A leading property boss has warned Aussie workers are more likely to be replaced by AI if they refuse to work in the office, rejecting calls for employees to work from home to ease pressure on dwindling fuel supplies.
The recommendation was one of several steps published by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the world’s leading energy agency, on Friday.
IEA found that 45 per cent of global oil demand stems from road transport and urged workers to stay at home when possible and to use public transport where they can.
It also suggested reducing highway speed limits by 10km/h would save on fuel.
But Charter Hall chief executive David Harrison disagreed, arguing that most Aussies used public transport to commute to work and warning more companies would waste no time making the transition to AI technology.
‘This looks like an own goal to me,’ he told The Australian on Wednesday.
‘At a time when labour markets are on edge due to the threats posed by AI and a global economic slowdown, it would seem irrational for the government to provide any further impetus for companies to experiment with the use of AI as an alternative to the human labour force.
‘At a time when the economy is vulnerable, further government intervention would not be productive.’
Charter Hall chief executive David Harrison (pictured) declared Australian businesses do not support suggestions for employees to work from home to help ease the fuel crisis
However, while Mr Harrison claims businesses are opposed to the work-from-home ruling, some industry unions have expressed their support.
The Finance Sector Union said on Monday it had written to employers requesting that they ‘suspend’ in-office requirements and allow for flexible work arrangements.
‘We’re living in uncertain times right now, and we understand many FSU members are feeling anxious about the global situation and what increasing cost of living pressures will mean,’ the FSU said in a statement.
‘Unfortunately, these pressures are predicted to only get worse as the war in the Middle East continues.
‘With surging fuel prices and transport costs, increased mortgage and rent repayments, and growing inflation, suspending office attendance requirements is a reasonable and practical measure that your employer can take right now to help keep your costs down.’
The union added that finance workers in particular had demonstrated their ability to perform their roles from home during and after the pandemic.
Fuel costs have soared since the US and Israel-led attacks on Iran, resulting in the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital passageway for about 20 per cent of the world’s oil.
Oil prices now exceed earlier forecasts, with more industries expected to be hit hard (pictured, a petrol station with no petrol available in Rockdale, in Sydney’s south)
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Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Tuesday warned the financial impacts of the ongoing conflict in Iran could be worse than Covid and the Global Financial Crisis.
He told 100 business leaders that the end of the war ‘can’t come soon enough’.
Oil prices now exceed earlier forecasts, with more industries expected to be hit hard.
‘This is the fifth big global economic shock in less than two decades, it could be just as serious as the four before it,’ Chalmers said.
‘We are well placed and well prepared, but we will be buffeted.
‘Two things matter most here, how long the war lasts but also how long it takes to get the global economy back on track after it ends.
‘We’ve seen the positive market response from speculation about US negotiations with Iran and from an economic point of view it’s clear the end of the war can’t come soon enough.’
