Australian tech firms losing talent despite flexible work options

Remote, a global HR platform, has released its 2024 Global Workforce Report, based on a survey involving over 4,000 business leaders from ten countries, including 506 leaders from Australia.

The report examines the existing state of global companies and the adoption of various work trends, particularly focusing on flexible work arrangements.

According to the report, Australian technology companies are leading in offering flexible work options, such as remote or hybrid work arrangements. However, more than half of these businesses are losing employees to organisations that offer even greater flexibility.

Remote's research reveals that 74% of Australian technology businesses have experienced an increased demand for flexible work options over the past six months. Despite offering such flexibilities, 58% of these firms are still losing employees to competitors who are able to provide even more flexible work arrangements.

The Global Workforce Report provides a positive outlook on the state of global businesses, with 76% of Australian businesses reporting an increase in workforce numbers over the past year, higher than the global average of 73%. Countries with notable workforce growth include Germany (86%), the UK (81%), and the USA (72%).

The technology sector in Australia is particularly strong in offering and adopting flexible work benefits. Flexible working hours are offered by 54%, part-time work by 44%, and remote working by 46% of tech companies. In contrast, the general adoption rates for these benefits among Australian businesses are 39%, 36%, and 32% respectively.

Furthermore, technology companies are more likely to see substantial uptake of these benefits among their staff. While only 29% of all Australian businesses report at least 50% employee usage of flexible working hours, the figure rises to 37% in the technology sector. For remote work, the uptake in the tech sector is also 37%, compared to 23% in other areas.

The report also highlights the business benefits of flexible working models. Many industries reported an increase in productivity through remote operations. The technology sector, in particular, reports higher rates of increased employee satisfaction (46% vs 35%), improved business performance (43% vs 29%), and reduced employee turnover (43% vs 29%) compared to other Australian businesses.

These findings contrast with the recent trend among some prominent organisations reintroducing Return to Office (RTO) policies, citing productivity concerns. Nonetheless, the advantages of flexible and remote work for business efficiency and employee satisfaction are evident from the data.

One significant challenge for all companies is finding candidates with the right skills, with 31% of Australian businesses citing this issue. Remote organisations are increasingly turning to freelance or contractor talent, with 48% having hired such workers in the past year, compared to 40% of office-based businesses.

Despite the benefits, companies with primarily remote workforces face several challenges, including managing compliance with international labour laws (74%), handling remote teams (78%), increased costs of remote technology (75%), assessing cultural fit of remote candidates (77%), and dealing with AI-generated resumes containing false information (77%). Nonetheless, 82% of companies have reduced their office space due to successful implementation of remote or hybrid models.

Job van der Voort, CEO and co-founder at Remote, emphasized, "We have only just begun writing the playbook on remote work and will need to work together to identify and tackle these challenges. This data echoes what we hear from many of our customers – the benefits of flexible and remote work far exceed the challenges. We believe that distributed work is paving the way to a more successful, balanced and fair business world and are committed to helping other companies in adopting flexible work and attract great talent from everywhere."