Working-from-home arrangements in the APS are here to stay, much to the frustration of small-business owners in the CBD. Photo: South Agency.
Flexible working arrangements for public servants are here to stay despite the impact they are having on some Canberra CBD businesses experiencing a drop in trade.
The Canberra Business Chamber recently reported its latest Business Beat survey, which shows that while business conditions have stabilised over the past quarter, the outlook remains gloomy for many businesses.
“Half of businesses report that they didn’t meet their performance targets in the last quarter, and 36 per cent report a negative or very negative view of the business environment,” chamber chief executive Greg Harford said.
While several factors are contributing to current business struggles, some traders are pointing to the low occupancy rates in city buildings and the fact that more public servants are working from home than ever before.
Flexible working arrangements for Australian Public Service employees were secured in APS-wide bargaining negotiations last year.
Agreements at agency level were mostly positively voted on and a bias towards approving work-from-home requests is directed at all levels across APS agencies.
The Community and Public Sector Union claimed a win in the bargaining process, locking in significant improvements to APS workers’ access to flexible working arrangements, including working from home.
Small-business owners and the property sector want the government to help entice more people back to their offices and into the CBD.
Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher, however, said the APS had to offer flexibility to its workforce to attract and retain good staff.
But the right balance had to be struck.
“I think the APS is like every employer,” Senator Gallagher said.
“We’ve had to manage flexible work arrangements, particularly since COVID when it really accelerated and a lot of people began working from home and managed working from home and enjoyed working part of the week from home.
“So, the APS is like every other employer in that regard. We have to offer flexibility if we’re to retain key people. But it has to be a balance.
“They have to continue to deliver the work … we’re keeping an eye on this – I guess the behaviour response to working-from-home arrangements.
“There is the ability to work from home if you’ve negotiated with your manager and there’s operational flexibility for that.
“Obviously, in a lot of public sector roles, there isn’t that flexibility and you need to be in the office.
“But it’s something I think all employers will be keeping their eye on. You know, how do you manage what your employees need with what your operational needs are?”
Senator Gallagher said about 39 per cent of the APS workforce had no working-from-home arrangements and were in the office most days.
“That’s a pretty sizeable group, and then when you look at the next chunk, the majority are a day or two days working from home and the rest in the office,” she said.
“So, it’s very rare to have someone, employees who are just not in the office. That’s not the way it’s working in the APS.
“But I accept that for businesses that have structured their businesses around big employment bases like large departments in Canberra, that even if you see a small reduction, that affects your business.
“So you know, we’ve got sympathy with that. We want people in the office, but we need to also be making sure that we are an attractive place to work.”
Small-business advocate Peter Strong, a former CEO of the Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia, said there were serious business and economic impacts of work-from-home arrangements and the government had a responsibility to the business sector.
“The first issue is about the CBD businesses who built a healthy customer base only to have that disappear during COVID and never recover to the old levels due to the WFH culture,” Mr Strong said.
“We see many hospitality and retail businesses closing their doors after many years of profitable activity. Not the business owners’ fault. This is something imposed by a decision of government.
“That is obviously not a good outcome and the government needs to compensate those businesses as it is a government decision that caused the loss of business.
“In the past, governments have supported businesses affected by government decisions, such as scrapping dairy subsidies and changes to import duties.
“This is similar, it is a government decision that caused the business closures and the businesses should be compensated.
“The second impact may have far-reaching effects. The values of buildings in the CBD are based on what rent they can get. Rent is based on what income the business tenants can make.
“At the moment, we are seeing more and more empty spaces in the retail and hospitality sections of our city centres as businesses do not have the income needed to cover the high rent for these premises.
“This will impact on the value of properties and eventually the banks will call in the loans. That will add to any economic difficulties.”
Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Riotact.
