👉 Background: We all remember that fateful week in March 2020 when 1 million Australians found themselves out of work and the majority of the country were forced to work from home. 4 years later, 37% of Australians are still regularly working from home.

👉 What happened: Now, 75% of Australian CEOs want their staff back in the office for at least three days a week, according to a new survey by KPMG On top of this, 64% of CEOs believe that productivity has taken a hit since everyone started working from home.

👉 What else: Tabcorp has just ordered staff to return to the office five days a week. And Amazon has also done the same! That's five whole days of commuting, small talk by the water cooler, and trying to remember how to dress for work again. And employees are not happy. Talk about a corporate showdown!

What's the key learning?

💡The future of work is flexible, but the definition of ‘flexible’ is still up for debate. The pandemic accelerated a trend that was already in motion—more flexible work arrangements.

💡 But now that CEOs are pushing for a return to the office and using carrots and sticks to do so. According to the KPMG report, CEOs are looking to reward office-based employees with pay rises and promotions.

💡 But if that doesn't work, 42% of CEOs are prepared to say “see ya later” to staff who refuse to return to the office. So it’s going to be an interesting few years as CEOs try to push staff back into the office.