Employment Hero’s annual remote working report is out – and no surprise –  a large number of Aussies have grown so comfortable working from home they want to remain that way.

Rather than a response to the pandemic, remote work is now on the long term wish list of many Aussies. One-third of Australians surveyed say they want to remain working from home every day. While a whopping 94 per cent want to work from home at least one day per week.

Work from home is here to stay

Lockdowns withstanding, despite eased restrictions of previous months, many of those surveyed are still working from home. In fact, a majority (72 per cent) are still working from home at least some of the time. More than a quarter (27 per cent) are working remotely full-time, while 45 per cent have adopted a hybrid model – sharing their working hours between the office and remotely. Less than a third (27 per cent) have returned to the office full-time.

Restrictions have also shown respondents the benefits of working from home with over one third (36 per cent) of those surveyed saying they would definitely work remotely on a permanent basis, up from 28 per cent in 2020.

How you feel about working from home varies by generation

Different age groups have responded to the challenges of remote work with varying levels of enthusiasm. Of those surveyed, millennials and Gen Z have modified how they work to adapt to working from home. 94 per cent of this younger cohort easily embraced new digital tools, flexible working hours or the purchase of new office equipment. Meanwhile, 23 per cent of workers aged 45+ said they had experienced no changes in their way of working, suggesting a complacency when it comes to adapting to remote work.

The challenges of remote work

While some of you may be loving the flexibility and freedom of working from home, the survey found remote work is not without challenges. One-third (33 per cent) of Australian workers are finding it harder to switch off, while 29 per cent are missing the camaraderie from co-workers. Nearly a quarter (21 per cent) of those surveyed have reported not getting up from their desks enough.

Remote work will remain

Ben Thompson, co-founder and CEO of Employment Hero, believes that despite the challenges and speculations around the impending end of remote work, distributed workforces will continue to be a core element of the future of work.

“While we’ve all experienced different challenges from the shift to remote work, the benefits – to mental health, to wellbeing, to productivity and the bottom line – are just too good to ignore. Prior to the pandemic, the uptake of remote or hybrid models of working was slow-moving and, often, conditional – a lot of companies were offering work from home days as a perk of employment rather than a way of life. The past year has proven that remote work is here to stay and the flexibility that it affords people is invaluable. In fact, almost all Australians are now expecting to work remotely at least one day a week, if not more,”

Working from home no longer a nice-to-have

Thompson says businesses who refuse to adopt this hybrid work trend will be losing out on skilled workers.

“The demand shows that it’s no longer a nice-to-have and employers will be missing out on talent if they’re stubbornly refusing to adapt with these shifts in expectations and the future of work,”  Thompson said.

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