WFH has only slightly dipped since its peak
Summary
9.5% of job ads include references to work-from-home (WFH), which is only 1.5ppts lower than the post-COVID peak.
A small number of industries have a larger share of WFH ads today, including Legal and Healthcare & Medical.
The ACT has the highest proportion (12.0%) of job ads that mention WFH, Tasmania and Western Australian the lowest (6.7%).
53% of workers would prefer to WFH two or more days a week.
Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays remain the most popular days for Melburnians to go to the office, though Monday attendance has increased.
A slow return to the office
Despite some high profile local and international return-to-office mandates, the share of Australian job ads offering WFH has declined only very slightly since it peaked in 2023.
Since SEEK last reported the proportion of job ads that feature references to WFH in November 2023, (see Work-from-home hasn’t gone anywhere) the number has declined just half a percentage point and now sits at 9.5% of all job ads posted to SEEK, as at December 2024. However, this ratio remains well above pre-COVID levels. Although small, the decline has been broad based, with declines across most states and territories and industries.[1]
With SEEK research showing that 53% of workers would ideally work from home two or more days a week it is unsurprising that the decline in ads mentioning WFH options has only been small and that hirers continue to offer WFH as an option.
Job ads highlighting WFH have declined since rebounding in early 2024
Over the first half of 2024 the share of ads on SEEK indicating the ability to WFH bounced higher after declining over the second half of 2023. The movement in the WFH share of job ads over the past year or so has been broadly consistent with SEEK’s Labour Market Balance Indicator, which suggested the labour market was loosening over the second half of 2023 before beginning to tighten over 2024. This suggests that in a loosening labour market employers may become less inclined to offer flexible conditions.
Note: Seasonally adjusted. Source: ABS, SEEK
Most industries have seen a decline in the share of ads offering
WFH
In most industries the WFH share of ads has declined since April 2023, when the aggregate WFH share of ads peaked.
The Legal industry is one of the few industries where the WFH share of ads has grown (now at 26.3%). This perhaps reflects both the nature of much of the work in the industry, which is traditionally office-based and that there are still some labour supply shortages within the legal industry. Jobs and Skills Australia’s (JSA) 2024 occupation shortage list highlights that Solicitors were in shortage nationally and some other legal roles were experiencing pockets of shortages across the country.
The Health & Medical industry is another exception where the share of ads highlighting WFH has continued to grow, although slowly (now at 9.1%). Health & Medical billing and administration roles tend to offer WFH, supporting the upward trend. In addition, the prevalence of telehealth has grown over recent years, with the number of telehealth job ads increasing tenfold since 2019.
Despite leading the way in terms of offering WFH, the share of ads indicating WFH opportunities has declined in the Insurance & Superannuation industry (now at 43.1%), but the industry remains the only one with a WFH ad share above 40%. Many of the high-volume roles in the industry, such as Claims Advisors and Consultants, Reporting and Data analysts lend themselves to allowing at least some WFH days.
In some industries the ability to WFH is limited and this is reflected in the relative share of ads offering WFH being little changed. Industries with primarily location-based, customer focused roles, like Trades & Services, Hospitality & Tourism and Retail & Consumer Products, have little ability to offer WFH to the bulk of their workforce, with senior management, support and shared service roles being the exceptions.
Note: Seasonally adjusted data. Source: SEEK.
One industry where the share of ads highlighting WFH as an option has decreased is Government & Defence. This comes despite flexible working arrangements that have been adopted across the Australian Public Service (APS), which captures most Commonwealth Government employees. The APS Commission suggest that this flexibility makes the APS a more competitive employer, while also supporting diversity and enhancing productivity.[2]
Flexibility is seen as one of the key attributes of the APS’s Employee Value Proposition. The decline may reflect the widely publicised RTO order from the NSW government in mid 2024, although the NSW government still offers and advertises some flexible work.[3]
The change in the composition of ads by industry accounts for only a small part of the decline
A change in the mix of industries advertising could shift the share of WFH ads, for example if the number of ads for Hospitality & Tourism industry were to increase notably, all else equal, then the WFH share of ads would decrease, with the industry having a notably lower WFH share.
The industry mix only accounts for a small part of the decline in the WFH share that we have seen since April 2023, with changes in the mix broadly offsetting. For example, there has been a relative increase in Trade & Services industry ads, a low WFH industry, but also a relative increase in Legal industry ads, a high WFH industry.
Note: 'prevalence if industry mix hadn't changed' series holds constant the share of job ads by industry as at April 2023. Seasonally adjusted. Source: ABS, SEEK
The industry mix changes throughout the year, with more ads for Consumer & Retail Product roles towards the end of the year, so looking at original data before considering the seasonal patterns, there tends to be a decline in the WFH share in the second half of the year.[4]
The share of ads offering WFH by state partly reflects the industry mix across states
The ACT now leads the country in offering WFH in job ads, with declines in the WFH ad share in the previously nation leading New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria. Elsewhere, there has been a slow decline in the WFH ad share in Queensland, while the WFH share has been broadly stable in the other states despite some volatility.
The differences in WFH share across regions appear to reflect the relative industry mix across the states and territories. Higher WFH industries like Information & Communication Technology (ICT) and Government & Defence industry ads account for a much greater share of ads in the ACT than in any other region, while ICT ads are also larger share of ads in NSW and Victoria than they are in other regions. In contrast, lower WFH industries like Trades & Services account for a larger share of ads in the other states and territories.
Note: Seasonally adjusted data. Source: SEEK
WFH still a high priority for many candidates
Since the onset of COVID, job seekers have had an increased focus on work-life balance with many considering WFH as an important contributor to achieving it. So, offering hybrid and flexible working has become one that businesses can compete for talent. SEEK candidate data shows that of those that can, 85% of workers ideally want to work from home at least once a week and 53% would prefer 2 or more days at home[5].
Job seekers preference for WFH can also be seen in the number of applications per job on SEEK, with job ads highlighting the ability to WFH receiving more applications than ads that don’t mention WFH.
WFH unlikely to be highlighted in job ads pre-COVID
The share of people working from home has increased over time, with a sharp increase at the onset of COVID, followed by a slow decline since. its pre-COVID levels.
Only a very small share of ads highlighted the potential to WFH prior to 2020 even though just under a third of employed people indicated they had done some work from home in August 2019. This suggests that hirers may be emphasising the ability to WFH more now than they did before COVID, as it has become a way to differentiate themselves from other hirers in the eyes of candidates.
Note: Estimates of WFH between September 2020 and June 2021 are derived from a different data source so may differ slightly from other estimates. Source: ABS, SEEK
The slow return to the office can be seen in foot traffic too
City of Melbourne pedestrian counts can be useful to get a sense of the extent of the RTO that has occurred over the last couple of years. Average annual morning foot traffic shows counts are still well down on their pre-COVID levels but increased between 2023 and 2024.
The foot traffic data indicate office workers are still staying home most often on Mondays and Fridays, although there was an increase in counts on Mondays between 2023 and 2024 suggesting that more people are heading into the office at the start of the week. The increase could represent an increased push by businesses to see workers in the office more regularly. The data suggest Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays remain the main days that workers are hitting the office.
Note: Annual average pedestrian counts in Melbourne CBD between 7 & 10am on weekdays, excluding public holidays. Locations included are Southern Cross Station, Collins Place (South), Collins Place (North), Spencer St-Collins St (South), Spencer St-Collins St (North), and Alfred Place.
Source: City of Melbourne, SEEK
Notes
[1] The extent of flexibility and WFH can be hard to quantify with hirers often not providing enough details to determine how often employees must attend the office. So, a shift by hirers from full-time WFH to 2 days WFH will not be reflected in the decline in the WFH share of job ads.
[2] State of the Service Report 2023-24, Australian Public Service Commission (2024)
[3] NSW government sector workplace presence, Premier's Department (2024)
[4] For more discussion of the seasonal patterns in SEEK job ads see: Seasonality report
[5] Research conducted on behalf of SEEK by Nature, Sep’23-Dec’24 n= 4,656.
ENDS
About Blair Chapman, PhD
Dr Blair Chapman is SEEK’s Senior Economist. Blair undertakes economic analysis and forecasting of the Australian and New Zealand economies and labour markets. He leverages SEEK’s data to develop unique insights about the economies SEEK operates in.
Blair’s economic analysis and forecasting skills have been honed across both private and public organisations including ANZ, Deloitte Access Economics, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). While at the RBA, he was their representative on the ABS’s Labour Statistics Advisory Group for several years.
Blair holds a PhD in Economics from Johns Hopkins University where his studies concentrated on macroeconomics and labour. He completed his undergraduate studies at Monash University, where he majored in Economics, Econometrics and Accounting.
About SEEK
SEEK operates market leading online employment marketplaces, helping people live more fulfilling and productive working lives and helping organisations succeed.
SEEK has a multinational presence that is focused on Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
Feature Image: Photo by olia danilevich.