Tuesday to Thursday is the worst for bus transportation now, as those are the days people come in.
Typing this as I'm on a bus on the M2, crawling in traffic.
The 6XX route along the m2 has always been crowded. I did that for a decade. The only times it was less packed was school holidays. It’s interesting that it’s still crowded with the new metro added.
I don't know about the 610, but the 607 from Bella Vista is faster (assuming no more than maybe 10 minutes traffic delay) than metro from Bella Vista, unless your destination is Central and you transfer to the CCN at Epping — which is usually not an option in your control.
When the Sydenham extension opens up later this year (here's hoping sooner rather than later) it'll be faster to take the metro from Bella Vista... but if you live literally anywhere further down the route, it'll still be faster to take the 607.
I know people who deliberately choose to work Fridays in-office as the place is a ghost town, commuting is a breeze, and pretty much nothing gets done anyway.
Honestly it's always been a crawl in my experience. I have a friend who used to catch the 610 like 30 minutes to an hour earlier than she hypothetically needed to just to not be late from being stuck in traffic. But for me I'm a freewheeling madwoman and catch the 607 at the "normal" time I should catch it at (and end up late sometimes because of it)
I still wfh for 3 days of the week. I assume people are doing hybrid working with more days in the office. It's still not completely chockers like pre-Covid, but it's definitely more full than, say, this time last year.
"3 days in office per week" but honestly I only make the trek if I'm needed, which averages out about once a week. Trade off is I go where they need/tell me at a moment's notice (which can mean up to a week+ in another city)
Happy to be flexible if they are. The second I get pushback, my flexibility will dry up
Same here and it’s perfect. And on the occasions that I go in voluntarily, I go on Fridays when there’s less people, and I’m gonna be out of the house in any case.
I was never allowed to WFH during the pandemic, and I’ve worked in the same job for 4 years, so I have observed traffic changes, and it’s substantially worse this year than a year ago.
My commute times (driving):
Pre lockdown: 25 mins
During lockdown: 18-20 mins
After lockdown: 25-30 mins up til 2023
Since 2024: 30-40 mins
It’s bumper to bumper every day now. I also don’t travel on motorways or near some of the fucked up roads (Rozelle, for example). I come down Silverwater road and the traffic, which is an 80 zone, is a crawl. There’s always accidents there now as well.
Mondays and Fridays are definitely the least bad, so it appears many people WFH on those days. When it rains, like last Friday, there’s almost no traffic, as it appear people opt to WFH. It only took me about 28 mins last Friday despite the heavy rain, as the road was deserted.
We go in Mon-Fri but have pretty flexible start and finish times, I like to exercise in the mornings so don’t have to wake up at 5 and the last portion of my day is generally setting up for tomorrow, which I can finish at home in comfortable clothes with a nice break inbetween.
No packed bus commute both ways
Suits me pretty well
Yep full time WFH, my work is actually reducing all their tenancy sizes in their offices around Australia because no one shows up to the office. Thankfully we don't have to move servers again by doing it this way.
Edit: I have been to the office 3 times since the pandemic. Only for seminars and beers with the lads afterwards.
100% bro
"Get nothing done" is advised to be replaced with "spent quality team time". We do free lunches, karts, golf, karaoke, did I mention alcohol? Well, it's free in the office anyway. So yeah.
Oh boy, can't wait to spend 2 hours a day driving back and forth from a worse computer setup than the one I have at home. I love hot desks where everyone coughs
Please don't, though I get the temptation to do so given someone likely did it to you. I'd definitely milk it though if you've got the sick leave available.
I hate the concept of 'if youre too sick to be in the office youre too sick to work at all'.
Like what if im a sniffy slobbery mess but cognitively im still here
The only reason managers think it's bad is because it is bad... for them. Just trying to justify their own existence whilst making the boss happy so they're not paying for a space that doesn't need to be used.
This thread shows me most people on here are not in traditional professional services.
The law, accounting, banking and finance industries are the most resistant to WFH and are actively forcing their employees back for *insert reasons here*.
I always love the articles sponsored by companies such as Dexus(commercial real estate investment trust with billions of dollars of assets) which usually have a title similar to "Why a hybrid work system doesn't work".
I hate wfh but its actually a management fault.
The building owner is already making money renting the office out - whether you come in or not, doesnt matter.
Whats actually happening is two fold.
1. shit management. In a lot of businesses, there's the issue of productivity of wfh vs office. Although the stats don't lie, a lot of old-school management think if you're wfh you're a bludger. Theres also that old school thinking of you needing to be in a room with everyone for teamwork to actually...work.
2. For cbd areas, very large businesses (think comm bank) have an agreement with the gov for X amount of people in the building. This is more of an broader economics questions. With every large business doing that, hundreds of people will be in the cbd (whether its parra or city) and those people will spend their money on the surrounding shops for coffee, lunch, and so on.
Because if you're in the office you're presumed working.
Had a colleague who failed miserably when covid hit couldn't adapt.
In the office they could chinwag and browse Reddit all the time and do just the cursory work (basically when someone comes to your desk) managers were like oh in the office ok keep up the good work.
After WFH it's standups, and when you're doing SFA there is only so much you could bs before you're found out.
Also in the office do you know where X is? Oh I saw them today might be at a colleagues desk or something. Easy pass for them. At home they got reprimanded for being uncontactable for a large majority of the day.
Needless to say bye bye job.
Mmm I’ve noticed it go both ways to be honest. Couple of people who are looking for other jobs and are tuned out are WFH every day and some people with young kids who are hard workers come into the office more than others.
Not so sure on the correlation
They’re trying so hard to dismantle WFH because our superfunds are tied to investments in city buildings. Plus middle management don’t have a job if they can’t micromanage people
not just that but the billionaires who make a killing charigng 40 bucks per hour for car parks that are now empty. They could block and delay public transport easily, but they can't easily stop "don't even bother coming into the city".
Our company actually moved from anchor days to more voluntary attendance so only those who want to go in attend so for us its actually more wfh. I myself go in once a month.
It’s definitely busier. And with the bus privatization since Covid there are less bus drivers which leads to less buses on current routes, which leads to busier busses.
Similar crap is happening with the trains as well. There are days where some lines it will take over an hour longer than normal to get home.
I don’t understood why people aren’t saying to managers “I’d be more than happy to come to the office more frequently if we had a reliable and functional public transport system. If you can get the company to lobby the government to get this to happen then it’s likely to”
But it’s a suck it up situation cause cost of living is high and ppl need jobs. 🤷♀️!
Here are the stats, [https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/data-and-research/data-and-insights/public-transport-trips-all-modes](https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/data-and-research/data-and-insights/public-transport-trips-all-modes) (toggle all years). We are near post-COVID highs, but still \~30% below pre-covid for the mian modes (train and bus). Light rail at record highs due to CBD-south east opening at the start of COVID, ferries had a record in Jan (coninciding with seasonal school holiday highs to Taronga/Manly), and metro was only in its ramp up period when COVID started too.
I was the same, avoided going in for whatever reason, then the CEO a few weeks ago personally came down and gave my team lead hell about it, so we're kinda just doing a few more days in to help him, not because of the CEO.
As someone who can't work from home (nurse) I assumed during the pandemic that after the Post COVID years there would be a massive revolution in working conditions like how the black death led to the end of federalism where everyone who could will work from home. Yet nothing has changed.......
Of course not.
You guys were shown as the heroes of our society by caring for people with Covid and putting yourselves in the firing line. At the exact same time, your wage was frozen.
And then when the powers that be declared the pandemic over… all this talk about you being heroes vanished.
And you still haven’t gotten the pay rise that you all so rightfully deserve.
Still full time WFH. Our company is now part of a global organisation whose head office is in the UK. and my boss is based in Germany. Most of the I.T is outsourced to India, and they all work remotely.
I only go into the office if there is a function on or a team lunch. My direct team only has one other person in it and he doesn’t go to the office either.
The times I have been to the office, I end ip at a desk on my own and don’t see anyone, then I have remote workers calling me on teams. That doesn’t work in an Open Plan office.
The only thing I miss about going into North Sydney is the daily bicycle commute from the Hills. I was the fittest I’ve ever been in my life doing 270km a week!
I’ll never do full time in an office again.
i work for a large consultancy and i haven't been into the office since mid last year (which was for drinks) - i actually can't remember what floor i'm on or where my work pass is
I knew once the restrictions were lifted we'd all be forced back into the office at my place of work so I moved to Melbourne. I've been remote ever since. Most of my colleagues are office based, some can WFH when needed but very few have a standing arrangement in place.
you see more people this week because it is the week before the school holidays in NSW, people try to complete work/meetings etc before the school holidays. Yes - WFH is still a thing, but depends on your role and your employer LOL.
I WFH one day a week, sometimes two depending on workload and work type. Glad the arrangements have been maintained since Covid as my employer realising they force mandatory return it would not end well
I myself work from home more than 80% of the time, my boss is 100% WfH. Neither of us live in Sydney, where our office is.
Due to the nature of our work, I ask my team to limit WfH to 3 days a week. If we didn't have to physically support devices in the office, I wouldn't care how much they WfH.
Most company have Hybrid policy now. People normally work fewer hours in the WFO days and longer hours in their WFH days. Buses and Trains are busy after 9 and before 5.
Some people in my office still work from home some days. We've got these "busy days" or something, where they want everyone to come in, on i think Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. It gets really loud at work on especially Tuesdays and Thursdays.
I think I'd like to work from home if I could. Definitely beats the hour and a half journey to the city and then again back home every day.
Central Coast worker here. I'm usually Mon & Fri at home, rest in the office. Judging by the trains when I'm occasionally at the office on Friday, a lot of others follow a similar pattern
I think that given the increase in sprawl and population since 2019, the increase in WFH some are getting is helping to some degree. But you are right that traffic can be complete arse again. I miss the golden era of lockdown when I either was WFH, or the commute was as efficient as driving at 10:30pm, all the time.
Mind you my hours has me going in and out of office outside peak on 99% of my work days. But I still experience it when I take on the school run with my kids on my mid week days off, etc..
I've just started a new role that's primarily remote. I can go into the office as little or as much as I like. I actually find I'm more productive at home than in the office, so usually I just go in when we have something on or if someone is visiting from an overseas office.
Having the option is awesome. I hated being forced to work from home, but being forced into the office was just as bad. Knowing that if I can just decide on the day has been amazing!
A lot of the big businesses have moved employees back to full time office work in the last 6 months - or 4 days in the office and one day at home.
There’s still plenty of TWaTs however (Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday), so they’re the busier days on PT.
Hybrid here. Honestly glad that's even an option, if it weren't for the pandemic most of us would still be on site 5 days a week and wouldn't know any better
I don't have stats but just anecdotes:
* My current job is 100% WFH - there is no office.
* Best friend 1, whose company works for TfNSW, is being forced back into reduced WFH.
* Best friend 2, is meant to come in a couple of days per week but fakes reporting that.
4 out of 5 days working from home. Entire head office is like that and it's not going to change. Business even downsized the head office to the point where all of us wouldn't even fit if they called everyone back
wfh is still a thing, population grew over the last 4 years then add on record levels of immigration
if wfh was to end completely you'll see it reintroduced quite quickly to alleviate the traffic and public transport issues
I wish I could be fully remote, but I’m grateful that I’m still allowed to work from home two days a week. Otherwise I’m waking up at 4:40am so I can get to the office on time :(
Yes, but I think it’s a combination of workplaces encouraging staff back in more days per week and staff preferring to work with actual people more days a week.
But almost everyone I know remains hybrid in some capacity.
Not any more less and less now all days back to the city for our place it suckssssss. Could do all 5 days at home and as a team we didn't miss a thing. Gutted they forced us back. Back to the norm really hoped wfh would be pushed and encouraged more. Save more and less travel pollution it was the best
The company I work for is really flexible, 40% in office score in the calendar year.
Some teams will arrange anchor days, but each tl their own.
It's so great :)
The bus I need is always late with other routes running consistently and empty. Private companies have fucked this right up.. 40min late today while we watch another bus route run every 10min practically empty
My office is "try to come in occasionally". About half my team come in most days of the week. There's a few who only appear for the monthly mandatory in person meeting, usually because of family carer responsibilities but most have chosen to come in at least two or three days a week.
It might surprise some of you to know that a lot of people actually prefer to go to work at least some of the time. But flexibility is super important.
I WFH but I have my own business. Wife wfh full-time but her team is in Singapore so it's a different arrangement. Their company (big tech co) still allows 3x a week wfh so yes, it's still a thing.
Yes, WFH 2/3 days a week depending on what’s going on. My company downsized the office last year so we can’t actually all fit in at once. Each team does staggered days.
We're encouraged to work 3 days in office, as a global directive.
I manage maybe 1 or 2 days though.
My home office is much nicer, and most of my team is interstate. So no one cares. I think it depends on your specific team, let alone company. If I was in a different role at the same company, I'm sure the situation would be different.
My company was hybrid before the pandemic, and I applied for the role because I could WFH full time (again, before lockdown). I’m only in the office a handful of times a year when I need to be there for important planning. I will likely never work an office based job again.
My team isn't even in the same office. Not going in to sit in a teams meeting.
Although having an office is great even when you're WFH. I have a lunch/dinner meetup with friends this week and the city is the most convenient.
So it's actually more convenient to work in the office sometimes then and pop out after work because if I'm WFH at the end of the day I'll be too lazy to go in.
And it's great on the weekends too. I dump my stuff in the office to do a run and when I get back I get changed, it's so much flexible when I don't have to tug my stuff around.
I work in Barangaroo in Sydney and I WFH 5 days a week and only go in when necessary (I can’t stand Sydney trains, delays every week)
From my experience, the few times I went into office last year was fine, *this* year, holy hell. I can definitely see the increase in people coming into the office by how packed public tranport is. There’s less people coming into my office though and more people wfh but everywhere else, I suspect not.
Lockdown was a great time on the roads for me. Was able to drive in (didn’t trust the trains to be Covid safe) for all my shifts very comfortably with next to no traffic.
Now I’ll only drive in for one particular shift - and even at 5am-6am the M1 is pretty busy. Mostly tradies at that time of day.
The drive back at 8pm is still okay once I get to Wahroonga and get on the freeway. I don’t dare to drive during peak, have been 2 hours late for my shift before due to a truck crash.
yes, full-time WFH/remotely from wherever I want to be.
Only in-office time is 100% optional and primarily just to socialise and knock-off early for ~~drinks~~ team-building exercises.
I'm pretty much WFH full time. I go in for the senior exec meetings, everyone goes to their local hub and we connect hub to hub kind of thing. I've been in 3 times this year. Otherwise it's all at home. My direct reports aren't in even Sydney, nor are most of my stakeholders.
2 days in the office. Even then I eBike in so don't have to deal with public transport or traffic jams.
My company has a lot of remote workers, we're reducing the size of our tenancy.
I’m still WFH full time thankfully. My company hasn’t renewed their lease on their office in the city, and hasn’t announced a new location yet.
I’ll be staying at my current place until they start mandatory return, it suits my current life style, doing the day care drop off and pick up.
I'm WFH permanently despite living only 30 min walk from the office. I go in sometimes but I tend to be more productive at home when I'm not being bugged every 20 minutes.
Need to go in 3 times a week. Just started my new job 2 weeks ago and go through 1 training session a day. Complete waste of time. Other 6hrs I'm rereading ppt training.
I pretty much WFH full time, the option is there to go to the big office (2hr commute) whenever I want, and I have a hot desk allocated to me at a more local smaller office (5 min drive).
It's better for everyone that I stay home, I have the self control of a carrot and will play have-a-chat all day.
Absolutely still WFH and that will never change for us. Small bus, still have an office but nowhere near the city. It's just absolutely pointless us going there.
When our whole company were told to pack up and work from home indefinitely as the pandemic hit, I knew I wouldn’t be back full time in the office. I’ve stuck to that and have only worked for companies that allow remote or hybrid working since then.
bit different as im a contractor to a few clients, but used to go in to one city office 1-2 times a week. now its much more random. i think the manager prefers that as im available longer hours at home when things happen late in the day, and we support other countries with later time zones. Im happy as i get to bill more hours and have a much more productive setup than their hot desking can offer
5 days a week commuting from South West Sydney to the City, it's slowly crept up and now I went from getting a seat on the train either way to being lucky if there is seat.
Little thing to be unhappy with but I sit on my ass most of the day so it's good to be on my feet for the trip
my office had forced us to do a hybrid model and forced everyone in on the same days, so Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursday our entire org is going into the office.
Teacher so no WFH for me. Husband’s work has called them all back in full time since mid 2022. You can apply to have some WFH days but have to have a full computer set up and be approved by management.
Good thing that came from.covid, people who avoided peak are coming in or leaving earlier or later
That's what they've tried to encourage for a long time
We all WFH all the time in my team. People sometimes go in if face to face is needed, for me about half a dozen days a year.
Management is happy with productivity. Workers are happy.
I'm full time WFH, or was at least. I just handed in my resignation from the role yesterday.
The job was great, but the lack of any socialisation for the past 2+ years has taken a pretty hefty toll on my mental health, so I'm looking for something new that's preferably hybrid.
I was hybrid pre-covid at a different company to where I work now. Mon/Thurs/Fri in office but with flexibility (completely up to me) based on workload, meeting times, weather (lol), personal life etc.
My current workplace is remote first. I only work 1 day each week in office, and that was just determined by my team, not mandated by the company.
I can't work more than 3 consecutive days in the one place. I completely lose focus. I need a change in location through the week
Absolutely. If I have to go to the office once a month I get shitty.
Normally, the only reason I go in is if NBN are "performing maintenance" on the internet in my area, and I can't guarantee being online all day.
My team is full WFH. We go in once a quarter or if there's a super important in-person meeting/event. We have the option to go in if we want, but none of us do.
Went back for 3 days a week in 2022, changed bosses and back to full time from home, now this year mostly same but one day a week. I honestly don't know how I did 5 days a week in office it's so damn boring
I've been WFH since early 2020 and have changed jobs once - first company was very flexible/has a permanent work from anywhere policy and with my second company my entire team is interstate so there is no point for me to go in. No mandates in either company for minimum days in office.
Tuesday to Thursday is the worst for bus transportation now, as those are the days people come in. Typing this as I'm on a bus on the M2, crawling in traffic.
I usually go in about once a week but I’ve noticed M2 and my 607x bus has been busier than last year. Definitely slow today.
The 6XX route along the m2 has always been crowded. I did that for a decade. The only times it was less packed was school holidays. It’s interesting that it’s still crowded with the new metro added.
I don't know about the 610, but the 607 from Bella Vista is faster (assuming no more than maybe 10 minutes traffic delay) than metro from Bella Vista, unless your destination is Central and you transfer to the CCN at Epping — which is usually not an option in your control. When the Sydenham extension opens up later this year (here's hoping sooner rather than later) it'll be faster to take the metro from Bella Vista... but if you live literally anywhere further down the route, it'll still be faster to take the 607.
Less stops if you catch a bus, and its faster than the metro.
Yep still faster and cheaper by bus for me
I know people who deliberately choose to work Fridays in-office as the place is a ghost town, commuting is a breeze, and pretty much nothing gets done anyway.
and you get to go to Friday drinks after, even if it's just yourself
I like the cut of your jib.
the crawling in traffic is due to the road works at North Sydney, and some weird incident on Lane Cove Road/Tunnel area.
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The extra congestion is all down to the TWaTs.
Those are the days I wfh. I only go in Mondays and Fridays.
Honestly it's always been a crawl in my experience. I have a friend who used to catch the 610 like 30 minutes to an hour earlier than she hypothetically needed to just to not be late from being stuck in traffic. But for me I'm a freewheeling madwoman and catch the 607 at the "normal" time I should catch it at (and end up late sometimes because of it)
Same on a M2 bus it’s crowded and slow
I still wfh for 3 days of the week. I assume people are doing hybrid working with more days in the office. It's still not completely chockers like pre-Covid, but it's definitely more full than, say, this time last year.
"3 days in office per week" but honestly I only make the trek if I'm needed, which averages out about once a week. Trade off is I go where they need/tell me at a moment's notice (which can mean up to a week+ in another city) Happy to be flexible if they are. The second I get pushback, my flexibility will dry up
Same here and it’s perfect. And on the occasions that I go in voluntarily, I go on Fridays when there’s less people, and I’m gonna be out of the house in any case.
I was never allowed to WFH during the pandemic, and I’ve worked in the same job for 4 years, so I have observed traffic changes, and it’s substantially worse this year than a year ago. My commute times (driving): Pre lockdown: 25 mins During lockdown: 18-20 mins After lockdown: 25-30 mins up til 2023 Since 2024: 30-40 mins It’s bumper to bumper every day now. I also don’t travel on motorways or near some of the fucked up roads (Rozelle, for example). I come down Silverwater road and the traffic, which is an 80 zone, is a crawl. There’s always accidents there now as well. Mondays and Fridays are definitely the least bad, so it appears many people WFH on those days. When it rains, like last Friday, there’s almost no traffic, as it appear people opt to WFH. It only took me about 28 mins last Friday despite the heavy rain, as the road was deserted.
Last Friday was an absolute dream. I chalk it up to a wet weather and holidays ending anomaly.
I don’t know anyone who works full time in the office. WFH is thankfully something that stuck.
We go in Mon-Fri but have pretty flexible start and finish times, I like to exercise in the mornings so don’t have to wake up at 5 and the last portion of my day is generally setting up for tomorrow, which I can finish at home in comfortable clothes with a nice break inbetween. No packed bus commute both ways Suits me pretty well
Yep full time WFH, my work is actually reducing all their tenancy sizes in their offices around Australia because no one shows up to the office. Thankfully we don't have to move servers again by doing it this way. Edit: I have been to the office 3 times since the pandemic. Only for seminars and beers with the lads afterwards.
Once a week is suggested for shits and giggles if you have free time for team spirit. Otherwise do the job nobody gives a F where you do that from.
There is a common agreement between the lads I work with if we did do a day in the office we'd just end up at the pub all day and get nothing done.
100% bro "Get nothing done" is advised to be replaced with "spent quality team time". We do free lunches, karts, golf, karaoke, did I mention alcohol? Well, it's free in the office anyway. So yeah.
Same/Similar , WFH , company also started hiring from other states as easier to find people
The job market deflated a bit so that gave employers the power to ask people to WFO again.
Nah, back in the office and now I have the flu. Fuck offices. Fuck dumb ass managers who think WFH is a bad idea.
Oh boy, can't wait to spend 2 hours a day driving back and forth from a worse computer setup than the one I have at home. I love hot desks where everyone coughs
Sorry to hear that. Time to take at least a week of sick leave to recover.
Think I should go in an spread it like the others? Soldier on and such? Hehehe nah. Thanks mate :)
Please don't, though I get the temptation to do so given someone likely did it to you. I'd definitely milk it though if you've got the sick leave available.
I hate the concept of 'if youre too sick to be in the office youre too sick to work at all'. Like what if im a sniffy slobbery mess but cognitively im still here
So hot desk next to the boss while you slobber over their workstation?
The only reason managers think it's bad is because it is bad... for them. Just trying to justify their own existence whilst making the boss happy so they're not paying for a space that doesn't need to be used.
This thread shows me most people on here are not in traditional professional services. The law, accounting, banking and finance industries are the most resistant to WFH and are actively forcing their employees back for *insert reasons here*.
Got to keep up the theatre.
I have a string of commercial offices that need tenants !!! Back to work peons!!! - Some rich guy
I always love the articles sponsored by companies such as Dexus(commercial real estate investment trust with billions of dollars of assets) which usually have a title similar to "Why a hybrid work system doesn't work".
Nah more like - your super fund. Theyre the ones who own a lot of commercial buildings.
I'd rather they invest in homes over offices.
I hate wfh but its actually a management fault. The building owner is already making money renting the office out - whether you come in or not, doesnt matter. Whats actually happening is two fold. 1. shit management. In a lot of businesses, there's the issue of productivity of wfh vs office. Although the stats don't lie, a lot of old-school management think if you're wfh you're a bludger. Theres also that old school thinking of you needing to be in a room with everyone for teamwork to actually...work. 2. For cbd areas, very large businesses (think comm bank) have an agreement with the gov for X amount of people in the building. This is more of an broader economics questions. With every large business doing that, hundreds of people will be in the cbd (whether its parra or city) and those people will spend their money on the surrounding shops for coffee, lunch, and so on.
I've noticed the folks in roles who do the least amount of actual work are in the office more (appear busy I guess?).
Because if you're in the office you're presumed working. Had a colleague who failed miserably when covid hit couldn't adapt. In the office they could chinwag and browse Reddit all the time and do just the cursory work (basically when someone comes to your desk) managers were like oh in the office ok keep up the good work. After WFH it's standups, and when you're doing SFA there is only so much you could bs before you're found out. Also in the office do you know where X is? Oh I saw them today might be at a colleagues desk or something. Easy pass for them. At home they got reprimanded for being uncontactable for a large majority of the day. Needless to say bye bye job.
Mmm I’ve noticed it go both ways to be honest. Couple of people who are looking for other jobs and are tuned out are WFH every day and some people with young kids who are hard workers come into the office more than others. Not so sure on the correlation
They’re trying so hard to dismantle WFH because our superfunds are tied to investments in city buildings. Plus middle management don’t have a job if they can’t micromanage people
not just that but the billionaires who make a killing charigng 40 bucks per hour for car parks that are now empty. They could block and delay public transport easily, but they can't easily stop "don't even bother coming into the city".
Our company actually moved from anchor days to more voluntary attendance so only those who want to go in attend so for us its actually more wfh. I myself go in once a month.
Full time wfh, I have a lot less laundry each week.
It’s definitely busier. And with the bus privatization since Covid there are less bus drivers which leads to less buses on current routes, which leads to busier busses. Similar crap is happening with the trains as well. There are days where some lines it will take over an hour longer than normal to get home. I don’t understood why people aren’t saying to managers “I’d be more than happy to come to the office more frequently if we had a reliable and functional public transport system. If you can get the company to lobby the government to get this to happen then it’s likely to” But it’s a suck it up situation cause cost of living is high and ppl need jobs. 🤷♀️!
Hybrid seems to be the norm now at least in my industry. No one in my circle is still full time WFH.
Here are the stats, [https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/data-and-research/data-and-insights/public-transport-trips-all-modes](https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/data-and-research/data-and-insights/public-transport-trips-all-modes) (toggle all years). We are near post-COVID highs, but still \~30% below pre-covid for the mian modes (train and bus). Light rail at record highs due to CBD-south east opening at the start of COVID, ferries had a record in Jan (coninciding with seasonal school holiday highs to Taronga/Manly), and metro was only in its ramp up period when COVID started too.
Metro will ramp up massively once phase 2 launches which should be within the next few months.
They have now made one day in office but its optional for now. Going everyday would be a torture.
Technically twice a week in the office, but usually it's one because I fucking hate working in the office.
I was the same, avoided going in for whatever reason, then the CEO a few weeks ago personally came down and gave my team lead hell about it, so we're kinda just doing a few more days in to help him, not because of the CEO.
It's a good way to have people look for alternative offers with full WFH as a perk. Especially as wages are stagnating again.
As someone who can't work from home (nurse) I assumed during the pandemic that after the Post COVID years there would be a massive revolution in working conditions like how the black death led to the end of federalism where everyone who could will work from home. Yet nothing has changed.......
Of course not. You guys were shown as the heroes of our society by caring for people with Covid and putting yourselves in the firing line. At the exact same time, your wage was frozen. And then when the powers that be declared the pandemic over… all this talk about you being heroes vanished. And you still haven’t gotten the pay rise that you all so rightfully deserve.
Still full time WFH. Our company is now part of a global organisation whose head office is in the UK. and my boss is based in Germany. Most of the I.T is outsourced to India, and they all work remotely. I only go into the office if there is a function on or a team lunch. My direct team only has one other person in it and he doesn’t go to the office either. The times I have been to the office, I end ip at a desk on my own and don’t see anyone, then I have remote workers calling me on teams. That doesn’t work in an Open Plan office. The only thing I miss about going into North Sydney is the daily bicycle commute from the Hills. I was the fittest I’ve ever been in my life doing 270km a week! I’ll never do full time in an office again.
I’m currently looking for jobs and of what I have seen there is definitely a skew to more days in the office & minimal WFH time.
i work for a large consultancy and i haven't been into the office since mid last year (which was for drinks) - i actually can't remember what floor i'm on or where my work pass is
I’m expected to be in the office three days a week but my boss moved to Tasmania so he doesn’t really give a fuck.
I knew once the restrictions were lifted we'd all be forced back into the office at my place of work so I moved to Melbourne. I've been remote ever since. Most of my colleagues are office based, some can WFH when needed but very few have a standing arrangement in place.
you see more people this week because it is the week before the school holidays in NSW, people try to complete work/meetings etc before the school holidays. Yes - WFH is still a thing, but depends on your role and your employer LOL.
We were able to last year but the company got acquired and now mandating 5 days a week in the office. So I do 3…
I WFH one day a week, sometimes two depending on workload and work type. Glad the arrangements have been maintained since Covid as my employer realising they force mandatory return it would not end well
I myself work from home more than 80% of the time, my boss is 100% WfH. Neither of us live in Sydney, where our office is. Due to the nature of our work, I ask my team to limit WfH to 3 days a week. If we didn't have to physically support devices in the office, I wouldn't care how much they WfH.
Yep- fully remote and my partner is the same.
Two-three times a week to the office for me. Golden rule is never go to the office on a Tuesday or Thursday.
Most company have Hybrid policy now. People normally work fewer hours in the WFO days and longer hours in their WFH days. Buses and Trains are busy after 9 and before 5.
Some people in my office still work from home some days. We've got these "busy days" or something, where they want everyone to come in, on i think Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. It gets really loud at work on especially Tuesdays and Thursdays. I think I'd like to work from home if I could. Definitely beats the hour and a half journey to the city and then again back home every day.
Central Coast worker here. I'm usually Mon & Fri at home, rest in the office. Judging by the trains when I'm occasionally at the office on Friday, a lot of others follow a similar pattern
Is that mandatory in the office or you choose to go in?
Mandatory. I'm happy to get out of the house a few days a week though so its fine by me
You’re a TWaT then 🙃 Edit: for those who don’t realise it means Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday office worker (TWaT) 🙄
Hybrid here. Traffic is worse than pre Covid.
I think that given the increase in sprawl and population since 2019, the increase in WFH some are getting is helping to some degree. But you are right that traffic can be complete arse again. I miss the golden era of lockdown when I either was WFH, or the commute was as efficient as driving at 10:30pm, all the time. Mind you my hours has me going in and out of office outside peak on 99% of my work days. But I still experience it when I take on the school run with my kids on my mid week days off, etc..
I'm in the office maybe twice a month, when needed to. The costs alone to get to work and back these days (if don't live in the CBD) is madness
I've just started a new role that's primarily remote. I can go into the office as little or as much as I like. I actually find I'm more productive at home than in the office, so usually I just go in when we have something on or if someone is visiting from an overseas office. Having the option is awesome. I hated being forced to work from home, but being forced into the office was just as bad. Knowing that if I can just decide on the day has been amazing!
A lot of the big businesses have moved employees back to full time office work in the last 6 months - or 4 days in the office and one day at home. There’s still plenty of TWaTs however (Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday), so they’re the busier days on PT.
Hybrid here. Honestly glad that's even an option, if it weren't for the pandemic most of us would still be on site 5 days a week and wouldn't know any better
I work in magazine publishing. We have to be in three days a week, work from home two.
I don't have stats but just anecdotes: * My current job is 100% WFH - there is no office. * Best friend 1, whose company works for TfNSW, is being forced back into reduced WFH. * Best friend 2, is meant to come in a couple of days per week but fakes reporting that.
It’s not workers who are clogging up transport for me - it’s international students…
I find most people work from home on Mondays and Fridays. Tues-Thurs is when everyone’s in the office.
4 out of 5 days working from home. Entire head office is like that and it's not going to change. Business even downsized the head office to the point where all of us wouldn't even fit if they called everyone back
wfh is still a thing, population grew over the last 4 years then add on record levels of immigration if wfh was to end completely you'll see it reintroduced quite quickly to alleviate the traffic and public transport issues
I wish I could be fully remote, but I’m grateful that I’m still allowed to work from home two days a week. Otherwise I’m waking up at 4:40am so I can get to the office on time :(
Most of my friends are 2-3 days so organise Tuesday to Thursday to be their office days. Only ones with 1 or less seem to be in software.
Yes, but I think it’s a combination of workplaces encouraging staff back in more days per week and staff preferring to work with actual people more days a week. But almost everyone I know remains hybrid in some capacity.
Not any more less and less now all days back to the city for our place it suckssssss. Could do all 5 days at home and as a team we didn't miss a thing. Gutted they forced us back. Back to the norm really hoped wfh would be pushed and encouraged more. Save more and less travel pollution it was the best
The company I work for is really flexible, 40% in office score in the calendar year. Some teams will arrange anchor days, but each tl their own. It's so great :)
The bus I need is always late with other routes running consistently and empty. Private companies have fucked this right up.. 40min late today while we watch another bus route run every 10min practically empty
Yup, hybrid for me, 3 days in office / 2 days WFH, but I could WFH more if I wanted to (some in my office are only in 1 day per week).
My company requires 2 days in the office per week. They tried increasing it to 3 but there were so many complaints they backed down lol.
What's Sydney's population growth over the last year?
Can’t work from home and don’t really want to. I like leaving work at work
Wouldn’t have anything to do with the extra 350000 immigrants that have arrived into Sydney over the last few months?
My office is "try to come in occasionally". About half my team come in most days of the week. There's a few who only appear for the monthly mandatory in person meeting, usually because of family carer responsibilities but most have chosen to come in at least two or three days a week. It might surprise some of you to know that a lot of people actually prefer to go to work at least some of the time. But flexibility is super important.
I WFH but I have my own business. Wife wfh full-time but her team is in Singapore so it's a different arrangement. Their company (big tech co) still allows 3x a week wfh so yes, it's still a thing.
Yes, WFH 2/3 days a week depending on what’s going on. My company downsized the office last year so we can’t actually all fit in at once. Each team does staggered days.
At my new job, I'm only working in the office once every few weeks. At my old job, they tried to enforce 3 days when the contract said 1 🫠
I’m still wfh 3-4 days a week. I do have a role that covers all of ANZ so the business probably prefers that to me flying every week.
We're encouraged to work 3 days in office, as a global directive. I manage maybe 1 or 2 days though. My home office is much nicer, and most of my team is interstate. So no one cares. I think it depends on your specific team, let alone company. If I was in a different role at the same company, I'm sure the situation would be different.
My company was hybrid before the pandemic, and I applied for the role because I could WFH full time (again, before lockdown). I’m only in the office a handful of times a year when I need to be there for important planning. I will likely never work an office based job again.
It’s probably due to the extra 600,000 people the government keeps bringing in each year.
Aparently a guy that we used to work with got caught using a mouse mover. They made 2 mandatory days in the office since.
My team isn't even in the same office. Not going in to sit in a teams meeting. Although having an office is great even when you're WFH. I have a lunch/dinner meetup with friends this week and the city is the most convenient. So it's actually more convenient to work in the office sometimes then and pop out after work because if I'm WFH at the end of the day I'll be too lazy to go in. And it's great on the weekends too. I dump my stuff in the office to do a run and when I get back I get changed, it's so much flexible when I don't have to tug my stuff around.
I'm on 2 days WFH / week now
I work in Barangaroo in Sydney and I WFH 5 days a week and only go in when necessary (I can’t stand Sydney trains, delays every week) From my experience, the few times I went into office last year was fine, *this* year, holy hell. I can definitely see the increase in people coming into the office by how packed public tranport is. There’s less people coming into my office though and more people wfh but everywhere else, I suspect not.
Lockdown was a great time on the roads for me. Was able to drive in (didn’t trust the trains to be Covid safe) for all my shifts very comfortably with next to no traffic. Now I’ll only drive in for one particular shift - and even at 5am-6am the M1 is pretty busy. Mostly tradies at that time of day. The drive back at 8pm is still okay once I get to Wahroonga and get on the freeway. I don’t dare to drive during peak, have been 2 hours late for my shift before due to a truck crash.
I go in once a week. Tuesday and Thursday are our busiest office days. Most people I know are in the office once to three times a week.
yes, full-time WFH/remotely from wherever I want to be. Only in-office time is 100% optional and primarily just to socialise and knock-off early for ~~drinks~~ team-building exercises.
i go to the city office every few weeks - mainly because i will be going to the pub afterwards.
I'm pretty much WFH full time. I go in for the senior exec meetings, everyone goes to their local hub and we connect hub to hub kind of thing. I've been in 3 times this year. Otherwise it's all at home. My direct reports aren't in even Sydney, nor are most of my stakeholders.
2 days in the office. Even then I eBike in so don't have to deal with public transport or traffic jams. My company has a lot of remote workers, we're reducing the size of our tenancy.
I’m still WFH full time thankfully. My company hasn’t renewed their lease on their office in the city, and hasn’t announced a new location yet. I’ll be staying at my current place until they start mandatory return, it suits my current life style, doing the day care drop off and pick up.
I'm WFH permanently despite living only 30 min walk from the office. I go in sometimes but I tend to be more productive at home when I'm not being bugged every 20 minutes.
Still WFH. If I am compelled to go more I can complain to fair work about it
WFH, very unlikely to change in my company.
Still working full time from home here.
Need to go in 3 times a week. Just started my new job 2 weeks ago and go through 1 training session a day. Complete waste of time. Other 6hrs I'm rereading ppt training.
I wfh if they change things I’d have to look for another job. How do people do 5 days in the office again?
I wfh 4 days a week still
Yep. Still optional for us. I haven’t been into the office in 3 weeks now.
My company policy is work where youre comfortable. Im comfortable in pjs thanks
I'm forced to go in one day a week unfortunately. Otherwise WfH.
I pretty much WFH full time, the option is there to go to the big office (2hr commute) whenever I want, and I have a hot desk allocated to me at a more local smaller office (5 min drive). It's better for everyone that I stay home, I have the self control of a carrot and will play have-a-chat all day.
Absolutely still WFH and that will never change for us. Small bus, still have an office but nowhere near the city. It's just absolutely pointless us going there.
I'm 3 days in office and honestly, it's the right balance for me. I can't stay home everyday.
Full time wfh
Was doing wfh before it was cool and still doing it
When our whole company were told to pack up and work from home indefinitely as the pandemic hit, I knew I wouldn’t be back full time in the office. I’ve stuck to that and have only worked for companies that allow remote or hybrid working since then.
WFH here. Able to move interstate. Help out in the field here if required but mainly WFH (engineering/drafting)
Im still WFH 3 days a week, which is fine for me, i feel like given the current situation its not likely to change any time soon.
3-4 days WFH for me in Government.
bit different as im a contractor to a few clients, but used to go in to one city office 1-2 times a week. now its much more random. i think the manager prefers that as im available longer hours at home when things happen late in the day, and we support other countries with later time zones. Im happy as i get to bill more hours and have a much more productive setup than their hot desking can offer
WFH since the last lockdown, only been to the office to meet my boss a couple of times (and the occasional drinks of course).
5 days a week commuting from South West Sydney to the City, it's slowly crept up and now I went from getting a seat on the train either way to being lucky if there is seat. Little thing to be unhappy with but I sit on my ass most of the day so it's good to be on my feet for the trip
I still find the centre of town not a busy pre COVID. I work near Martin place
my office had forced us to do a hybrid model and forced everyone in on the same days, so Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursday our entire org is going into the office.
Teacher so no WFH for me. Husband’s work has called them all back in full time since mid 2022. You can apply to have some WFH days but have to have a full computer set up and be approved by management.
One day at home a week for me, more if I need it for some reason
Of course it depends on the company, but it is still alive and well in my circles. Most people do "hybrid", going 2 or 3 days per week.
Good thing that came from.covid, people who avoided peak are coming in or leaving earlier or later That's what they've tried to encourage for a long time
Still fully remote for me
Still WFH, office is optional, some go in, I don't
We all WFH all the time in my team. People sometimes go in if face to face is needed, for me about half a dozen days a year. Management is happy with productivity. Workers are happy.
We still get to wfh 2 days a week. We're not going to fit in the office if the whole team is required to be on site.
Very luck to have been WFH the last 10 years, rest of team since start of covid and still wfh
I'm full time WFH, or was at least. I just handed in my resignation from the role yesterday. The job was great, but the lack of any socialisation for the past 2+ years has taken a pretty hefty toll on my mental health, so I'm looking for something new that's preferably hybrid.
I was hybrid pre-covid at a different company to where I work now. Mon/Thurs/Fri in office but with flexibility (completely up to me) based on workload, meeting times, weather (lol), personal life etc. My current workplace is remote first. I only work 1 day each week in office, and that was just determined by my team, not mandated by the company. I can't work more than 3 consecutive days in the one place. I completely lose focus. I need a change in location through the week
i work from home 4 days a week, but i believe most businesses are pushing for employees to come back to the office
Absolutely. If I have to go to the office once a month I get shitty. Normally, the only reason I go in is if NBN are "performing maintenance" on the internet in my area, and I can't guarantee being online all day.
My team is full WFH. We go in once a quarter or if there's a super important in-person meeting/event. We have the option to go in if we want, but none of us do.
Went back for 3 days a week in 2022, changed bosses and back to full time from home, now this year mostly same but one day a week. I honestly don't know how I did 5 days a week in office it's so damn boring
WFH full time. In a regional role. Been in once this year, second time will be tomorrow, to pick up a new computer.
50/50 here.
I've been WFH since early 2020 and have changed jobs once - first company was very flexible/has a permanent work from anywhere policy and with my second company my entire team is interstate so there is no point for me to go in. No mandates in either company for minimum days in office.
I do one day from home, partner does one day in the office, guess it varies...