A leading recruitment expert has confirmed that Australian companies are ending remote working as a deliberate tactic to cut headcount without the cost of redundancies.
And Tammie Christofis Ballis has suggested this could be the real reason why NSW Premier Chris Minns issued a dramatic directive bringing the state’s public service – Australia’s largest employer – back to the office in August.
Despite being sacked by civil servants, Daily Mail Australia can reveal there is growing belief in government circles that the return to office was driven by managers who wanted to ‘reduce numbers without letting people go’.
Ms Ballis, a specialist career coach and recruiter at Realistic Careers, said major companies have used the post-Covid tactic to reduce workforces without having to resort to redundancies – and the payouts that come with them.
“This is normal in big business,” she said — even as she warned the mandate could backfire by driving away talented workers seeking more flexible arrangements.
For government employees affected by mandates, Ms. Ballis said, “Is the government so good that they want to stay there and return to the office five days a week? I don’t think so.
‘Even though wages may not be as high as those in the private sector, it is the conditions that people go for.
“And there’s a general consensus that you’re not going to lose your job unless you do something absolutely terrible,” she said.
Recruitment expert Tammie Christofis Ballis (pictured) says corporate Australia has turned to WFH mandates to cut workforces – and has suggested the NSW government’s mandate to return the state’s 400,000 civil servants to the office could be similar might have motivations
If WFH mandates result in layoffs, it saves a company the hassle of both paying layoffs and the often painful process of getting rid of staff
“If they start to take away the good conditions, the best employees will find other options at other companies that offer hybrid work.”
Ms Ballis said the return to civil service mandates had a negative impact on one group: women. ‘I think it unfairly targets women. I don’t know if they do that on purpose, but that’s what they’ll lose.
“They would lose more female employees because a lot of them rely on that flexibility as they can be home to pick up the kids from school, or be home on sick leave,” she explained.
“Pushing people back into the office is not a one-size-fits-all situation,” she said.
The announcement by Prime Minister Minns earlier this year sparked immediate reactions from public sector workers and unions, many of whom claimed that a culture of WFH was now ’embedded’ within the public sector.
Brokers leasing commercial office space, retailers and hospitality venues in major cities have suffered a drop in trade as favorable WFH policies continued long after the enforced lockdowns of the Covid period.
NSW Premier Chris Minns (pictured) ordered his state’s 400,000-strong workforce back to the office without notice from August 6 – sparking an uproar
A NSW government spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the claims about the job losses are “completely false”.
“The NSW Government is committed to the continued delivery of world-class services to communities,” he said.
“This will depend on a strong, capable and connected public service.”
Meanwhile, figures from The Aussie Corporate show Australia’s financial, technology and telecoms sectors have been particularly hit by layoffs amid high interest rates – with the biggest losses in March and July.
KPMG’s recent CEO Outlook 2024 survey shows that as many as eight in ten CEOs believe WFH will be a thing of the past within the next three years.
The survey found bosses are taking a firmer stance on WFH in 2024, after 64 percent of top executives predicted employees would return full-time the year before.
The investigation comes after tech giant Amazon and Australian gaming company Tabcorp became the latest companies to issue mandates forcing staff back into the office
In Melbourne, mayoral candidate Arron Wood recently revealed that if he were successful in the October election, he would drop WFH and force 1,700 City of Melbourne councilors back into office to try to revitalize the city.
The drastic measure was part of his broader plan to “revitalize Melbourne’s economy by ensuring more people enter the city safely and on time.”
Ms Christofis Ballis said not allowing people to ‘unfairly target women’ WFH as they typically need flexibility (photo of a mother working from home with her daughter)
A recent survey of 2,000 white-collar professionals across Australia by recruitment specialist Robert Walters found that 40 percent of the workforce would look for a new job if their employer required them to increase their office presence to five days a week.
Another 33 percent said they would do so if their work-from-home days were shortened.
Forty-one percent of respondents said the commute is the top deterrent to returning to the office, while another 45 percent say work-life balance is the most important factor when considering a new role.