The Productivity Commission has released a research paper predicting that many Australians will continue to work from home after the COVID-19 pandemic is over.
Chair of the Commission, Michael Brennan said the pandemic had demonstrated that many jobs could be effectively done from home.
“As a result, it appears likely that the number of people working from home will remain much higher than it was previously,” Mr Brennan said.
He said the Working from Home Research Paper covered how decisions about the location of work would be made as firms and workers continued to learn how to organise themselves in this new environment.
“It also considers what an increase in working from home might mean for workplace regulation, urban centres and wellbeing more generally,” Mr Brennan said.
“In less than two years we have gone from less than eight per cent of Australians working from home to 40 per cent,” he said.
“While this percentage may not always remain so high, it is inevitable that more Australians will work from home.”
He said on balance, working from home could unlock significant gains in terms of flexibility and time for employees and could even increase the nation’s productivity.
“Risks can be managed but we should keep an eye on them and be ready to intervene if necessary,” Mr Brennan said.
“However, the Report has found that we should not stand in the way of this evolution.”
Mr Brennan said the Report recommended that, at this stage, Governments should support the work-from-home transition and should not take any immediate direct action.
“There is a long history of technology enabling different ways of working,” he said.
“The forced experiment of COVID-19 has greatly accelerated take-up of technology, including that which assists working-from-home opportunities,” Mr Brennan said.
The Commission’s 110-page Research Paper can be accessed at this PS News link.
