Days of WFH may be numbered as Australia’s most influential bosses share a powerful message
As Australian workers embrace the benefits of hybrid working arrangements, some of the country’s most influential bosses have warned their days could be numbered.
The Australian Financial Review’s Chanticleer CEO Survey found that while there was widespread acceptance of employees working from home, many CEOs remain unconvinced four years into the Covid-19 pandemic.
Outgoing ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott summarized the general sentiment of his fellow leaders towards hybrid working arrangements in 2024.
“Not everyone is going to be happy all the time,” Elliott told the newspaper AFR.
The poll found that CEOs of some of Australia’s largest companies, including NAB’s Andrew Irvine, Bendigo Bank’s Richard Fennell, Qantas’s Vanessa Hudson and Westpac’s Anthony Miller, are keen to get employees back behind their desks.
Lendlease Global CEO Tony Lombardo said he expected his senior executives to work in the office at least four days a week.
“In the office, our people are there three to five days a week, and I encourage our leaders to be there four to five days a week,” Lombardo said.
“When people choose not to work in the workplace, they miss out on building their networks and the professional development that comes from personal interactions with others.”
ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott (pictured) said hybrid working arrangements cannot make everyone happy, as some of Australia’s top bosses share their thoughts
A leading recruitment expert believes Australian companies are ending remote working as a deliberate tactic to cut headcount without the cost of redundancies
Chanticleer’s CEO survey found that 21 of 56 CEOs surveyed – including Nine Entertainment, Seven Group and BHP – said the operational capacity of staff who cannot work remotely should be taken into account.
It comes as a top recruitment expert claims Australian bosses are ending WFH as a deliberate tactic to cut workforces.
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.
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.
She warned CEOs who demand their staff come back full-time would lose their best employees who would seek more flexible arrangements elsewhere.
“Pushing people back into the office is not a one-size-fits-all situation,” she said.
‘Is the government so good that they want to stay there and come back to the office five days a week? I don’t think so.’
“Even though wages may not be as high as in the private sector, it’s the conditions that people go for.”
Recruitment expert Tammie Christofis Ballis (pictured) says corporate Australia has turned to WFH mandates to cut workforces without making expensive layoffs
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,” the spokesperson said.