Is working from home better or worse for productivity?
With the proportion of people working from home during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic growing from 5 per cent to 40 per cent, theres a renewed focus on the impacts and benefits of staying in the home office. The chairman of Australias Productivity Commission says higher rates of working from home have beneficial impacts on workers and are unlikely to harm the economy. With workers saving more than an hour each day by removing the commute, businesses are benefiting from staff working an additional 13 minutes on average each day, while workers have more time for care-giving and personal activities. While councils and governments are urging staff to return to the office when restrictions have eased to a point where it is possible, some studies show the workforce is unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels of office work.