Published on the 11/02/2025 | Written by Heather Wright

If we can’t have WFH, we better have flexibility…

Flexible work hours are on the rise in for Kiwi IT workers, becoming the new high-level currency for attracting and retaining talent, in a market where the majority of workers are now back in the office fulltime.

A Robert Half survey of 500 full time office workers across IT and technology, finance and accounting found 99 percent of respondents said their employers give them flexible work hours, enabling them to have some control over their work schedule, with 59 percent saying that flexibility has increased over last year. Ten percent however, say there has been a decrease in the flexibility over the past year.

“I ultimately have faith that the power that employees have clawed back over the last five years will survive for the long-term,”

The flexible working hours, which can take the form of flexible start and finish times, compressed work weeks and/or flexitime, appear to be a make good as employers enforce return-to-office requirements.

While the majority of office-based businesses were forced to switch to remote working conditions due to Covid, companies have been rolling back the flexible working offerings, with most requiring staff to return to the office at least a few days a week, while others have enforced fulltime return to office rules.

Once touted as the way of the future, working from home/hybrid is now an option for just 39 percent of the Kiwi respondents.

Last year public servants in New Zealand were ordered back to the office with public service minister Nicola Willis asking government departments to enforce stricter rules around working from home, saying it was not an entitlement.

Data from the Public Service Commission last month showed 55 percent of public servants now don’t work from home or do so infrequently, with 33 percent working from home typically one or two days a week.

In response to that, workers seem to be eyeing up flexible hours instead.

Ronil Singh, Robert Half director, says the widespread adoption of flexible working hours demonstrates that employers are acknowledging employee demand for more work-life balance and aiming to develop a more attractive and competitive work environment to secure and retain top talent.

The survey also found that flexible hours (36 percent) was second only to more money (62 percent) as what Kiwi workers really, really want for 2025.

Gen Z led the charge in desiring flexible hours, with millennials and baby boomers most likely to be on the hunt for more pay.

Australian workers appear to be less happy with returning to the office, with a similar Robert Half survey last year suggesting Australian companies risked an exodus of staff if they pushed ahead with fulltime return to work mandates.

Last year New South Wales public servants were ordered back to the office, with companies including Dell and Flight Centre also ordering their Australian staff back into the office.

KPMG’s 2024 CEO Outlook noted CEOs were doubling down on the return to office debate and hardening their stance on a return to pre-pandemic ways of working.

That Australian survey of 1,000 office workers found 39 percent of respondents would quit if flexibility around where they work was axed, with 39 percent saying they would turn down a job for the same reason.

What might lure them back to the office? A salary premium with an amount of up to 10 percent on top of their base salary favoured the most.

The report saw 78 percent of Australian respondents stating that remote work played an important role in their job satisfaction, with Gen Z most bolshy about the importance of remote work, followed by Gen X, millennials, and baby boomers.

While Australian employees are keen for their companies to sweeten the move back into the office with a salary premium, Nicole Gorton, Robert Half director, says instead of offering salary increases employers can focus on enhancing the office environment, offering career development opportunities and highlighting the benefits of an in-person arrangement to make the return to the office more appealing.

The Kiwi survey also shows the benefits of flexible working hours – at least through the eyes of the employee, with 67 percent claiming improved productivity and 64 percent saying employee engagement was also positively impacted through increased motivation. Work-life balance was also a key benefit for 65 percent, and 62 percent said they were happier in their role and more likely to stay with the company.

Singh says the pronounced shift to flexible hours is a ‘win-win’, boosting employee morale and productivity, while helping businesses attract and retain top talent.

But he warns that flexible working is not a one-size-fits-all solution.

“The real challenge lies in understanding what ‘flexibility’ truly means for each individual and creating a work environment where it is genuinely embraced and facilitated.”

Meanwhile, return to office mandates have seen a rise in ‘hushed hybrid’ and ‘coffee badging’ according to careers expert and author Tim Duggan.

He says both trends – hushed hybrid being when managers discretely allow staff to work from home against company policy, while coffee badging sees staff clock in for a quick coffee only to quickly leave to work from home again – suggest working from home will remain long-term.

“It’s going to be a bumpy year for WFH, but I ultimately have faith that the power that employees have clawed back over the last five years will survive for the long-term,” Duggan says.

He cites long-overdue recognition that not all tasks are equal – with some requiring deep thinking or concentration, best done away from an office, while others require teamwork – and an acknowledgement that we all have lives outside the workplace as reasons why work from home/hybrid works – and will continue to exist, even if on the downlow.