A new Australian study supports international findings that working from home during the pandemic has enabled employees to have more autonomy over their work, be more productive, and gave them more time with their family.
The research, by the University of NSW Canberra (UNSW) and Central Queensland University (CQU) partnered with the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), showed that almost two-thirds of managers said they would be more supportive of employees working from home in the future.
Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management at UNSW Canberra, Sue Williamson said this was a major finding as previous research conducted in the area had found a lot of managerial resistance to working-from-home arrangements.
“The current COVID-19 pandemic forced the majority of organisations to remote working, including Agencies from the Australian Public Service (APS),” Dr Williamson said.
“This was a major change for these Departments, many of which did not have a strong working-from-home culture, so it is encouraging that there now seems to be this shift in attitude.”
Associate Professor at CQU, Linda Colley said that overall the research showed working from home was good for individuals, families and organisations.
“Post-pandemic, APS organisations would do well to continue enabling employees to work from home,” Professor Colley said.
“Employees, however, are still reporting some resistance from managers and their organisations which points to a disconnection between the two.”
The study surveyed almost 6,000 APS employees about how they had worked from home during the current pandemic.
As restrictions eased, depending on the current state of the pandemic across the country, some Agencies had begun to bring back employees into the office.
“Employees want to continue to work from home. Some managers and organisations are still stuck in a pre-pandemic mindset, however, and are reluctant to let them do so,” Dr Williamson said.
“We encourage organisations to continue embracing this form of flexible working.”
The researchers’ full report Working during the Pandemic: From Resistance to Revolution‘ will be available in September.
