If it were up to Tony Colaco, he would never go to work again.
The 59-year-old chartered accountant has spent the last two years working in his Greystanes home and has no intention of heading back to the office in Parramatta where he is employed by the Department of Education.
“I am saving time, money, my health is better and my social life is better,” he said.
“I have team members who used to travel in from Newcastle and the Central Coast every day, and now I find everyone is more fresh, ready, and energised when we have meetings."
Mr Colaco is one of a growing number of people who have created a "new normal" of flexible work arrangements, adding to a shift away from city centres.
Data collected by Google since the beginning of the pandemic shows movement around the centres of Parramatta and Sydney is unlikely to recover to pre-pandemic levels.
Last month in Parramatta there was a 34 per cent drop in people heading into the office compared to early 2020.
NSW hit a first-dose vaccination rate of 95 per cent in December last year, leading to a seven-month high in foot traffic.
However, by April those figures have not improved — despite fewer restrictions and a higher vaccination rate at 96.2 per cent — and those advances have not translated to an increase in activity.
Mr Colaco is fine for this to become standard.
“Nothing is suffering," he said.
“I used to spend three hours stuck in Parramatta traffic and now that time is given back to me, which I can use to learn new skills for my job.”
In Parramatta’s centre, cafe owner Liza Chehadie has reason to be concerned.
Her business — which moved 10 weeks ago due to Parramatta’s Metro rail construction — relies on foot traffic from the nearby train station and office buildings.
Fewer workers are using public transport, which means fewer customers.
In Parramatta, commuters are down 23 per cent, and the city is plateauing because about 34.3 per cent fewer people head to stations and bus stops.
“I try to be positive and put positive vibes out there. I know I should be worried, but we weathered COVID and came out the other side," Ms Chehadie said.
Retail and recreation movement are also trending downwards in both cities.
Sydney has yet to recover from a record 80 per cent slump in retail activity during the Delta lockdown.
Ms Chehadie’s business was open for six months before the July restrictions.
“We managed to get a reputation and get good return customers in that short time,” she said.
“I hope that’s enough to keep us going because I’m doing this for the love of it.”
Big businesses are rethinking what a future workplace looks like. Parramatta’s Deloitte staff are now all working flexibly.
The international consultancy firm is in the middle of redesigning a new office space at 8 Parramatta Square, where it will lease one and a half levels.
That move — which began in earnest 12 months ago, and has been in the planning stage for two years — has evolved to factor in a reduction of staff on site.
"If we were designing this space before the pandemic, it would look totally different,” managing partner Helen Hamilton-James said.
"We did have a conversation about whether we even need an office but, ultimately, it was about redesigning what work will look like and changing mindsets about how we work most productively.”
Deloitte will move its 330 Parramatta-based staff into the 55-storey tower in November.
“I think it’s important for teams to be together from time to time, to collaborate,” Ms Hamilton-James said.
“We probably would have needed more space before COVID, and we would have a totally different desk set up and meeting space."
Ms Hamilton-James, who works remotely part-time, said other companies needed to catch up.
“We’re the shining beacon in a way for Deloitte since we’re the first branch to make a move post-COVID.
“You can’t really hark back to the days before working from home, employees will vote with their feet and choose to go somewhere that offers that flexibility.”
