The office comback that wasn't: Why working from home still isn’t going away

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Like many employees post-Covid, Lisa* splits her time between home and the office.

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Working in IT for a large New Zealand company, the arrangement has suited her team for years. But she says management attitudes have shifted.

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“Some of our people were kind of taking the mickey out of working-from-home arrangements,” says Lisa.

Instead of simply being offered flexibility, employees now have to apply for it, and some requests are being refused. “There’s been quite a bit of negativity.”

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Instead of simply being offered flexibility, employees now have to apply for it, and some requests are being refused. “There’s been quite a bit of negativity.”

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New research from recruitment agency Cultivate suggests the broader push to return staff to the office has gained little traction in New Zealand. The study found the average work-from-home entitlement dipped only slightly in 2025, from 1.8 days per week to 1.7.

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Overseas, major tech companies such as Google have reduced flexible work options, while in 2024 public servants in Wellington were encouraged back into offices.

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Cultivate’s survey of 990 white-collar workers found a net 8% reported a reduction in flexibility over the past year, compared with 4% the year before.

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Co-founder and co-CEO Trina Jones says expectations that workers would steadily return to the office have not matched reality.

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“What we have seen in the market is businesses who came out of Covid with work-from-home provisions that were lapped up – people loved it,” she said.

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Now, she says, many employees are reluctant to give that up: “You're taking away what I had.”

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People want flexibility for many reasons — family commitments, avoiding commutes, even pets. A recent survey of 1800 pet owners by PD Insurance found 29% were reluctant or unlikely to change their work-from-home situation because of their animals.

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Tony Pownall, Cultivate’s other co-CEO, said some leaders assumed recession and rising unemployment would make it easier to roll back flexibility.

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“What this research actually shows is that wholesale rollbacks simply haven’t happened, and where they have, they’re usually not backed by good evidence.”

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Productivity remains a flashpoint. Two-thirds of workers say they are more productive at home, yet nearly 85% of leaders are not reviewing productivity data, according to Jones.

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“They’re not able to measure people's productivity whether they're in the office or not. There’s no hard evidence that, if you're reducing flexibility, it’s based on data. You're probably basing it on old-school thinking — a hunch that you need to physically see someone for them to be highly productive.”

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Infometrics chief executive Brad Olsen said Stats NZ data suggests working from home has stabilised rather than declined.

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“It has remained broadly unchanged in recent years, with 32% of workers working from home at some point in their week during the December 2025 quarter. Since mid-2022, rates have ranged between 32% and 34%.”

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He said while some employers have tried direct and indirect approaches to bring staff back, “it’s hard to force people back. It’s easier to support a return through strong culture and clear benefits, including collaboration.”

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Flexibility may also be key to recruitment. Cultivate found 82% of workers consider the ability to work from home a preference or deal-breaker when weighing up a new role. While over a third of workers would reconsider their future with their organisation if working from home was reduced.

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Associate Professor Paula O’Kane, of the Otago Business School at the University of Otago, said forcing office returns could backfire.

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“People are craving flexibility — place flexibility from working at home, time flexibility through adaptable hours, and even task flexibility that matches their strengths.

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“Employers that offer this often attract the best talent. If you try to force people back, it can create a negative culture and increase intentions to leave.”

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She believes working from home is now “part of the new norm”.

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Rachel*, who works for a large Wellington employer, has seen her in-office requirement increase from two days a week to three. She doesn’t mind.

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“It suits me. I like the interaction and bouncing ideas off my team. There’s a lot of give and take.”

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More pay wouldn’t sway her either. “The way it is now actually saves me money. I probably work more efficiently from home — sometimes longer, even on weekends.”

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*name has been changed

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-Stuff

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