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Reason why Aussies are turning down jobs

Aussie job hunters aren’t willing to compromise on this work offering.

Job interview. Job offer.
Aussies are rejecting job offers in favour of flexible work. (Source: Getty)

Aussies are turning down job offers over a lack of flexible work arrangements, new research has found.

Officeworks Flexiworks Snapshot revealed nearly half (46 per cent) of Aussies looking for a job in the past two years rejected job offers where the workplace had “unsatisfactory flexible work conditions”, such as working from home (WFH).

The majority (70 per cent) of the 1,000 WFH-capable workers surveyed said they wouldn’t even consider an employer who didn’t have a flexible working policy.

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PwC Australia head of future of work, and Flexiworks ambassador, Dr Ben Hamer said employers couldn’t afford to “sit on the fence” when it came to flexible work, particularly during the current talent shortage.

“People are actively choosing not to work for inflexible companies, so embracing flexibility is a no-brainer in this war for talent,” Hamer said.

“Flexibility has a value attached to it and, in a market where many organisations aren’t in a position to simply give their people massive pay rises, flexible working can be a quick and easy win.”

That said, the top priority for job seekers was still salary (34 per cent), followed by work-life balance (16 per cent) and then flexible work arrangements (15 per cent).

The report also found almost a third of WFH-capable workers said their employer didn’t have a formal WFH policy, despite the majority of them doing at least some of their job from home.

Most of those surveyed (91 per cent) agreed WFH allowed for a better work-life balance than working in the office all the time. Meanwhile, more than half (58 per cent) said WFH was more productive for “deep focus activity” than the office.

“Employers also stand to benefit from affording employees a healthy balance between home and office work,” Hamer said.

“Not only is it excellent for attracting and retaining talent, it has great benefits for productivity, providing employees with different work environments suitable for a variety of tasks such as team collaboration and deep thinking. This way, it empowers workers to do their best work.”

In terms of striking the right balance, most workers (58 per cent) thought two days at home and three days in the office (or vice versa) was optimal.

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