to stay,” she said.

“It’s no surprise therefore that they’re concerned about this right being stripped away without proper justification.

“Given people are prepared to walk away from a job if they’re forced back into the office, employers should carefully consider how to incentivise attendance, focusing on the carrot rather than the stick.”

The survey of 965 white-collar Australian workers, conducted for Randstad by Pollfish, found 43 per cent believe declining productivity was the main reason behind return-to-office mandates. However, only 5 per cent had received formal or informal warnings about their performance.

The survey revealed that 79 per cent of respondents say that offering better perks could draw them back into the office by choice. The top three perks were free transport into work and/or free parking, free lunches, and additional paid time off.

Randstad estimates that offering these perks twice a week could cost as little as $4034 per employee per year – just a fraction of the average replacement cost of $21,450 per employee, which can soar to $97,500 when accounting for indirect factors like lost ­productivity and knowledge ­depletion.

As hybrid work arrangements are rolled back, 18 per cent of Australian office workers fear their employers will follow suit, forcing them back to the office full-time. Another 20 per cent worry their work-from-home days will be ­reduced.

While telecommunication giant Telstra has had a working from home mandate for years and hybrid working has been accepted since the end of the Covid pandemic, an increasing number of companies are saying workers are required to be in the office.

Flight Centre and Dell have joined Amazon, which told staff a couple of weeks ago that from 2025 they would all have to be back in the office five days a week, ending its own three-day-a-week policy.

Ms Anasis said working from home came with its own challenges and employees were the first to admit this – whether its dealing with distractions (38 per cent) or finding it difficult to separate work from their personal life.

“The key is offering flexibility for those who need it, while creating a workplace environment that’s inviting enough to draw employees back by choice, not obligation,” she said.

“Striking this balance will help retain top talent and ensure your business continues to thrive in today’s hybrid work landscape.”