Flexible work: Beyond the office debate

It is hard to believe that only seven years ago, before COVID-19, the standard expectation for employees in most organisations was a five-day, in-office workweek. Commuting each weekday was simply how professional life was structured. Meetings, collaboration, and informal conversations all revolved around physical presence, and remote work was largely reserved for special arrangements or specific roles.

Since then, that model has shifted dramatically. Hugh Cook, partner at global work professional service provider Vialto (pictured), has been tracking that shift closely across Australia's largest organisations.

"The pandemic triggered a rapid global experiment in remote and flexible work arrangements, and many of those changes have now become embedded in how organisations and the people that form them operate," Cook said.

What began as a necessity during a global crisis has become a defining feature of how organisations attract and retain talent, structure their operations, and compete in a global labour market. In Australia, where labour markets are particularly tight, Cook said flexible work has become a core part of workforce strategy and a critical lever for talent attraction and retention.

What Australian leaders are actually saying

The shift from flexible work being a nice-to-have to a baseline expectation reflects changing employee motivations, and Cook has had a front-row seat to that change. Over recent months, Vialto has spoken with chief people officers (CPOs) at many of Australia's leading organisations, as well as HR leaders at the recent HRD National HR Summit.

"While there is consensus that flexibility is now a fundamental employee expectation, there is no single approach that works for every organisation," Cook said. "Flexibility will mean different things across industries, geographies and roles. What works for a professional services firm may look very different to a manufacturing or health services business."

That diversity of approach extends even within individual organisations. Cook noted that debate over which flexible working policy levers deliver the best results continues all the way to the executive boardroom.

“An HR Leader from one ASX listed company reflected that ‘Not everyone in the C-suite is aligned around which flexible working policy is best, but they have agreed that our current approach makes the most sense’, Cook said.

Cook said the HR leaders Vialto has spoken with are clear that there is a definite shift from blanket policies to role-based flexibility informed by the specific needs of the industry and business.

"One packaging industry leader I spoke to said 'flexibility must always be weighed against productivity,'" Cook said.

The trust question

Perhaps no theme surfaced more consistently in those conversations than trust. Cook said organisations are grappling with the unintended consequences of hybrid work arrangements, with HR leaders at professional services firms raising concerns around mentoring, culture and the development of early-career talent.

Rather than responding with rigid mandates, Cook said many businesses are focusing on clear guardrails and stronger leader accountability.

"One HR executive from the legal sector described flexibility as a social contract: ‘if trust is lost, flexibility is lost," Cook said.

That framing carries real weight. Cook argued that flexible work arrangements are not simply logistical decisions but cultural ones, and that their long-term sustainability depends on the quality of relationships between managers and their teams.

"As organisations rethink traditional mobility models, many are moving away from relocation-based approaches and instead designing roles that are more location-agnostic," he said. "While this opens new opportunities, it also introduces a new layer of complexity that many organisations are still learning to manage."

The compliance risks that catch organisations off guard

Beyond the cultural questions lies a set of risks that are less visible but potentially far more costly. Cook said Vialto has seen the employer-led push to have employees return to the office softened by the introduction of more formal hybrid remote work and temporary international remote work policies and programmes.

"We have seen a rise in the number of employees working remotely, although in many cases this is happening without clear frameworks," he said.

At the same time, Cook pointed to a tightening of border controls, increased compliance enforcement activities and a rise in nationalist and protectionist policy settings. "In many cases, migration policy is becoming an extension of foreign policy, with visa access, border controls and mobility restrictions increasingly used to exert political and diplomatic influence," he said.

Cook said these trends increase the risk associated with international remote and flexible work arrangements. The risks include:

• Employees being denied entry at borders or working without appropriate visa or work authorisation
• Inadvertently triggering personal income tax obligations in a foreign jurisdiction
• Introducing unintended employer reporting and registration requirements
• Creating a taxable presence and exposing the organisation to corporate tax liabilities in another country

"Organisations can underestimate how quickly this exposure arises," Cook said. "Even short-term remote arrangements can create unintended consequences if they are not managed properly."

Technology as enabler, not replacement

While public anxiety about technology displacing workers remains high, Cook said the chief people officers Vialto has spoken with offer a more measured view. "The CPOs we have spoken to believe technology is an enabler of flexible work, not an employee replacement," he said. "Effective technology infrastructure allows teams to work efficiently and retain an experiential connection with colleagues and customers."

Technology also provides organisations with increasingly nuanced metrics on performance and risk.

"One telecommunications CPO put it well: 'Use data to build trust, not compliance,'" Cook said.

That distinction matters in practice. Cook said accurate tracking of employee location and work patterns is essential for data-driven decisions on workforce planning and organisational design, particularly in flexible work situations where foreign tax obligations depend on days spent in specific jurisdictions.

"Investment in workforce mobility tracking and technology more broadly is critical, not just as a risk management tool but as an efficiency play for industry-leading organisations," he said.

Burnout, boundaries and the culture challenge

Despite the complexities, Cook said flexible working continues to deliver significant benefits. For employees, it offers greater autonomy, improved work-life balance, and the ability to live in locations that better suit their personal circumstances. In Australia, where commuting times in major cities can be substantial, he said this flexibility is particularly valuable.

There is broad agreement among Australian chief people officers and Vialto clients, Cook said, that business success is not simply determined by where work gets done, but by when and how it happens. "With these opportunities come new challenges," he said. "Managing burnout, helping employees switch off and assisting in navigating blurred boundaries remain challenges for HR professionals and managers alike. Organisations must continue to build and maintain culture when people are in multiple environments and often never in the office at the same time."

Cook said the consensus among Australian chief people officers is that flexible working policies need to remain agile, continue to evolve, and cannot be set and forgotten.

"One senior HR leader recently put it well: 'The future of work requires companies to stay in learning mode,'" Cook said.

For Cook, that phrase sums up where Australian organisations find themselves. The question is no longer whether flexible work is here to stay. The question is whether organisations are willing to do the ongoing work required to make it work well.

This article was produced in partnership with Vialto