Hello everyone. I work in finance sector in Sydney and I am interested to know how many days per week people here working from home? My office is starting to get people to come back into office 2 or 3 days and I am interested to know how this compares with other firms? Thank you.
How Many Days a Week Do You Work from Home?
Ljimwall on 20/06/2022 - 10:32
Poll Options
- 2290 day WFH
- 521 day WFH
- 1532 days WFH
- 1543 days WFH
- 1384 days WFH
- 4315 days WFH
Comments
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The company I work for is based on Melbourne and I'm in Canberra so pretty difficult for them to make me work from the office lol
I would quite like to work in an office say 2 days a week, and he able to have casual chats to co-workers without having to schedule a meeting. I do like being home as well but I get very easily distracted (case in point right now).
Haha the distraction at home is far too easy - definitely focus better at the office that's for sure
For me, everyone has to come in Tue-Wed-Thu, and optional for Mon/Fri. Obviously if you're sick stay home, which right now is quite a few. Its not being strictly enforced though but compliance is quite high.
I get more distracted at work! Home is so much more productive for me.
Agree 100%.
Went in last week and got almost nothing done. Seemed to be that not much more than 5 mins would pass without another conversation starting with colleagues. I suppose this would be less frequent if we were in every day. Also notice background distractions in the office far more than I used to.
At home I have a study room I can lock myself away in, so far more productive.
I used to think that, or at least that I was equally productive but I just randomly started going into the office 2-3 days a week for a change and found that I get so much more done at the office.
After more than 2 years of WFH and the fear of losing your job has completely disappeared (compared to the very start of the pandemic) it's so easy to slack off a little, maybe get some household chores done, faff around in general. Compared to going to the office where I went out of my way to go there specifically to work so I end up working harder I guess, mostly a mindset thing. The distinction between work and home has been great and it has been refreshing to actually see my colleagues in person and on multiple occasions proven to be hugely beneficial when we could work through critical issues in person much more efficiently than over teams.
Everyone is different but I'm finding more and more people coming into our office and sharing a similar experience.
Fwiw no one is being made to come in and yet some days the office is super busy.
Ditto
5 days a week wfh for 2 years now.
(profanity) going in the office, will fight tooth and nail to avoid it/look for other work first if I can.
thanks. If I may ask what field are you in? Most common poll response right now is fully WFH so am interested to see what area is most common. In Finance and Accounting sector from what I observe from friends and colleague 2 to 3 days WFH a week is becoming normal now.
Government data analytics job in Vic.
Didn't most government jobs go back to the office? I thought they scrapped WFH.
@SlavOz: Many agencies in the federal space have gone somewhat hybrid at the moment with 2 or 3 days WFH, whether it stays that way is another matter, but for moment a lot are allowing some WFH.
I, too, like to stay in my pajamas all day and do what ever I please.
As much or as little as I like. There is no pressure to go into the office. They know that it is impossible to recruit people at the moment and as such have made a business decision to be totally flexible, subject to work getting done. Generally, I will voluntarily go in once a week to catch up with colleagues - often I only end up staying until lunch though!
Wtf are you basing this on?
I think they're basing it on the opposite of any real evidence :)
It’s the vibe…
I have a 50+ video playlist on TikTok of people ‘working from home’ (read: taping mouses to their fans so they don’t go offline on Teams)
He's a middle-manager that isn't able to micromanage anyone, so he's finding it hard to justify his existence.
depending on the industry. In tech I'd say you can just reject any company who don't do 100% WFH, as there are plenty who do. ATM I'm looking for jobs that allow me to remote overseas for as long as I'm still tax resident, very easy to come by local remote jobs otherwise. I will come to the office for catch up and everything but it should be on the basis of necessity/team building, instead of "we just don't do 100%"
We have less people and are working on more projects and things that they kept intending to do before COVID but kept being put on hold because they were too much work (some from 10 or so years ago). I think you're in the minority needing someone to hold your hand while you work.
Lol utter nonsense. Wife started a new job and 3 days later it was mass lockdown in NSW so she was full work from home for 2 years. Know how many new staff the business added to its 200 current employed over that entire time? 3..
My team was incredibly productive during covid lockdown and continue to be in a mostly wfh arrangement post covid. I don't care if they are in the office or not, one less thing to manage. Happy workers are productive workers.
At our finance sector firm, they are similarly pressuring people to come in at least 2 days a week.
It's a complete annoyance. Working from home gives me so much of my life back, through things like not having to spend 2+ hours each day in a commute, not wasting time in useless chit-chat with random people, being able to do focused work without distractions, not wasting time trying to "appear busy" after I've finished my work etc.
Inevitably, attitudes will change and more companies will ditch offices for 100% or 90% working from home. Until then, we have to put up with this stupid pressure to go back to the office from dinosaurs who can't adapt to the new technology-assisted reality.
yes this is what I am experience too.
not wasting time trying to "appear busy" after I've finished my work etc.
I make a living (in fact a life long career) from only doing this
, not wasting time trying to "appear busy" after I've finished my work etc.
The increased freedoms with the “WFH” paradigm are truly liberating. Of course, all the real jobs that require actual work to be accomplished can’t be done virtually. Bring on the robot army!
So writing the software that controls a robot which could be done from home isn't real work, but if that robot goes and does something physical it is doing real work?
So when you finish your work do you tell your employer you’re finished for the day? Are you paid by the hour?
IT job in Finance Sector here… we don't need to tell our employer we're done, but we do have daily updates to our work items, so we all see that stuff is getting done.
We've been pretty much 100% WFH for a while now (aside from the couple of times colleagues choose to go into the office), but a lot of us are now leaning towards wanting to get back in the office a bit more (2 or so times a week) if we can, without putting ourselves too much at risk (it's still a thing here - I am just now recovering from COVID-19).It feels good knowing your employer trusts you enough to manage your own time and work items, and, for our team at least, is an incentive for us to continue to provide quality results.
3-4 days a week. Spending a day a week in office is quite beneficial on many levels for team-based work.
team based work ? Do you work in McDonalds ?
Engineering. There's only so much virtual collaboration you can do, but having people in a room on occasion is extremely helpful. Particularly for in-depth multi-discipline reviews and systems assurance processes.
Im in Melbourne, the team I manage is in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney. Still trying to work out the benefits of us all to go into the office and sit on Zoom to collaborate anyway!
My workplace is "encouraging" 2 days a week in the office for now, increasing to 3 later in the year. You can go in more if you choose.
ive been working from home for 6 years now… i think i've been into the office maybe 30 times in that period (and 15 of those days was for a 3 week training course)
wow you started even before covid. May I ask what industry you work in?
Saving the world?
IT PM.. started working from home because my team was all around Australia (and my manager was in Sydney), i was the only one in my team in melbourne. So i thought to myself, why am i going to the office? had a chat with my manager, and he said "i don't care where you work, just get the work done"
god what a manager! kind of person we need everywhere, instead of the ones that need to watch you in your seat to confirm work is getting done
I've been remote for 5 years, when lockdown started I didn't feel so alone anymore 😬
Been doing 2 days a week for the last few months, it's pretty annoying especially when you hear about other departments coming in much less frequently.
*2 days a week in the office
Supposed to go in one day a week, but boss can relate to our reluctance and isn't enforcing it. Only go in when I have something on after work. Work in tertiary education.
5 days WFH
as an ozbargainer not having to pay train fares/lunches/coffees has helped the bank balance
i shifted from a gov role due to the executive team (average age of 60+) requiring 100% office based time, the staff were surveyed and 80% wanted at least 1-2 days WFH. (The 20% that wanted to be in the office full time were likely trying to escape their other half/family). The exec team were firmly entrenched in the bums on seats approach and stuck in the dark ages… Offer trash conditions, get rubbish workers basically and that's what happened.
Left for another role which offered 2 days a week working from home (along with a 40% pay bump and haven't looked back.)
Meanwhile the previous workplace is turning over staff faster than ever, with an increasing number of disgruntled employees looking for work. And the exec team will just point fingers at everyone else and 'low unemployment' to blame for their staffing issues. Next thing you know their $1 billion + project is a year behind schedule and the consultant is charging delay fees.i contract to government and they said 100% in office, every one arked up and said 2 days at most, they accepted it ion the end otherwise everyone would leave
3 days a week with few anchor days for F2F conversations.
Every Monday WFH, it feels like a 4 day week so good !!
0 days WFH. As I found out during the lockdowns, I really don't have that much self-discipline and it's all too easy to get distracted. I also like having that firm office/home distinction (i.e. if I'm not physically in the office, then I'm not at work so I won't be doing work).
Imagine paying money for commute and also wasting 1-2 hours per day of your life, just because you don't have the self control to work during work at home. You must not have much pressure from Management if you feel you can do no work at home.
Oi
Do you live in an apartment?
8️⃣
5 days per week WFH for a Bank. I specifically applied for this position as I now live 100km away from the office. My manager is not even in the same state as me so no need to physically catch up. Saves me travel costs, saves them the cost of me eating all the chocolate biscuits.
Pro: no travel cost, flexible work hours.
Con: Too close to the fridge, lines blurred between work and play.
You play in/on the fridge?
Sounds cool to me
He got one of those Xbox Series X fridges
I dont WFH but i have the option to do part of my job the 'admin' side from home however we have a 50% on campus rule as long as KPIs are met the other 50% you work off site
Normally I'm 1 day a week but currently 5. In the process of renegotiating and if the flexibility to WFH isn't in there, I'll be leaving.
I get more done at home, have less politics to deal with and other people can't offload their work onto me.
I'm currently in Govt, and have commenced in a remote role where I am based in NSW and my team is based is ACT. I have been advised should attempt to be in the office one day a week - however so far been WFH 5 days a week.
Wife is just about to start her govt job in the energy sector. Thankfully they have no expectation of her being in the office at all as she is in Newcastle and the team is in Canberra. There is an office in Sydney but none of her actual team is there.
0 days wfh. I like spending $10 a day on Myki fare and 2 hours of my life on traveling.
Those who are 5 days wfh, please share what you do?
I had a taste of wfh for some parts of the last 2 years, now back full time. I'm pretty introverted, its insane how much better life felt working from home.IT :) many IT pros are not being forced into the office and thank god for that. Work places know those roles will be hard to fill if they enforce in person.
Like lainey13 said, most are in IT. I am in the IT field (Web Developer, Digital Marketing mixture), WFH full time. I do live 200km round trip from the office and whilst I am happy to go in every now and then, I work around it with times etc to avoid huge traffic and work in with home life. I am in VIC too.
im in finance
IT/finance
Thanks for the replies, I'm actually in IT but in an education environment. I always knew i need to specialise to be happy in this area.
You know whats underrated, using your own toilet.
You know whats underrated, using your own toilet.
Working in mining, I couldn't agree more.
Dispute resolution in financial services.
Digital facilitation and human centred design for a global real estate service provider.
I moved 100kms away from the city pre-pandemic. Currently my home internet is 300mb/s and in the office it's 70mb/s so I can work better at home.
WFH all days but will go to the office ad hoc once every two months maybe for team building and lunch out when we make significant achievements etc.
I started for one of the big 4 in Nov2021 and have been into the office twice.
I do work in technology and have half my team in India, so that certainly allows us leverage as we have to always consider how we do things.I have seen some leaders who prefer to be in the office and it naturally comes off as them wanting people in the office 2-3 days per week. When called out on it, they did change their tune and approach.
Longer term I’d like to do 1 day a week in the office, with a 2nd if it’s required (for these loosely described bonding/collab days). I have been able to move to the central coast thanks to WFH, so that’s been awesome. I think even if we move back to Syd I’ll still want minimal office time.
0 Days WFH , 1 would be good to start with ,newer roles are offering more WFH days now
Wow, that’s rough.
Have you considered looking for a new role/company?
Currently I go to the office once a fortnight. There's been a bit of a broader push to increase this across the business recently, but our managers remain supportive of our current arrangement.
I get literally nothing done the days we're in, too much conversation/catching up. I also notice background noise etc far more than I used to when going in regularly. Also probably spend maybe $30 on train fares, coffee lunch etc on the office days, all to be less productive than at home.
Surprised to see so many people with flexibility to work where they want. I'm having trouble looking for fully (or mostly) WFH jobs as most job ads seem pretty cryptic about it and say "flexible working conditions available" or something like that (which could mean anything, really).
It's getting to a point where I'm wondering if I should make a career change into a field where full WFH is more common, even though I'm otherwise happy in my current field. Dealing with all the distractions and background noise and chitchat in the office plus trying not to catch COVID/flu while wasting hours on public transport is really stressing me out.
"flexible working conditions available"
Probably it's a scam and every day in office is expected but if you really really push you'll get 1-2 days.
I WFH 5 days a week and it is truly great.
Yeah I wouldn't be surprised haha. Was it 5 days WFH from the beginning or just due to COVID? I'm dead set on moving to a job that offers full WFH but have no idea where to start. Wouldn't want to spend weeks applying to a dozen jobs only to find out they offer no flexibility :(
I think recruiters get that question all the time so just ask at the start of the interview process. Or maybe look out for it being mentioned in the job description.
I've been WFH since before covid but covid really cemented the permanent nature of being able to WFH.
Jobs that are vacant are often vacant for a reason.
My office is starting to get people to come back into office 2 or 3 days and I am interested to know how this compares with other firms?
Interested to know why do you need comparison? WFH is a flexible work arrangement for employees based on the type of work you do, sort of other personal responsibilities or duties you have outside of work and how it affects the business you are in. It’s not like everyone needs to come up with a fixed solution affecting everyone else in the industry 🤔.
People are asking because same job, same industry are being asked different things based on the company.
Maybe this commenter is asking if it’s greener pastures elsewhere?Hmm… Not a fair measure imo.
My office is starting to get people to come back into office 2 or 3 days and I am interested to know how this compares with other firms?
From the tone of OP's question it seems like they have reservations about the new arrangement. My comment was simply suggesting it's not like you can compare job A to job B and come up with a fixed solution for everyone. I work in software and between my friends who are on similar roles it's all different arrangements that work for their particular workplace / client / team or department.
Cheers!
State government, they're pushing a three-day in the office narrative. So far I'm still full WFH but dreading a return. It's all so pointless as everyone has picked different days in and the various hubs around the state are counted as being in the office even though it's just working remotely by a different name. My productivity will be impacted and there's no way I'll be working through my lunchbreak or staying on past the usual end of the day time like I have been doing for the last 2 and a half years - which I justify to myself by balancing the freedom to cook, clean, hang out washing, exercise etc.
I think eventually it will be everyone wfh on same days across diff offices. We did something similar at first and it was ridiculous with everyone taking different days.
I go into the office once a week. It's nice to see my colleagues in person, but I'm much more productive at home.
Been WFH 5 days a week since APR 2020
I work for a rather large organisation, and am responsible for Property decisions. I've been doing a bit of analysis lately to determine if we should reduce our footprint by a building. Highlights from my research suggest:
1. Of people who come into the office, they average 1.8 days per week
2. Of all staff, average days in office is 1.1 (ie alot of people don't come in at all drag the average down)
3. On average each week, roughly half of staff are not seen at all
4. On average each month, ~25% of staff are not seen at all.So most people are coming in to some extent, but its very light touch. Different business types have varying levels of attendance - but i think the message is clear - work how it suits you, providing your general productivity doesnt take a hit!
4 days at moment as one customer I work with requires their staff to be in the office so it is good to follow their lead. I expect it will increase to 2 or 3 days a week over coming 6 months as a couple of other places are gradually ramping back up the requirement to Work from Office as productivity for them has been incredibly bad with WFH.
WFH 5 days a week.. feels like Im stuck in a time warp where 2 months feels like 1 week… bouncing from day to day..
2 says a week in the office, but if I plan well with medical appointments, car appointments, annual leave, I can get it down to 1 day a week on a lot of occasions.
Management have now resorted to scheduling work funded drinks on some days to encourage people to come in.
At this stage they're going after the people who do zero days in the office each week. Staying under the radar is good.
2 days a week I work in the office for current employer. Next week my new employer is 0 days in the office.
Wow interesting results. I'd be interested to know how accurate the results are as perhaps somewhat reflective without a solid "flex" involved - i.e. how much do you earn? What is your net worth?
5 days/ week WFH here.
1 day a week to the office. Old workplace was come in when you want to. Sigh
End of last year, half our company got sold and with that divorce, the US company I now got split to lost the Sydney office to the other party. Although I've been WFH since the start of the pandemic in Mar '20, I'm officially a remote worker since Oct '21.
It has its pros and cons but I do like the idea that I can work anywhere around the world, however, partner is a nurse so that'll be unlikely that I can easily leave for somewhere else any time soon.
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I'm in a new job which is closer to my place so in theory, I'll probably turn up one day a week.
However, I have certain meetings that I need to attend in person (thanks CFO) so it'll increase to 2 days most likely in the next couple of months.
Another however is that its flu season so heaps of my new colleagues have had flu and/or covid (like me) so still a bit of a turn off to coming back at the moment.