Public Services minister Nicola Willis has told Government department bosses to bring more of their employees back into the office five days a week, and cut back on flexible hours.
The minister announced on Monday that she had issued new guidance, via the Public Service Commissioner, which says flexible work should not be the default option for public servants.
While thoughtful work-from-home policies could be beneficial for workers and employers, there were also downsides if the pendulum swung too far in one direction, she said.
“There are good reasons why employees have traditionally been physically brought together for work. It allows for face-to-face conversation, the sharing of skills and experience and relationship building. It supports younger and newer employees to observe, learn from and form connections with their more experienced colleagues,” she said in a press release.
New guidelines will instruct public sector chief executives that working from home should only be allowed on a case-by-case basis, where it did not affect productivity and other objectives, and must be monitored and publically reported.
Flexible working arrangements became increasingly popular during the pandemic and have been highly valued by employees. Stats NZ has reported that four out of five businesses across New Zealand offer flexible work to employees.
Willis’ announcement comes after a pair of columns complained that work-from-home culture was making life more difficult for Wellington’s hospitality businesses.
This included one written by Heather du Plessis-Allan which accused public servants, who earned a median salary of $84,800 in 2023, of spending Monday and Friday at their “beach house”.
A recent report by Stuff interviewed Wellington hospitality business owners, many of whom said less workers had returned to the city centre after the pandemic and after-work drinks on Fridays have become less common.
However, high interest rates have been deliberately supressing this kind of spending and may be more to blame than flexible working.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the policy was not about saving Wellington cafes or bars, rather it was about boosting public sector performance.
“The primary reason for doing it is to make sure we have a really high functioning ambitious public service that’s actually building a cadre of talent. We think that is better achieved with people being in the office environment.”
Some studies have shown that individual employees can initially be more productive when working from home, due to less interruptions, but tend to stagnate without team feedback.
Carmel Sepuloni, deputy leader of the Labour Party, said there was no evidence that public servants who worked flexibly had been less productive.
“I’m concerned there seems to be a little bit of demonisation of our public servants going on, but it’s certainly not the first time.”
She said if Nicola Willis was worried about poor sales at Wellington cafes, that was more likely to be related to the thousands of jobs which she had cut from the public sector.
138 Comments
When people have an hour+ commute each way
Location is perhaps a matter of affordability in Auckland. It's more of a lifestyle choice in Wellington. In fact, it is cheaper to at a 15-20 train journey from town in Lower Hutt than further afield areas such as Camborne and even Kapiti.
Getting to work is part of being employed. In all likelihood these non productive WFH types have been spending the cash they would have normally spent getting to and from work on something else, ie HP for some toys. More fool them. Get back to the office and do what you are paid for boys and girls. You could always quit and save the tax payer some money. I have heard that there are no longer Friday night drinks…these types have Thursday night drinks instead, meaning little to nothing gets done on Fridays. Games up guys, back to the office you go.
…..about a year ago I was contacted by some consulting company offering their services relating to WFH. Specifically they were providing coaching on how to try and make WFH productive, and also how employers could help with mental issues and anxiety associated with loneliness and lack of human interaction as a result of working from home. I thought it was a little ironic that many were already paying for people to be unproductive at home, and then we could pay again for some consultants to help them through their issues and try to become productive. It was clear then (more than before even), that the whole thing was a scam, soon to collapse…and here we are. Luckily, we never allowed WFH even during lockdown, so I deleted the email. Had a good laugh though with the people in the office.
It costs me $33 return to get to work in Wellington using public transport. I WFH 2 days a week. That's $66 per week I can spend not on public transport. If I had to go in 5 days a week that's $3k per year I'd be cutting back on expenses. It would not save the CBD, and would affect my local economy too. Going into the office is essential for me, just not 5 days a week.
Willis has also missed an important detail - many Ministries have premises based on 80% occupancy - where will the public servants sit? In the lunchroom?
Who funds that public transport? Multiply that $3k per person by all the people in Wellington WFH and it will be clear that public transport is probably hemorraghing losses right now. Yet I'm sure nobody wants the public transport system cut back to a bare bones business that only runs 3 days a week? Someone is paying for that public transport - I'd say most people would want the people who use it to pay, rather than taxpayers or ratepayers paying for it not to be used.
Most employment contracts state the hours of work and place of work. If your working arrangements are documented so you can expect to work from home for two days, fine. Otherwise, your practices are subject to mutual acceptance by you and the organisation you work for and if it wants you to be in the office for four or five days a week, it can point to your terms of employment and enforce them.
Just because someone is sensible, does not make them a boomer. I agree many public servants should quit, they provide no value and have proven that over the last few years with 1000s more of them and gone backwards. Better for many to quit, and public service reorged to provide proper value. I suspect many of them will simply be cut anyway. Going to work is part of being employed for most things. I suggest you get used to it.
I didn't see anything sensible in your comments. Calling public servants "boys and girls" makes you a boomer. Also, not realising that technology leapt forward and now we have all the tools we need to effectively WFH.
Employers in other countries tried to force employees back into offices and failed, National is facing the same failure and backlash.
Nicola Willis, single handedly saving Wellington. Although not sure that dump is worth saving.
Anyone who thinks WFH is a good idea needs to pop over to Melbourne for a look - its in dire straits. No people means dying businesses. Dying businesses means dying tourism. Dying tourism means a dying NZ. When cities become ghost towns, no-one wins. Except Queenstown which has an international airport now, so everyone can fly in there, and then leave again without visiting anywhere else. That will be the future of NZ tourism if things don't change.
I doubt that all the business lost in the CBDs ends up in the suburbs. While I'll occasionally meet up with a colleague for coffee when working from home it's a fraction of what I would do when in the office. With my pantry and fridge close by it's also much less common to buy lunch when working from home. Personally I think that the reason to get staff back in the office is to enhance productivity through improved collaboration - even allowing for more coffee shop visits!
The question that an employer should be asking is whether offering WFH and flexible time is better for staff and the company/organisation. Wider considerations like surrounding cafes should not come into it.
Back when I was a graduate accountant (2010 ish) Inland Revenue offered flexi-time where you could do your contracted hours with flexibility (early start and finish, or vice-versa). This was definitely something that helped attract and retain staff.
Yup.
The businesses made sense in the first place because it was necessary to have so many people in that area while working.
If that's no longer the case, why let unproductive businesses stifle productivity improvements by having a big push by the government to get people into the office?
Like where are they going to go? They're public servants. Certainly wont be going to Australia as the State Premiers are doing the exact same thing.
People sitting at home babysitting their kids all day instead of working are hardly going to be missed by the company.
My neighbours has the guy working from home in a garage. He ignores his children during the day. Those children have been an absolute nightmare to live next to. Tantrums, shouting back at the mother, the mother shouting at them.
No interest or discipline by the father appears to be the problem. In my view WFH is having a strong negative impact at that place.
Dunedin is now firmly a provincial city, given Queenstown Lakes area is a magnet for tourism, retirement and investment money.
Dunedin city is quiet, and businesses are leaving completely or relocating to South Dunedin where there is still decent access and parking - although the traffic planners seem quite focussed on changing that, too. The hospital build is becoming a downsized mess and a large new building is going up for ACC - although whether it ever gets occupied is anyone's guess.
Coupled to recent constrictions in Dunedin centre's parking and access, the move to on-line shopping, the lack of international flights (Jetstar to Brisbane again next winter, maybe. Uh, Yay?), the recession, and that public transport is run by the Otago Regional Council not the city council, the consequence is that there are a lot of vacant CBD shop fronts.
It's looking like a slow, sad decline is the order of things.
Willis’ announcement comes after a pair of columns complained that work-from-home culture was making life more difficult for Wellington’s hospitality businesses.
for CBD businesses maybe, for suburb businesses it's good.
plus, the problem to CBD business is not public servants, it's the wellington city council who hates cars and business.
In the office I am in there are a mix of staff who have never been back for 4 years.
Some told to come back and do 2 days.
The people doing 2 days are disruptive. They spend most of their time gossiping and catching up as they don’t see each other in person in the office.
I would rather they are in the office 5 days a week or just never come back to the office.
BTW I must been at the office 5 days a week.
The fact that they are actually more productive at home when surrounded by the distraction than they were in the office environment should speak volumes. The fact is that half of them exist to make work for the other half. A 50% cut would go unnoticed by the rest of NZ. But the cafes would really suffer then. Going out to get coffee chews up 25% of the day.
Yes! Open plan is a disaster for introverts. But there are huge advantages in working in an office such as mentoring, gaining from peers experiences etc.
However WHF is something I would say will affect many people in terms of weight gain. Not something to be dismissed lightly.
I used to commute to work by bike. Rain hail shine. That added up to a huge amount of exercise each week.
You are allowed to exercise and eat healthily when you work from home, just saying! I agree with those saying the best is a hybrid/mixed model, some days at home to put your head down and concentrate in peace, other days to collaborate with other humans outside of the home
Yes, because the lack of commute time means they can exercise. During daylight saving time I've WFH starting at 7 and finishing at 3:30, and headed out into the bush or gone fishing or for a bike ride after work. Even in winter it means I can walk the dog after work instead of going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark. Definite wellbeing benefits.
I'm an introvert and when such things existed, had my own office. But I found the open plan environment to be quite stimulating and enabled me to pick up on conversations that were going on around me and vice versa. If I needed quiet time I could put on some noise cancelling earphones or go into a room for such a purpose.
People are using wfh cost savings to pay their ridiculous mortgages. Flat whites now cost close to $7, $16 sandwiches etc. People now shop more at low end big box, made in china stores. Things have changed.
I don’t see this as any miracle cure for retail and hospitality.
That is so true. One coffee a day plus a sandwich is 17 bucks. Let’s call it 100 bucks for round figures. You’re looking at 5K a year for a crappy coffee and an average sandwich. I have always taken lunch to work, and we have a very good coffee machine No one goes to the cafe (there are exceptions, but it’s not common). So, the WFH crowd, forced back into the city may make a difference, maybe not. But at least they will be doing their five days and being monitored again. I’m sure there is a good reason we managed to get an extra 15000 public servants and get less done,….it’s probably because they are all WFH…or pretending too.
Agile workplaces haven't helped things either. The workplace is deliberately made sterile and depersonalized. I find it very difficult to get enthusiastic in this sort of work setting. In fact, I can barely function at all. Return to the office is a deal breaker for me.
If everyone is so much more productive,this should be measured,then the % increase in productivity should be matched by a similar % of staff reductions...it seems to me,most of the productivity comes on the employees side,roll out of bed,turn on laptop,get the washing on,mow the lawns"support the local economy" by catching up with friends for coffeee...then packing the car Thurs and sitting at the beach house Fri-Mon. At the end of the day,the employer pays the wages,he should decide where you work.
Looks like they do.
Early childhood services say they are running on a knife edge after enrolments dropped and record numbers went out of business.
Official figures showed the number of children enrolled in early education dropped last year and they were attending for fewer hours.
They also showed 159 early childhood services closed in the 12 months to the end of June 2022 - about three times the usual figure and the most in 22 years of records.
People working in the sector told RNZ things were still tough this year.
Aro Valley Preschool senior teacher Bridget Mickelson-Warmouth said some Wellington services had gone out of business and it had become harder to enrol children.
"It is definitely a problem. I've heard of a number of leaders that are saying they're struggling to fill their rolls. The reason why I'm not 100 percent sure but it definitely is a problem around our area," she said.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/503561/ece-providers-struggling-ami…
And then we wonder why all the ECE staff pack up and go to Australia.
I was working for Stats NZ over the pandemic.
Once we all started working from home, my productivity went through the roof, our 9 month project finished in about 5 months and I was able to finish a second project in the remaining time.
This definitely wasn't the case for everyone though, many people just stopped working.
My current gig - work from home 100% of the time. I spend half my time in teams meetings, but they are focused on the agenda. I am probably 2-3 times more productive as my commute is zero (compared to 1h20m each way into the office) and family life is far happier. Office environments are also very, very distracting for tech workers who need to code etc, requiring deep uninterrupted periods of thinking and/or problem resolution. It also allows me to work at odd hours, often 9-11pm at night when nobody else is distracting me on needless malarky.
I have done a mix for 15 years across private and public sector. Get the report / pitch writing and deep analysis done at home, collaborate and workshops in the office. But, after Covid, a lot of people recognised that online workshops were actually better for some topics.
The lobbyist elephant in the room is not hospo though - it is the far more powerful commercial real estate lobby. They are crapping themselves about future revenue streams and many Govt agencies will be moving to downsize their footprint next year. The answer to the hospo and CRE risk is the same of course - convert a load of Wellington offices into apartments. The city needs people living in it. If Govt had a clue, they would incentivise or invest in that change and solve a few problems at once.
I work from home for a private company. My productivity also went through the roof, as an Estimator/QS who can be left alone to focus on comprehensive take-offs instead of being distracted by "quick questions". I don't need to "collaborate" with a team to complete my job.
My commute is down from 1h40m each way to zero. Today I logged on at 7:30 am and logged off 20 minutes ago. Yes there are employees that do absolutely nothing when working from home and ruin it for the rest of us. But they do bugger all when in the office as well. It's a perk, like those with full personal use company vehicles except this perk when not abused costs the company nothing.
Office environments are also very, very distracting for tech workers who need to code etc, requiring deep uninterrupted periods of thinking and/or problem resolution.
Office environments are one of the harshest and poorly designed spaces we have in our modern world. I would be happier with a small cupboard than open plan anything.
Fortunately at the stage of my career now where I move across sites (have a permanent base at each) and can simply lock a door and other people simply have to wait, but the constant interruptions and workflow disturbances in my early career caused a bunch of needless anxiety simply because I had no choice in how I responded without several other people hearing an entire conversation.
Having said that, WFH is a benefit and there are certain staff I have offered it to because I had high trust that they would not abuse it. If I can reach you, and you can follow instruction and manage your own task list, there's literally no downside.
Wellington is collapsing because people have less money to spend on discretionary stuff. Latest ANZ data for the country is clear on that (slide 9). Wellington has also seen real wage cuts across almost all age bands and the job losses amongst the big consultancies are stacking up because Govt is focused hard on reducing contractor costs (that is why govt staff numbers went up a bit!)
Pulling more people into the office will just add to peoples' living costs - public transport is expensive, parking is extortionate etc. So, how much extra money will be spent in cafes and bars, really?
I am not arguing for keeping public servants employed for the sake of the local economy. But, the Govt has no clear plan for the Wellington or the national economy other than 'shrink the state so that [something something] and then the private sector rises phoenix-like, propels growth, and floats all boats'. It's naive - magical thinking.
"Naive magical thinking" was increasing the public sector by ~18000 (~40%) over 6yrs with no significant improvement in services. Including several thousands in the runup to the election with Labour embedding their acolytes.
The ~6500 roles recently estimated to be disestablished is a token gesture.
Yep exactly
Thinking this DOES NOT EQUAL being a right of centre fanboy favouring austerity.
I have been saying this for 4-5 years. Yet, I would like to see frontline staff increased massively. And critical admin not cut back, but even increased.
It is the bloat of policy advisers, communications staff etc that I had the big problem with.
again, it’s ‘quality’ of spend more so than ‘quantum’ of spend
Did you miss this line: "I am not arguing for keeping public servants employed for the sake of the local economy"
Now, the key point... Successive Govts have overlaid legislation on top of legislation. A lot of this legislation requires thing X to be done whenever thing Y happens. When new Govts come in they don't want to put a couple of years into wiping the legislative slate clean, they want to introduce their new shiny thing. Thus you get another thing X that the public service has to do when thing Y happens.
Over time the inevitable result of all of this is loads more people working to keep the machine running. I mean look at what this Govt are doing - they are getting rid of some work (by employing loads of people at the ministry for regulation), and they are also introducing loads of new requirements - eg agencies having to track and report on whether their employees are working from home / office everyday.
The public sector headcount is nowhere near what it was in 2017 when the government came into power.
That this gets labelled 'austerity' when some businesses laid off 25% or more when the first lockdowns hit with less than three days warning is massively out of touch. This was perhaps the darkest time in my career, I will never forget it. This is the same reality the private sector have been dealing with up and down the country for years now.
However it seems like a good way to reduce standing costs is to cut down on rents and WFH lets departments do this.
I dont know why the Govt doesnt just get a list of people hired since 2017 into new roles created by the Labour Govt, and then sack them all. The Dept will clearly still run and deliver services just as it did in 2017. Just like Elon Musk found out with Twitter, you don't actually need 80% of your staff.
This has nothing to do with how much slacking off people do when they work from home, any difference in productivity between home and office or if we are able to collaborate with others better in an office.
Wealthy National Party donors are complaining they commercial property investments are not making the returns they want and people need to be forced back into CBDs to allow them to justify their extortionate rents.
Yet more backwards thinking from National, the world has changed and WFH is now widely accepted as a perfectly valid option for many. Not that there will many people left to force back, if Willis continues to destroy the public services as she is.
Does make me laugh though, if someone is slacking off not doing their job and nobody notices, there's way more to worry about than where they sit.
I am not a public servant but the way they have been treated and scapegoated by this government makes me sick. Research shows that flexible working arrangements actually increase productivity and wellbeing. This government once again implementing policies with no evidence behind them driven by the complaints of a narrow group of people (typically business owners or interests). Meanwhile, no mention of the thousands of public servants they laid off and the inevitable impact this had on the Wellington economy. Their austerity policies have torpedoed the economy, and this is the inevitable outcome of their total economic mismanagement.
I have a friend who worked on the Covid response, she is a Doctor her background being in public health. She worked every single day for like a year with not one free day on the weekend. Then to be slated as a lazy good for nothing so and so gorging herself at the taxpayers expense has made her feel so undervalued and despondent. She was on a fixed term contract and at the end of it was offered a permanent role but she refused and moved to Australia, she now is earning so much more than she ever could here. The way the public have been only all too willing to demonise the public service and celebrate the mass redundancies really impacted her, personally and professionally. It made her feel less connected to New Zealand as a country, and just disgusted at our direction of travel. We lost a highly skilled professional, and I'm sure she's not the only one.
I feel exactly the same way, so disconnected from a public that increasingly shows less and less empathy, and more and more stupidity over time. As a nation we have collectively drunk all the neoliberal kool aid (and demanded more of course). My partner and I have made the decision to also move to Australia. We are experienced data analysts with skills that are in demand, which makes moving a breeze. We are starting a family and wanted to do it in New Zealand where we grew up but I don't want to have children in a country that is becoming increasingly negative and scapegoating vulnerable groups while celebrating the true bludgers in society as great entrpreners (restore dignity to landlords). It has been death by a thousand cuts, and while I can't stand the government what hurts even more is a public that celebrates this kind of nastiness and the anti-intellectualism that has become almost a badge of pride. I love this country, but it has become a place I don't recognise and the people have become hard as stone, and so easily led by any populist "common sense" spouting demagogue. Like my friend, we're not moving for cost of living reasons or financial reasons (we are lucky to be on very healthy incomes), rather I've lost my faith in who we are as a country and where we are going. Sorry for this very long post, I'm just so sad about it all. This is kind of the feather that broke the camel's back.
100%, the nasty scapegoating of public servants, most who could be paid better elsewhere and are working their hardest for a better NZ, is absolutely revolting. Even more so considering the whole Covid response and incredible effort so many put in over those years. Hope Aus works out for you and all the best!
How hilarious. You're moving to the one country in the world that is literally run by both sides of the political spectrum for the benefit of property owners.
And the reason the public service is being demonised is not "anti-intellectualism" - its because we're sick of paying useless people who fail to deliver anything. 70% more tax collected under Labour, $100 billion in extra debt, and still things run worse than they did in 2017 under National.
Is it just me ,or do others think all this populist crap is leading somewhere?
I'm wondering if all is not well between the coalition parties, and they are preparing for a possible snap election.
Before anyone says, I don't actually think it would be good for the opposition ATM.
I have been wondering this also. It won’t be good for Labour but it also won’t be good for National, so I don’t think it will happen. If anything it would add a few more seats to the Greens and Act/NZF as the left are more disillusioned and the right more emboldened. The middle is weak.
I would hope the Greens would do a confidence and supply to replace one of the minor parties. Of course they would want something in return, but I think they would see benefit in it. Presuming the possible party leaving is doing so over an issue the Greens were against.
I work on the work, the setup and the ideas when WFH as I can do lateral and deep thinking. When at the office I work on relationships, leading, communicating what's been done and testing with key stakeholders as that's where the influence happens.
3wfh 2 office is muuuch more productive than full office or full wfh.
And I don't waste 3+ hours a day commuting for the other 3 days a week, so bring more energy.
To be completely honest with myself, I WFH about 50% of the time, except when I am travelling for business. During those weeks where I am not travelling I achieve around 25 productive hours per week. The rest I am doing the daycare drop off/pick up, getting some chores done, walking the dog etc around my work. I justify this by needing to be up at 3:30am for the 6:30am flight that takes me away for a few days every month. But if I do this, then it is absolutely happening to every other business whose employees WFH.
I’ve found WFH as a positive freedom but 2 days per week at home and 3 in the office as the best fit. My many of my colleagues are women with young children and relish this freedom and their role, working incredibly hard as they feel so lucky to have the option to WFH as otherwise they may not be able to sustain the job with the demands of their school pickups etc. Taking all WFH back from people will cause more hassle than the govt think, and will limit job prospects for many that WFH opened up, and also limits the pool of candidates for roles.
I have posted this before, when earlier this year in Hawkes Bay meet a chap who flew to Wellington- Mon-Wed then flew back to WFH thurs to Fri, some weeks he just worked from home. He said he knew of at least another 15 or so in Hawkes bay who did that. All on the Tax payer....you want to work for central government and the office is in Wellington then move.
What goes around ends up coming around. 2 years ago when nobody could find employees - working from home and flexible working were offered as perks to attract staff.
Now that unemployment is rising again - businesses are starting to mandate back to work, with most saying if you dont like it you can always find a job elsewhere.
In two years time when unemployment starts to fall and its hard to find workers again - flexible working will be back in fashion.
For the companies following the above cycle well done you - but I do hope your not sitting there complaining about how hard it is to obtain employee loyalty these days.
I'm spending a year WFH while I plan a new office. Turns out I didn't need as many staff as I thought. Without the constant gripes (including wanting to WFH), and the staff family juggling that they were able to subject me to when I was in the office, I can get more done personally, and so was able to let some people go. What I'm doing isn't scaleable, so I'll have to hire some others again eventually, but its saving me a fortune at the moment. Not sure this was the intention of the WFH lobby. (I'm also investing in AI to reduce the need for staff in the future).
Um, The Government has significantly reduced their building footprint in Wellington - no agency could accommodate all their staff if they all came back at once, so they have to allow WFH.
I average 3 days in the office but when WFH first became an option it was always on the premise of minimum 2 days per week or as the role dictated.
Currently we operate each team has an anchor day plus 1 other day in the office to manage our accommodation space - there are still some days where staff will work in the kitchen or other spaces (not desk space).
I rarely shop in the CBD and poss 1 coffee a week at the local. To think bringing back Govt workers into the CBD will revive Wgtn is very shortsighted
A few years ago I worked at MPI when it was in Pastoral House. Prior to moving to the new building they studied how many people arrived every day to determine desk-occupancy levels. From this they could right-size how much office space would be needed - too many empty desks is a waste of overheads for rent and desks, etc. If occupancy rates have declined due to people WFH, it enables organisations to reduce their office footprint. Indeed, before COVID, the Min of Education relied on staff absences to be able to fit everyone in Matauanga House. But savings are much harder to realise because departments can't easily or quickly renegotiate their rents due to staff WFH.
All of this to prop up the commercial real estate & hospitality lobbyist sector. We had bugger all visa immigration standards too when a waiter, kitchenhand or coffee cafe worker met the conditions for highly "skilled" work because of this self serving and harmful to society lot.
Just let them work out how much power, building operating costs and transport emissions can be saved with WFH and how real actual productive work can be measured instead of staff simply being present (often standing around distracting others or checking online sites), and put that into profits & other investments instead.
Much of the middle management layer is completely uneducated about measuring and managing productive workers in their own industry. But their role existence certainly becomes more obsolete when staff are left to do the work rather then millions of unproductive meetings. Poor managers hate WFH because it shows the flaws and severe comprehensive gaps in their own skills and their lack of understanding about what the actual profit driven and productive work actually is.
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