By Susan Edmunds of RNZ

• - The Government is cracking down on remote work, raising questions about the future of home offices.
• - Research suggests hybrid workers are most productive, but opinions on remote work's impact vary.
• - Flexible working benefits inclusivity and a wider talent pool, but may hinder networking for younger workers.

Working from home – at least some of the time – is just part of the job for many New Zealand office workers.

But with the Government cracking down on remote work, and international organisations such as Amazon and Tesla taking a harder line, more questions are being asked about the future of the home office.

Here are reasons for and against the WFH life.

For...

Productivity

Despite what some pundits might have you believe, there’s limited evidence that whether you work from home has any impact on your productivity.

Jarrod Haar, a professor at Massey University, said his research had consistently shown that hybrid workers – those going into the office and working from home – were most productive.

Second and third would switch between fulltime office workers and fulltime workers from home, he said.

He said people who had the option of working from home might be more likely to take on an extra piece of work to help out a colleague or manager, compared to someone who begrudged being required to be in the office and commute home.

“Workers know they’re on to a good thing, or more likely they’re on to something they never used to get because 2019 data from Stats estimated less than 3% worked from home, so we’ve had this huge jump in levels.”

Paula O’Kane, from Otago University business school’s work futures team, said the research was mixed.

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“I don’t think it’s a definitive answer. There are some studies that suggest people are much more productive and there will be studies that suggest people are not as productive. It really depends on the business and people who work in that business.

“You’ve got to look at your organisation and do the research in the context of what works.”

She said working from home would be a better fit for some organisations, and some people, than others.

“You might find working from home is better for someone who’s more introverted. Someone who’s more extroverted might enjoy more of the socialising and that might be where you get your energy from. It’s hard to say people are more or less productive. In New Zealand people tend to self-report they are more productive but that’s a little bit questionable when you’re using self-reported measures.”

She said research showed that a good-quality job was where people had autonomy and control and were trusted.

“Working from home is a big part of demonstrating to people they are trusted and have control over their schedules and when they do their work and they have that autonomy.”

Inclusivity

NZIER research in recent years pointed out that remote working seemed to benefit women.

Businesses that had more women in leadership roles had led the shift to more flexibility for remote working, it said.

“The ability to work remotely is seen as advantageous for women as the flexibility to balance work and personal responsibilities would enable more women to maintain or return to fulltime employment after having children.

“OECD analysis shows that countries with the highest percentage of women working from home also have the highest female employment rates.”

It said it was the women in many households who took on the bulk of the housework and childcare responsibilities, and remote working gave them the opportunity to better manage children’s needs.

Haar said ethnic minorities also benefited from hybrid work.

“Groups that are typically under-represented. From an equity perspective there are benefits for underpaid groups, women and minorities.”

O’Kane said it would work differently for different people.

“For example I still don’t like working in the house when the kids are there and I come into the office… everyone’s a bit different and these rules that make it very concrete are not necessarily the best thing for any organisation particularly when it’s the size of the public sector.”

Wider hiring pool

O’Kane said working from home policies allowed organisations to hire from a wider pool of talent.

For the public service, that meant that it did not have to hire only people who could work in Wellington.

“In a public sector context they can pull people from around New Zealand and even, beyond that, internationally as well.”

Save money and time

Haar said people could save money working from home.

“Especially in these times when petrol is expensive, parking is expensive, it’s such a treat to work from home.”

O’Kane said it was debatable because sometimes people had to pay for more things like heating. “Potentially that’s not the key point. I think it’s people’s time, particularly if you have a long commute, that’s what they’re looking more at.”

Against...

Development

If a workplace has a lot of people who are remote, it can be harder for young people or those starting out to build connections and learn from the senior staff.

NZIER said younger workers expressed concern that they might miss out on networking or professional connections, and this could have a longer-term impact on their careers.

Burnout

There has been research that suggests people who work from home are less likely to have a sick day, which may increase their risk of burnout. Some people also report it being harder to turn off work at the end of the day.

NZIER said that seemed to be more of an issue for younger workers.

O’Kane said good leadership would be needed.

“When you have strong management and good leadership, that shouldn’t be happening, they should be encouraging people to take sick days and have really good guidelines in place.”

She said remote work could help people who had a cold, for example, because they might be well enough to work but not want to spread the illness to coworkers.

If they could be at home, it could save a sick day.

“The inequity is with people who can’t do that, if they’re in a cafe or retail they have to be there and their sick days go down much quicker.”

Different management styles

Managing people based on what they produced from home, rather than the number of hours they were at work, required a different management style, O’Kane said.

“It requires checking in on people regularly, making sure people feel connected.”

She said there were ways to maintain a social connection, even if it was online, such as quizzes and virtual morning teas.

Bad for CBDs

It has been reported that some central business districts are suffering because fewer people are travelling into the office.

Marisa Bidois, chief executive at the Restaurant Association, said there had been a dramatic reduction in foot traffic and revenue since the introduction of flexible working arrangements.

“The capital city, home to many government departments, has been notably impacted by this shift, as fewer workers in the office equates to reduced demand for cafes, restaurants, and other services that thrive on the bustle of urban life.

“Updated guidance for the public service will make it clear that working from home is not an entitlement and must be agreed and monitored, setting an important precedent for the corporate sector.

“If we want to see vibrant, thriving city centres, we need to see a balance of more workers back into CBDs, where their presence supports the recovery and growth of local businesses that have been hard-hit by decreased office occupancy.”

O’Kane said working from home should be part of life into the future.

“The generation coming into the workplace now wants so much flexibility, four-day working weeks, flexible hours, working from home. You’re mad if you think that’s not going to be a key aspect of attracting really good talent into your organisation.”

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- RNZ