A majority of Australian companies want their employees to return to the office. A poll by professional staffing firm Robert Half Inc. found that 87% of Australian companies have mandatory in-office days for staff.

“Australian employer sentiments relating to working from home have shifted in the last six months,” Nicole Gorton, director at Robert Half, said. “Businesses have put their foot down and allocated in-office days for their staff.”

However, only 19% of employers require staff to be in the office for five days a week, according to Robert Half. The survey found that:

• 29% mandate four days per week
• 26% mandate three days
• 12% mandate two days
• 2% mandate one day

With the return to the office, 40% of Australian employers anticipate resignations while 31% of have lost at least one employee because of the mandates.

“While the benefits of bringing people back are extensive, careful consideration needs to be taken when making changes to something of utmost significance to the staff, especially if a business’ work-life harmony benefits are what got candidate through the door,” Gorton said.

Mandating in-office work may make some employees feel they have no choice, she said.

“To manage this in a way that makes employees still feel looked after, employers could adapt a flexible approach and let staff pick which three or four days will fit their schedule the best to come into the office,” Gorton said.

Benefits of in-office work, according to employers, include:

• 40% say it is better to have important meetings face to face
• 37% say productivity is improved when employees are working in the office
• 34% find it hard to maintain corporate culture
• 31% say they need to make use of office space
• 30% say it’s more difficult to manage teams virtually
• 25% say the career progression of junior employees is limited by working from home

Robert Half’s survey was taken by 300 business leaders, which includes 100 CFOs, 100 CIOs and 100 general hiring managers.