While working from home is ‘the new normal’, govt says otherwise

While the government is pushing to get public servants back into the office, some believe that the hybrid working model has been successful and should continue.

Last month the government announced new work-from-home guidance for the civil service, with the hope it leads to higher productivity.

But in an interview with PMN Tuvalu’s host Fala Haulagi, Auckland Councillor Lotu Fuli of the Manukau ward said: “For us at Auckland Council, it’s a little bit different.”

“Our CEO Phil Wilson spoke to us councillors and as well to our governing body meeting … and he confirmed that with Auckland, we've reached a really good balance.

“We employ thousands of people across the city … thousands of workers, they are able to work partially at home and still partially in the office. But when we say the office, we mean if you live close to the Manukau Civic Building, you can go there for your meetings.

“If you live closer to the Pukekohe Local Board Area or Library, you can go there and use our council buildings there.

“For our staff, it's very important that we maintain that balance. And actually we know that our productivity is up as a result. So it's not a bad thing, we don't have a problem … we have productivity.

“Everybody's still performing even better working from home.”

Fuli shared how their hybrid working arrangement has allowed for work-life balance, especially for those with families.

“Our workers with families are able to have that really good balance,” she says.

“It's very important to them to be able to have that flexibility. So then they actually enjoy their work and they value their work better. And they see their job as … serving our community, serving our city, rather than it just being a nine to five job.”

Fuli noted that post-covid has reshaped work patterns allowing for flexibility to work from home.

She also emphasised the environmental benefits of not having to drive to work.
"That’s the new normal. That’s what we learned through Covid, that you don’t have to all get in your car and drive for an hour and a half to get to the office.”

"We have declared a climate emergency as a city. This all helps us to reduce our emissions and it helps us ease the congestion...on Thursdays and Fridays in Auckland, the motorways are nowhere near as busy as they used to be."

In a press statement, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis said, “I have asked the Public Service Commission to support agencies to implement the government’s expectations, including ensuring information about working from home arrangements is captured in a way that allows for easy comparison between agencies.”

She intends to also make this information available to the public early next year in a “user-friendly way”.

Watch the full interview below.