SYDNEY - Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Melbourne property surveyor company used to gather its 180 employees in the office at 9 a.m. daily to distribute tasks.

However, with the shift to remote work, employees, including drone operator Nicholas Coomber, now head straight to the field as early as 7.30 a.m. This change has allowed Coomber to pick up his children from daycare earlier than he could before the pandemic.

Nicholas Coomber, the drone operator, expressed that if the company were to mandate a return to the office, he would likely request a raise. He still visits the office occasionally but appreciates the benefits of remote work, such as having more quality time with his family and avoiding the commute.

Amidst calls from corporate leaders like JPMorgan Chase's CEO Jamie Dimon and Tesla's Elon Musk to end remote work arrangements, Australian unions are taking a stand and pushing back.

They are taking legal action against the country's largest bank and engaging with the federal government to advocate for remote work, also known as WFH (work from home), to become the standard practice.

According to John Buchanan, who leads the University of Sydney's Health and Work Research Network, significant transformations in the Australian labor market have historically emerged from crises. Such upheavals create permanent changes, and the world never goes back to its previous state. Compared to other English-speaking countries like the UK, US, and New Zealand, Australia has often been at the forefront of these shifts.

Benefiting from a historically low unemployment rate, employees at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX) used their newfound empowerment to challenge a directive that required them to work from the office half of the time. They took the A$170 billion ($114 billion) lender to the industrial tribunal in pursuit of maintaining their work-from-home arrangements.

In Australia, the push for work-from-home (WFH) rights is gaining momentum as unions negotiate deals with companies and the government. National Australia Bank (NAB.AX) faced resistance when its CEO ordered 500 senior managers back to the office full-time, leading to a union deal granting all employees, including the managers, the right to request WFH with limited grounds for refusal. The public sector union secured an agreement allowing federal employees to request unlimited WFH days.

This contrasts with Canada, where federal workers' two-week strike in May did not secure the desired WFH protections. In the European Union, lawmakers are still discussing updates to telework protections, but many employees around the world are adamant about continuing WFH arrangements beyond the pandemic.

Mathias Dolls of the ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys highlighted a global pattern: employees' desire for WFH exceeds their bosses' push for office return. A survey found that among employees with WFH experience, only 19% wished to return to the office full-time, while most preferred two WFH days per week.

The increasing demand for WFH sets the stage for a historic confrontation between employers and workers.

The widespread adoption of remote work in Australia has caused significant disruptions in the office space market.

As little as 2% of Australian working hours were remote in 2019, but now remote work has become the standard for white-collar jobs. This shift has led to a decline in building valuations for office landlords, as companies are renting reduced floorspace due to remote work arrangements.

Approximately one-sixth of office space in Australian capital cities now sits vacant, reaching a multi-year high, as in-person attendance remains significantly below pre-pandemic levels. This situation has brought challenges for property investors dealing with the impact of reduced demand for office space.

On the other hand, remote work has provided substantial benefits for employees like drone operator Nicholas Coomber. Flexible work arrangements allowed him and his wife to continue working for two weeks when their children were sick and unable to attend childcare. Coomber expressed gratitude for the convenience and ease that remote work offers in balancing work and family life.