WFH, four-day work weeks and ‘lazy girls’: The big workplace trends of 2023

It’s undeniable that many of us have entered a new era of hybrid work. A few months ago we surveyed more than a thousand of SmartCompany‘s most regular readers and discovered that the future of work is… complicated.

Asked: What is your company’s view on hybrid/remote work? About 13% of respondents are back in the office, 29% are hybrid (with set days), 35% are flexible (with no set days), and 12% are fully remote.

As I’ve written elsewhere, prior to early 2020, I could never have imagined doing a job like mine mostly from home, yet thanks to the pandemic – and the trust of my boss – I’m a year into permanently rethinking work.

I live in regional Tasmania, and only took this job on the understanding that I would be able to do so. I’m very aware that the opportunity to work from home is a massive privilege not open to everyone. Eleven percent of our survey responders said it was not relevant to their sector, and 13% are back in the office full-time.

But that means that more than three-quarters of us are now in a hybrid, flexible, or fully remote workplace. Which is pretty remarkable given where we were pre-COVID.

I have learnt that WFH is certainly not without some significant challenges: remote work can make us happier and more productive, but also profoundly challenges companies’ ability to foster workplace culture.

Two of my most stimulating conversations of the year occurred on stage at our Sydney and Melbourne Scale Up events in August. On Gadigal land, Employment Hero CEO Ben Thompson said he was all in on all remote: “I’m a huge advocate for remote work and I can go into a personal element of that. We’ve got three kids. Our youngest child, who is 14, has high special needs. He needs to have care, 24/7. And so my ability to work from home is hugely important to me, and to my family.  I think the real benefits of remote work are for parents with children who may be perfectly healthy, but they still need to be picked up and dropped off at school. You need that flexibility in your life. If dad can do it and mum can do it. Then you can both hold jobs down like it just opens up options”.

On Boonwurrung land a week later, July co-founder Athan Didaskalou revealed that his entire team was in the office full time, and if interviewees weren’t up for that, then they wouldn’t get hired. So I won’t be working at July any time soon!

But if you have a flexible boss – and most bosses’ have recognised that flexibility is something worth supporting in 2023 – you’ll likely be working at a business that looks a little different than it would have in 2019. And spending at least some of you time working from home – in smart-casual, or shorts and thongs.

Here’s our most-read workplace trend pieces of 2023

1. CEO video goes viral with potshots at ‘quiet quitting’ workers and breadwinning mothers

2. CEOs going viral for asking staff to leave “pity city” and stop asking about bonuses 

3. Remote-first startups hailing remote work as financial results beat expectations

(With their co-CEO’s WFH rallying cry backed by independent businesses)

4. Workers suing startups over 60-hour work weeks

5. The fastest growing (and declining) jobs over the next five years

6. CBDs still in limbo as workers continue to shun the office

7. The 4-day work week isn’t radical enough, we need to think bigger

8. 66% of Australian workers aren’t disclosing Gen AI use

9. Unexpected reasons why employees don’t want to work from office

10. Decoding the “lazy girl” job trend and what it means for businesses

And one bonus, which I think my colleague Tegan wrote specifically for me (thanks TJ!)

11. Rage applying, Quittok: A boomer boss guide to Gen Z work speak