‘Not a productivity problem’: Why WFH isn’t going away anytime soon

The research, which surveyed 1802 Australian employees including 302 senior managers and executives, adds to mounting evidence that hybrid working – or a mix of working from home and the office – has become entrenched across the Australian economy.

Although recent survey data suggests a significant decline in remote working in the US, the research conducted for the Financial Review suggests hybrid working in Australia isn’t going away anytime soon.

Forty-nine per cent of the 302 senior managers and executives surveyed for the research said they did not expect their employers to change their office attendance rules over the next few months.

And although one in four (24 per cent) said they expected staff to be asked to work from the office more frequently, 19 per cent thought the opposite, saying they expected staff would increase their remote working. And 8 per cent said they were unsure.

Pros outweigh cons

Business leaders, including the chief executives of ANZ, Commonwealth Bank and NAB, have raised concerns about the effects of remote working on collaboration, productivity, mentoring and professional development.

And other research has found that working from home in 2022 made the average worker less productive and more anxious, partly due to inexperienced managers.

But this latest survey, conducted by experience management platform Qualtrics between September 11 and October 14, suggests the benefits of hybrid working outweigh its downsides.

It found that workers just about believed they were more productive on-site, with 45 per cent saying they were more productive in the office, compared to 40 per cent saying they were more productive working remotely.

But it also showed that working from home helped workers manage their workload, fit in other personal activities, and improved their sense of wellbeing.

For example, Mr Hood said his hybrid working schedule allowed him to do the school drop-off and attend other school-related events.

Of those who work remotely more frequently today than they did before the pandemic, 72 per cent said this had improved their wellbeing, compared to 9 per cent who said it had worsened it, while 67 per cent said it had helped them manage their workload, compared to just 9 per cent who thought the opposite.

The largest perceived downsides among these workers were the negative effects on collaboration, culture, quality of communication, their sense of belonging, and access to learning and development opportunities.

But even across all these metrics, a higher number of employees reported improvements than declines.

‘Not a productivity problem’

For example, the biggest gripe was that remote working had worsened collaboration with other team members. One in five (21 per cent) reported a deterioration in this area. But 38 per cent reported an improvement and 41 reported no impact.

Crissa Sumner, Qualtrics’ head of experience management advisory services in the Asia Pacific and Japan, said her biggest “aha moment” when analysing the data was that hybrid and remote working was not undermining productivity.

“It’s not a productivity problem,” Dr Sumner said. “Ultimately, I think it’s that employee expectations have evolved really significantly in the last few years.”

Separate research from Qualtrics, based on a survey of more than 2000 workers, points to other benefits too.

It that found that people who worked between two and four days a week at home scored higher than fully remote and fully on-site employees on everything from engagement and intent to stay, to inclusion and wellbeing.