A growing number of Australian workers are being ordered back into the office five days a week as companies increasingly enforce return-to-office mandates. The shift marks a 3 per cent increase from the previous year, with 39 per cent of businesses now requiring full-time in-office attendance in 2025, according to a survey by recruitment firm Robert Half.

The survey, which polled 500 Australian employers, also revealed a rise in the average number of required office days, climbing from 3.43 to 3.64. The push for office attendance appears to be creating a “domino effect,” with medium- and large-sized businesses influencing broader corporate trends.

“The medium- to large-sized businesses mandating four to five days versus one to two, that has a domino effect on those larger corporates,” said Nicole Gorton, director at Robert Half. However, she noted a contrasting trend among smaller enterprises, which are leveraging flexible work arrangements as a hiring advantage.

Smaller businesses, which may lack the financial capacity to increase salaries, are more likely to offer one or two in-office days, or even fully remote options, as a way to attract talent.

The survey findings highlight a steady decline in hybrid and remote work. Currently, 22 per cent of businesses mandate four days in the office, while 20 per cent require three days. Only 8 per cent allow two days—a significant drop from 13 per cent in the previous year. Fully remote work has also declined, with just 7 per cent of employers permitting it, compared to 9 per cent in 2024.

The push for more office attendance is largely employer-driven, with 84 per cent of respondents admitting they were influenced by other businesses enforcing similar policies. Additionally, 63 per cent observed a decline in employee resistance, suggesting that workers are gradually adapting to the shift.

“As workers adjust back to the pre-pandemic way of working and observe similar mandates elsewhere, they are less reluctant to oppose these mandates in their current workplace,” Gorton explained.

Despite the increasing acceptance of return-to-office mandates, resistance remains, particularly in Victoria. Thirteen per cent of Victorian employers reported worsening attitudes toward in-office work compared to last year, the highest among Australian states. NSW followed at 12 per cent, while Western Australia reported 10 per cent. Queensland, on the other hand, had the least resistance at just 2 per cent.

Some employees are negotiating higher salaries in exchange for returning to the office, with Gorton citing cases where workers demand pay raises of up to 20 per cent. “There are people saying, ‘I want a salary increase and I’ll come back into the office,’” she said, noting that companies are generally sticking to standard review processes.

Major employers, including Amazon, CommBank, and the NSW government, have steadily increased in-office mandates since 2023, initially sparking worker pushback. However, as businesses continue to normalize full-time office attendance, employees looking to advance their careers are realizing the importance of physical presence.

“What we are definitely seeing as a generalisation is people want to progress their career and they are realising they can’t do it today from home,” Gorton noted. “That as people want to progress their career, they are being impacted by inflation and they want to earn more money, that learning is caught not taught—you can’t progress from your bedroom.”

The trend toward full-time office work is also creating frustration, as office space reductions and desk-booking systems mean that even employees willing to work on-site may struggle to find space.

Meanwhile, in Canberra, federal public servants continue to enjoy broad flexible work arrangements under a 2023 agreement with the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), sparking criticism from opposition leaders who argue that the Albanese government has given public servants a “blank cheque not to be in the office.”

As Australia’s workplace landscape evolves, the debate over work flexibility versus employer control is far from over. While businesses push for increased office attendance, workers continue to weigh the trade-offs between career advancement, salary negotiations, and work-life balance.