Tabcorp staff lose WFH option as company orders employees to return to the office permanently

Australian betting giant Tabcorp has ordered its staff to return to the office five days a week.

The company’s executive team confirmed the move on Monday in an all-staff email, obtained by the Australian Financial Review.

More than 1500 employees across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane had previously been allowed to work a hybrid three-day week.

In job listings posted on its website, Tabcorp says bringing “teams together onsite every day” is part of its broader plan to build a “winning culture” under new CEO Gillon McLachlan.

“We value flexibility - like adjusting start or finish times or working remotely when required – however we believe being together is key to our success,” it said.

It comes just days after Amazon announced it too would require workers back in the office full-time from January 2, 2025.

Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy announced in a note to staff the company is taking a major step away from its pandemic-era arrangements, with workers required “in the office the way we were before the onset of COVID”.

Jassy said the advantages were “significant” including strengthening “our culture and teams” and helping staff “deliver the absolute best for customers and the business”.

“It’s easier for our teammates to learn, model, practice, and strengthen our culture; collaborating, brainstorming, and inventing are simpler and more effective; teaching and learning from one another are more seamless; and, teams tend to be better connected to one another.”

The company said there would be exceptions — including for emergencies and parents who need to take care of a sick child — and there will be flexibility for those who were not in the office full-time prior to COVID, but conceded the shift will “require some adjustments”.

“Our expectation is that people will be in the office outside of extenuating circumstances.”

Amazon has a global workforce of more than 1.5 million and employs about 7000 staff in Australia.

‘No one-size-fits-all’

University of Sydney Business School professor of management Angela Knox, who specialises in work and employment, told 7NEWS.com.au that it is “not unexpected that a bigger request to return to the office five days a week will lead to high levels of dissatisfaction among some workers”.

“Some workers prefer working from the office, others from home, and others both. There’s not a one-size-fits-all solution.

“Things have changed so fundamentally. Employees want options and flexibility and will go where they can get that.”

Thirty-seven per cent of Australians were regularly working from home in late 2023, according to ABS data.

It was down from about 40 per cent in 2021 but still higher than pre-pandemic levels.

One thing that Knox said stood out in the messaging to Amazon staff was a lack of data to justify the decision.

“Workers would appreciate a stronger rationale for the decision including data on productivity and performance, (comparing) working in the office against working from home,” she said.

“It’s not unreasonable to expect staff to come into the office for some activities and meetings but there is insufficient justification for a full return to the office... being visible does not mean being productive.”