Economist Impact, supported by Google Workspace, conducted a survey of more than 600 knowledge workers across Asia Pacific about their experiences with hybrid or flexible work.
The research shows that the pandemic has changed the way organisations are looking at the nature of work. Some form of flexible work is here to stay, and organisations continue to find new ways of work that provide them with solutions that are flexible, collaborative, and productive and secure. This article—one of a four-part series examining the future of work in the region—focuses on Australia.
The series complements Economist Impact’s 2021 global study on the future of hybrid work, “Making hybrid work human”, which can be accessed here.
Key findings
- Australia is a regional outlier in terms of long-term implications of hybrid work policies. Almost half (48%) of Australians expect to spend between one and four days working remotely after 2022, compared with only a third of their South-East Asian counterparts.
- Australian companies were already relatively progressive about remote work. A majority of knowledge workers in Australia (77.7%) think flexible work hours will become standard practice in the near future.
- In the post-pandemic future, Australian SMEs are more likely to implement flexible and hybrid models than larger companies. Only 21.1% of SME respondents from the country expect a full-time return to the office compared with 40.3% of those working in larger firms.
