Where do you stand on it?

How do you feel about bosses wanting staff back into the office five days a week?

I have mixed emotions.

I would probably be annoyed but OK with it … if I didn’t have dogs. The dogs would not cope AT ALL.

They have been spoilt by having constant company over the past four years. Sometimes when I leave the apartment I can hear them howling like wolves as I walk down the street.

My neighbours must love me.

I am lucky enough to live very close to the city, so I don’t face a huge commute. However, some of my workmates would spend hours on public transport each day. Others have kids to collect from childcare and other commitments that would be impacted.

Their work-life balance would be shattered.

Also, an incident yesterday highlighted there is merit in having staff at home.

I got a panicked message at 8am asking if I was online to whip up some emergency background notes for a radio interview.

One colleague was dropping a child to daycare, another was on the train, a third was at a media conference and a fourth was sick.

That left me. And luckily I was sitting at home in front of the computer.

If I was working five days a week in the office I would have been at the bus stop or halfway across the Harbour Bridge at 8am.

Instead I whipped up those notes in a jiffy.

[Note to self: why is it called a “jiffy”?]

That’s why I don’t think mandating a full-time return to the office is the cookie-cutter answer.

And there are going to be some very disgruntled employees if the policy is ruthlessly enforced.

A recent survey of 2000 white-collar professionals across Australia by recruitment specialists Robert Walters discovered that 40 per cent of the workforce would look for a new job if their employer required them to increase their in-office presence to five days a week. 

A further 33 per cent said they would do so if their work from home days were reduced. 

The survey found hybrid working and workplace culture are the main deciding factors for accepting a new job. 

Forty one per cent of respondents said that the commute to work is the main deterrent for returning to the office, while another 45 per cent said work-life balance is the most important factor when considering a new role.

Tabcorp chief executive Gillon McLachlan recently told workers they are expected to come into the office Monday to Friday, following Amazon making a similar move.

NSW Premier Chris Minns has also directed public servants to return to the office full time, saying overseas studies show people are less productive when working from home.

I would argue that’s not the case for me. Hauling me into the office five days a week means you’ll get less out of me, not more.

At home I jump on line at about 8am.

If I commute to the office you lose an hour of my time. I will start at 9am instead, after getting dressed in my work clothes, walking to the bus stop, riding to work, getting my coffee and walking to the office.

I will not be revitalizing the city while I am there.

The only money I will spend is $5 on a coffee, depriving a coffee shop near my home of the purchase.

My lunch will be brought from home and I will be dashing straight back there at the end of the day to let the dogs out.

I also find being in the office distracting. So many loud telephone conversations and people wandering up for a chat.

I like putting my head down and getting on with things and I can do that more easily at home.

But I do agree that having some face-to-face time is good – it builds bonds and helps new staff assimilate.

How would you feel about being back in the office every day if you were a white collar worker?

It feels a bit retro to me.

Song of the day: Dolly Parton “9 to 5”