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Want employees to return to the office? You might be risking a mass exodus of staff, warns an expert.
Dr Melissa Wheeler, senior lecturer in business administration at RMIT University, has delivered a stark warning to managers who are resistant to hybrid working.
“Four out of five flexible workers want work-from-home flexibility, but many employers have begun demanding people return to the office,” said Dr Wheeler.
“Many people won’t be willing to give up their flexible working arrangements to be forced back into commuting and working in a set place at fixed times.”
Increasingly, workers have gone so far as to quit their jobs and seek other positions, in a trend that has been informally dubbed “flexidus”.
According to Dr Wheeler, some workers will “leave that job and look for new opportunities that offer greater flexibility and suit their lifestyle”.
The “flexidus” phenomenon is only one in a long line of recent workplace behaviours that has caught the attention of researchers like Dr Wheeler.
As employers and employees grow increasingly divided in their expectations and needs, Dr Wheeler noted that “both feel exploited and taken advantage of”.
She said: “There is a disconnect between employees and employers about what a job constitutes, what is expected from each party, what one is willing to give, and what benefits one can expect to receive.”
While employees seek work/life balance, reduced commutes and increased leisure time, employers are concerned about “the dissipation of their old work culture, drops in innovation as a function of no spontaneous meetings, and a lack of bonding between team members”, Dr Wheeler explained.
“Trends like quiet quitting are symptoms of a gap in respect,” she said. “Something must be done to restore trust from employers, and protection and fulfilment for employees.”
Hybrid work has been subject to heated debate in recent months. Last October, a report found that nearly two-thirds of global CEOs believe that hybrid work will be obsolete by 2025, a view that some commentators have criticised as being out-of-touch with employee needs.
When workplaces do offer flexible work options, 71 per cent of employers expect staff who take up this option to give up some privileges, with 23 per cent of employers admitting they offered lower salaries to flexible workers than traditional nine-to-five workers.
Mental health days, four-day weeks, nine-day fortnights and opt-in office days are other initiatives that are gathering steam in Australian workplaces.
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