Two more major companies in Australia have ended their staff’s WFH privileges, joining a growing list of employers who want their staff back in the office.
Flight Centre and Dell ordered staff back recently, with Dell giving staff only four days notice that flexible working arrangements were ending.
Dell’s memo was sent on September 26 and employees were expected to resume working five days in the office from September 30, Reuters reported.
Dell, which has about 1500 Aussie workers, had been operating under a three-day-a-week rule before its sudden shift to five days in the office.
The Dell memo said the shift was to help the collaborative environment and ‘grow skills’ – which requires employees back in the office.
‘Working remotely should be the exception rather than the routine,’ it said.
The Flight Centre memo was reportedly shared online and refers to an unattached video featuring the Brisbane-based chief people and culture officer.
It placed workplace culture as the main reason they want their staff back in the office.
Both Flight Centre and Dell are the latest companies abolishing WFH privileges (pictured a Flight Centre)
The memo said ‘a key part of our culture is the ability to form connections together in person’, Yahoo reported.
Flight Centre employees are now required five days a week in their offices and shops – unless they are travelling.
But employees have the opportunity to request exceptions.
Flight Centre and Dell are just the latest to scrap the WFH benefit, with tech giant Amazon and Aussie gaming outfit Tabcorp also recently mandating their staff back into the office.
And it looks set to become an ongoing trend.
KPMG’s recent 2024 CEO Outlook survey found a staggering eight in ten CEOs believe WFH will be a thing of the past within the next three years.
Recruitment expert Graham Wynn told Yahoo the majority of companies were always going to return to having staff back in the office five days a week.
‘I think, realistically, people have to accept it is going to happen, and we’re certainly seeing a huge decrease in the number of companies offering jobs with work-from-home or hybrid opportunities,’ he said.
Dell gave four days notice to its employees to come back into the office 5 days a week, instead of three (pictured Dell Logo)
Despite the orders back to work from employers, Aussie workers are less enthusiastic.
According to a Yahoo poll of more than 3,200 workers, a staggering 69 per cent would resign if their WFH privileges were abolished.
But the KPMG survey also found employees would come back to the office if they were given perks.
The report found 78 per cent of Aussie CEOs ‘would likely’ give those who came back pay rises, promotions, as well as better opportunities.
But many full-time workers said any pay rise for going back into the office was in fact an expectation.
Daily Mail Australia contacted Dell and Flight Centre for comment.