'Making working from home work' webinar On 13 October 2021, the Commission hosted an online discussion about how workers and employers are going to make working from home work. Moderated by Helen Trinca - Associate Editor, The Australian. Panellists include: Michael Brennan - Chair, Productivity Commission Prof Anne Bardoel - Swinburne University of Technology Molly Hellerman - VP Operations, Delivery and Innovation, Atlassian. Transcript of webinar 'Making working from home work' webinar transcript (PDF - 174 Kb) 'Making working from home work' webinar transcript (Word - 59 Kb) Forced experiment working from home Transcript of video Hey, you are on mute. You're on mute. Has this happened to you? Then you, like me, might be one of the 2 in 5 workers thrown into the forced experiment of working from home. Beforehand, only a very small number of people were working from home, but COVID meant that it's rapidly become the new normal. Even in lockdown with the joys of balancing work and childcare or remote learning, it was better than expected for many, including a lot of employers. In fact, many people think they are as or more productive and happier when working from home. For employers to continue to support this shift productivity will matter. As people continue to learn and adapt, we're optimistic that productivity will not fall and it could improve across the economy. Productivity matters, but so does wellbeing, and this is the main benefit for many employees, even if it doesn't fully show up in the economic stats. Saving time on the commute means people have more time to do other things. Like spending time with loved ones or on hobbies, and they have more flexibility to combine paid work with other day-to-day. Many workplaces will find it hard to convince people to come back to the office all the time – if they want to keep their talent – because people are seeing the benefits and will look for the opportunities it provides elsewhere. There are more benefits for employers than just a happier workforce. Some are finding they can hire people anywhere if they work from home, not just where offices are located. The most common work arrangements could be hybrid, where people work some days in the office and some days at home. There will always be some jobs that don't lend themselves to working from home and some employers who don't support it. So what should governments do about this new normal? They should support the evolving transition and keep track of how things are going, but there's no need for a big policy response right now. After all, this is still fairly new, and it's happened more quickly than people could have imagined. It's one of the biggest changes to the way we work in the last 50 years and is still playing out. Brought on by one of the biggest pandemics in 100 years. Looks like some form of working from home is here to stay for many of us. Are you interested in more? Read our report at pc.gov.au