Law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has found 37 per cent of Australian companies plan to pay employees differently if they choose to work from home, while 83 per cent expect their staff to spend more time in the office over the next two years.
The firm’s “Future of Work” survey, which quizzed 500 “key decision makers” on workplace issues, was released on Monday and reinforced the trend back toward office work seen since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than a third said they had plans to differentiate pay between those working from home and those in the office at some time in the next three to five years, with 13 per cent of respondents saying remote workers should expect less pay.
Those plans could set the stage for a potential fight with unions who have strongly resisted calls to pay out-of-office workers less.
About 38 per cent of Australian businesses also reported they now expected employees to “earn” the right to work from home, viewing the flexibility as a reward for consistent effort.
On a global level, HSF found 68 per cent of companies still had plans to evaluate performance based on productivity rather than hours worked – a measure which is seen as more accommodating for those working from home.
However, that figure was down more than 15 per cent since 2021, reinforcing the idea many companies are moving away from plans for more flexible workplaces.
Plans to let workers choose their hours, working environments and holidays have fallen even further, with the number of respondents pursuing these policies plummeting from 85 per cent in 2021 to 43 per cent in this year’s survey.
Despite this, HSF found businesses were still facing “significant” pushback from employees when trying to mandate returns to the office, with different organisations taking different approaches to luring back staff.
“In Australia, we’re seeing a range of approaches for getting people back in the office,” said HSF Partner Natalie Gaspar.
“Some employers are still doing soft encouragement such as team lunches on Wednesdays, team drinks, or extracurricular activities on certain days. Some are using more of a direct approach: you must be in the office on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, for example.
“There’s only a handful of organisations mandating a full return to the workplace, and that’s being met with a significant amount of resistance.”
Alongside the findings on flexible working, HSF also reported AI introduction in the workplace is gaining traction despite concerns about “activism” from employees.
About 56 per cent of Australian employers believe AI will significantly alter the size and composition of their workforce within the next three to five years and 65 per cent are planning to make major changes to their automation strategy.
This is despite 34 per cent of respondents expecting job losses from the adoption of AI to spark backlash from employees.
(SKY NEWS)
