Nearing two years since pandemic restrictions were lifted, Australian workers are increasingly being dragged back into the office – prompting many to consider quitting.

Randstad research has found 56 per cent of Australians would consider quitting if forced to spend more time in the office.

Two-thirds have already made arrangements in their lives based on the assumption that working from home is here to stay.

NSW-based Maria* has worked for a company in the retail sector for about six years in an office-based role.

In 2022, she informed her employer she was moving more than an hour away from her workplace for cheaper rent and a better lifestyle for her young child.

Her employer offered her a hybrid arrangement; two days working from home and two days in the office, which Maria accepted and enjoyed for a year.

“I had time … to just be more present,” she said.

“When I … clock out, I’m instantly at home, so I can do little duties on the side, go for a walk or exercise or things like that. Being able to contribute to the picking up from child care, dropping off at child care, all those sorts of things.

“I think that work-life balance was so much better, and it just contributed 100 per cent to mental health and the overall family dynamic.”

That came to an end six months ago when Maria was abruptly told to come back to the office full-time.

Maria said no reason was given apart from the fact that her department did not have an official work-from-home policy.

With a total three-hour commute to and from the office, four days a week, she has been left burnt out, unhappy and looking elsewhere for work.

“I’m at the point where something does have to change … because I definitely can’t keep going,” she said.

Millions affected by WFH debate

More than 14 million people in Australia are employed, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data released in January.

Randstad director of professional talent Jo Jakobs said the flexible work debate is relevant for about 9.5 million of these workers – almost 70 per cent of the employed population.

She said the return-to-office mandates are creating tension as the balance of power shifts back to employers post-pandemic restrictions.

The cooling labour market is forcing job seekers to fight harder for jobs, and the ABS found the number of Australians working from home dropped more than 3 per cent between 2021 and 2023.

Although experts say flexible work won’t disappear altogether, many employees are forced to push more for the arrangements they’ve come to expect.

The transition is even harder for those who entered the workforce during the pandemic and don’t know what work was like pre-COVID, Jakobs said.

For them, this is a “real moment of change”, but some employers regard it as business-as-usual.

Communication over the reasons behind return-to-office mandates can be key to keeping employees happy – or retaining them.

“It is about coming back to the ‘why’; it is creating a space for employees to be able to say … ‘Is there any room for negotiation? If this is about productivity, what does productivity look like and if I can show you that I can get that, does that make a difference?'”

With many Australians having scheduled their work around their lives rather than vice versa, Jakobs said employers should remember that the balance of power will not always be tipped in their favour.

If companies are forced to compete more for top talent again, people will remember how the companies treated their employees in the past, and possibly base their decisions on where to work on that history.

*Name changed due to privacy concerns.