Dell, Flight Centre end working-from-home for staff
Written by admin on October 6, 2024
Flight Centre and Dell are two of the latest corporations to shunt the work-life balance scale back toward its pre-pandemic level, issuing all-staff memos in the past two weeks about rules for returning to the office.
An apparent Flight Centre memo to Australian staff shared online, which points to an unattached video with the Brisbane-based chief people and culture officer, says “a key part of our culture is the ability to form connections together in person”. NewsWire has approached Flight Centre for comment.
Staff are expected in their offices or shops except when travelling, the memo reads. People can request exceptions.
Dell gave employees four days notice they had to return to five days a week in the office, Reuters reported. That memo was issued on September 26, to take effect September 30.
Dell Technologies previously had a three days a week rule in place, according to the memo. NewsWire has contacted the company for comment.
Dell employs about 1500 people in Australia.
Last month Amazon sent a message out that from 2025 all staff would be back in the office five days a week, ending its own three-day-a-week policy.
Surveys show widely varying levels of support for working from home.
KPMG’s 2024 global CEO survey, of 1325 chief executives, found 78 per cent “would likely” reward employees who came into the office with pay rises, promotions, and better opportunities.
Within three years, 83 per cent of the chief executives expect a full return to the office, up from 64 per cent the year before.
An Australian survey of 500 bosses and department heads found different results.
HR software company Rippling polled bosses and managers at Australian businesses with 20 to 500 staff, finding 67 per cent endorse a work-from-anywhere policy. Exactly two-thirds want a four-day working week.
As an aside, 44 per cent of HR leaders agree a four-day work week can increase productivity, while 65 per cent of IT and 62 per cent of finance leaders think a four-day week would boost output. In August workers in Australia’s biggest employer – the New South Wales public service – were told to get back to the office, which struggling hospitality business owners applauded.
However, the public service union believes there is not enough office space for the returning civil servants, and claimed working conditions would “never” return to their pre-pandemic form.
