In recent years, work-from-home (WFH) has come under fire.
A working arrangement that gives employees more control over their lives and frees them from the oversight of power-hungry managers? Who would’ve guessed that would get corporate backlash? Not me, that’s for sure.
Despite major companies enforcing “return-to-office” mandates and Peter Dutton vowing to cut WFH arrangements for public servants, recent data suggests WFH is strong and here to stay.
POV: The average Melburnian’s winter commute.
What did the survey reveal?
The survey by the Australian HR Institute (AHRI) interviewed 1,177 HR professionals across the country and revealed some juicy stats. If you want the TL;DR, here’s the most important thing to know.
First, the number of employers requiring staff to spend a minimum of three to five days a week in the office fell from 48 per cent in 2023 to 44 per cent in 2025.
Additionally, the amount of companies without an office attendance mandate increased from 25 per cent to 28 per cent. Nice.
Unsurprisingly, a majority of hybrid workers viewed work-from-home positively. An impressive 45 per cent of respondents shared that hybrid work positively affected their productivity. In contrast, only 11 per cent disagreed. Traitors.
The report also explored some drawbacks that hybrid work had on employers and employees.
A staggering 65 per cent of those interviewed revealed that they had felt a disconnect between colleagues when not seeing each other face-to-face. 40 per cent of respondents also felt that they had reduced opportunities for collaboration.
For some of us, not having contact with co-workers can be a blessing. I only have so many “Not a lots” to give when asked what I did on my weekend. Most, however, yearn for the water cooler chats and shared spite for the office LED lighting.
When chatting to Sharon Tan, a People Partner Principal at Telstra, she said the solution to office avoidance was to make workers enthusiastic about coming in.
Employees and managers should coordinate in-office days, less so to work, but to network with peers. This is to tackle some of the biggest drawbacks of remote work: people feeling isolated and lacking collaboration between peers.
“We make sure that the leaders come in on the same days, or we curate events at the office that make it interesting for employees to want to come in, rather than us forcing them to.”
This lines up with what other companies are doing. 54 per cent of organisations surveyed shared they provide incentives for employees to come into the office. These range from social events to free coffee and meals (pizza parties are back on the menu boys).
Do other surveys agree?
It’s important to note that while this survey is positive about the future of hybrid work, others suggest differently.
The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey found the average number of weekly hours worked at home decreased from 24.4 in 2021 to 18.9 in 2022.
Recruitment agency Robert Half also found the average number of mandated in-office days in Australia had increased from 3.43 in 2024 to 3.64 in 2025.
As AHRI’s survey points out, seven out of ten HR professionals said senior management was the primary source of pressure to require employees to attend the office more often. In comparison, only nine per cent said the return to the office was coming from employees themselves. Turns out we still need a little bit of corporate overlord threats to make it in most weeks.
With such a large gap between the two, it’s understandable that this signals a growing pain point on both sides. The Owl Labs State of Hybrid Work 2024 report proves that hybrid models improve productivity, reduce expenses, and boost mental well-being. In contrast, managers feel that they can’t monitor workers as well in a hybrid setting and feel unsupported in managing teams remotely.
While it’s easy to say “skill issue” and move on, sadly, the solution needs a bit more attention. Thankfully, as AHRI’s survey points out, HR organisations are working to help support managers with the changing times. Training sessions, minimum in-office days and improved tech are steps companies are taking to support managers in adapting to work arrangements.
Is the future of hybrid work safe?
Thankfully, most people surveyed agree that remote work should remain safe for the next three years. So, no need to stock up on fancy officewear just yet.
As for now, keep enjoying your lunchtime naps and sparing yourself from an hour-long commute five days a week. Work from home is (hopefully) here to stay for good.
Image credit: Sex and the City / HBO
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