Flexible Working

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Spacenow has announced that its flexible commercial space marketplace has registered a surge in demand from business owners and individual workers looking for alternatives to long-term commercial space leases.
It is as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the pivot to remote working.
Since March 2020, Spacenow has recorded a 290% increase in new customers.
It has recorded a 550% increase in enquiries from both large corporations, SMBs, start-ups and sole traders looking for short term, modulable and Covid-Safe flexible office space options closer to home.
The platform has also surpassed 5,000 listings across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
It noted new listings added to the platform every day and customers including Canva, Uber Eats, Merivale, Stan, Allianz, Hoyts, and Woolworths.
Recruiting agency Real Time Australia has ditched its two Sydney &amp; Melbourne offices, now fully reliant on Spacenow for all its commercial space needs.
“The current economic uncertainty and social distancing measures mean that large corporate offices and CBD areas across Australian cities will continue to lay dormant for a while.
"However, working for home every day for months on end isn't a sustainable model for workers both from a workspace set-up and mental health perspective.
"There needs to be another model that supports this shift to remote and hybrid work, one that helps bring work closer to people’s homes, in a safe environment”, explained Daniel Gunning, CEO of Spacenow.
Spacenow has launched Flexible Project Spaces, in partnership with Aussie professional cleaning services marketplace Whizz. It is part of a Covid-19 decontamination service.
With Flexible Project Spaces organisations from all sizes as well as individual professionals and workers can rent any type of space - whether it be a single desk, a meeting room, a full office floor, an event space, an offsite venue or more - by the hour, day, week or month depending on their changing needs.
The Decontamination Service uses a process called antimicrobial fogging which decontaminates touch points and creates a barrier that provides on-going surface protection for up to 28 days.
Gunning added on one end it allows property owners to drive better utilisation and higher revenue from their property assets -
"We’re even seeing hotels transform their rooms into workspaces, while businesses on their end can find affordable solutions to the remote work conundrum, ultimately making consequent leasing savings that they can re-invest in what matters more to their business.”
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j.ballantyne1990-6AQqhLzZaK

Flexible commercial space marketplace Spacenow records 290% growth due to COVID

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EXPERT OBSERVER
Search activity on realestate.com.au has seen a bigger jump in views per listing for regional parts of Australia than for capital cities. This is likely to be explained by COVID-19 as people are perhaps looking for bigger places to live and aren’t currently tied to a central workplace. Longer term, acceptance of flexible working does mean that living in a capital city may no longer be necessary. 
<img class="sc-qYHHM dyhwPj size-full wp-image-594332" src="https://www.realestate.com.au/blog/images/800x500-fit,progressive/2020/06/27164223/dural-property.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="500">
<div class="sc-pTFCl bXqHjO">
It appears that during COVID-19, affordability may be of less importance to property buyers in regional areas and that lifestyle factors are becoming more important. To this point, the most viewed property listing on realestate.com.au in Australia this week is a <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-acreage+semi-rural-nsw-dural-132147574" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">property in Dural</a> (pictured above), which has received almost 300,000 views. 
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While broadly, regional Australia has seen an uplift, what is also interesting is the regions that have jumped up in popularity. We tend to see certain areas always being far more popular. Mornington Peninsula, while not technically regional, tops the list, which is driven by a great lifestyle and easy access to Melbourne. Central Coast and Illawarra are consistently in the top three. Both are similarly close to Sydney, have nice beaches and are relatively affordable.
The biggest change has been the two areas that have dropped off the list – Ballarat and south-east Tasmania – and the two that have pushed up – Richmond-Tweed and Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven. The two new additions offer some of the most expensive regional properties in Australia while the ones that have dropped off were affordable.
<img src="https://www.urban.com.au/images/2020/7/5/REA%20MAY%202020.JPG" alt="">
NERIDA CONISBEE is the Chief Economist at the REA
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nconisbee-4KnoX9XmtH

Flexible working leading to demand for property in regional Australia

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GUEST OBSERVATION
As lockdowns are relaxed around the world and people return to their workplaces, the next challenge will be adapting open office spaces to the new normal of strict personal hygiene and physical distancing.
While the merits and disadvantages of open plan and flexible workspaces have long been debated, the risk they posed of allowing dangerous, highly contagious viruses to spread was rarely (if ever) considered.
But co-working spaces are characterised by shared areas and amenities with surfaces that need constant cleaning. Droplets from a single sneeze can travel <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2763852">over 7 metres</a>, and surfaces within pods or booths, designed for privacy, could remain <a href="https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2334-6-130">hazardous for days</a>.
Even in countries such as <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-27/has-new-zealand-done-better-than-australia-on-coronavirus/12182254">Australia and New Zealand</a> where efforts to “flatten the curve” <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/04/jacinda-ardern-new-zealand-leadership-coronavirus/610237/">have been successful</a> and which have relatively easily controlled borders, it’s fair to ask whether communal workspaces might be a thing of the past.
Perhaps – if vigilant measures are in place – some countries can continue to embrace collaborative, flexible, activity-based workplace designs and the cost savings they represent. But this is <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/4/14/21211789/coronavirus-office-space-work-from-home-design-architecture-real-estate?subId3=xid%253Afr1586892270547ich">unlikely to be the case in general</a> in the coming years. Even if some organisations can operate with minimal risk there will be an expectation they provide virus-free workplaces should there be future outbreaks.
Working from home
Worldwide, there will undoubtedly be fewer people in the office – now workers have tried working from home, they may find they like it. And organisations may have little choice but to limit the numbers of workers on-site. Staggered shifts, enforced flexitime, and 24/7 operations may become the norm, along with working remotely.
The open plan model has been criticised for everything from lowered productivity, <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rstb.2017.0239">less interpersonal interaction</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0003687016302514?via%3Dihub">antisocial behaviour</a>, <a href="http://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/34543/1/12020_1101a_Tyler-Merrick.pdf">reduced well-being</a>, too much <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494413000340">distraction</a>, a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272494413000340">lack of privacy</a>, and making workers <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003687018303466?dgcid=rss_sd_all">feel exposed and monitored</a>.
But it has also been shown to <a href="https://theconversation.com/open-plan-offices-can-actually-work-under-certain-conditions-89452">improve cooperation and communication</a>. Whether these innovative spaces are within a large organisation or are communal workspaces where start-ups, freelancers, and contractors can sit together (such as <a href="https://gridakl.com/">GridAKL</a> in Auckland or <a href="https://thecommons.com.au/location/sydney/">The Commons</a> in Sydney), their popularity is undeniable. The sense of community and the ability to share knowledge and ideas are key attractions of co-working.
 
Riding the shared/flexi-space wave have been companies such as WeWork – popularising communal tables within co-working hubs and providing “pods” for private conversations. But there is now little doubt WeWork will be an early casualty of COVID-19. Already in <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradthomas/2020/04/15/wework-from-home-now/#5035b4bb7093">financial trouble</a> before the pandemic, WeWork will cut more than 1,000 jobs this month.
But what about the thousands of organisations that retooled their densely populated work environments to encourage flexibility, activity-based work, and movement within and between spaces?
James Muir, CEO of sustainability start-up <a href="https://www.crunchandflourish.com/solutions">Crunch and Flourish</a> has no doubt using co-working offices in central Auckland has been a positive: “We benefited from the great community at GridAKL,” he says. “And before long we were collaborating with other start-ups on marketing and design as well as getting great advice from more experienced entrepreneurs.”
Missing social cues online
Those fortuitous conversations and information exchanges will inevitably become rarer as we avoid the risk of interpersonal contact - and they are almost impossible to mimic online. Personal interaction (even within the office) will be replaced with the already familiar virtual video meeting - or even, as TIME magazine reports, <a href="https://time.com/5801882/coronavirus-spatial-remote-work/">holograms and avatars</a>.
However, communication is more challenging when conducted remotely. We are more persuasive in person, particularly if we <a href="https://doi/10.1037/0022-3514.45.2.241">know the person</a>. Being on a video call is <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200421-why-zoom-video-chats-are-so-exhausting?ocid=ww.social.link.email">more draining</a> than a face-to-face chat because workers must concentrate harder to process non-verbal cues such as tone of voice and body language. Anxiety about technology is another barrier, and some find <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.displa.2012.10.009">lack of eye contact</a> in virtual meetings (mimicked by staring at the “dot” of your own camera) disquieting.
New norms of hand sanitising, cleaning equipment and wearing masks will emerge. Handshaking or friendly pecks on the cheek may soon be things of the past, as will family photos and mementos on desks, if they prove too difficult to sanitise.
Aside from behaviours, policies, and attitudes, the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/27/after-coronavirus-the-office-of-the-future-is-the-office-of-the-past">physical office will need to change</a>. Already, a company in the Netherlands has coined the term the “<a href="https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/netherlands/six-feet-office">6 feet office</a>”, aiming to redesign workspaces to help workers maintain social distancing at work.
We may even see the return of the high-walled cubicle, and the introduction of wide corridors and one-way foot traffic, already found in some <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/hospitals-quickly-reshape-treat-covid-19-patients/">hospitals</a>. Activity-based work and hot-desks (which oblige people to move throughout the day) could be replaced by assigned desk arrangements where workers sit back to back.
New builds might incorporate touch-free technology such as voice-activated lifts, doors and cabinets, touchless sinks and soap dispensers, improved air venting and UV lights to disinfect surfaces overnight.
In the meantime, will James Muir resume running Crunch and Flourish from his co-working office after the pandemic? “Yes,” he says, “once the risk of any new cases is under control.”<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137382/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rachel-morrison-296325">Rachel Morrison</a>, Associate Professor, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/auckland-university-of-technology-1137">Auckland University of Technology</a>
This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/goodbye-to-the-crowded-office-how-coronavirus-will-change-the-way-we-work-together-137382">original article</a>.
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No more crowded office, how coronavirus will change the way we work together

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EXPERT OBSERVER
If you’re working from home for the first time, you might be asking yourself why you didn’t get to do this years ago.
The benefits of remote work have been discussed for nearly half a century. Many thinkers predicted a near future where work moves to the worker, rather than the worker to the work.
In 1969, Alan Kiron, a staff scientist at the US Patent Office, wrote in The Washington Post about how computers and new communication tools could change life and work. He called this “dominetics” – a combination of domicile, connections and electronics. The term never caught on, but the idea did.
Amid the 1973 OPEC oil crisis and skyrocketing fuel prices, a University of Southern California research group led by Jack Nilles conducted one of <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Telecommunications-Transportation-Tradeoff-Options-Tomorrow-1976-09-30/dp/B01JXRQ90A/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Telecommunications-Transportation+Tradeoff%3A+Options+for&amp;amp;qid=1585617138&amp;amp;sr=8-1%20%22%22">the first major studies</a> of what Nilles would call “telecommuting”.
Nilles’s team studied a Los Angeles-based insurance company with more than 2,000 employees. Each worker travelled 34.4 kilometres a day on average, at a total cost (in 1974 prices) of US$2.73 million a year.
<img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325167/original/file-20200403-99349-1xemqvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="">
Los Angeles traffic in 1972. <a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HOLLYWOOD_FREEWAY_-_NARA_-_542684.jpg">Gene Daniels/US Environmental Protection Agency</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a>
Their study, published in 1976, concluded technology would soon make it more economical for organisations to decentralise using telecommuting. But Nilles also came to understand that “technology was not the limiting factor in the acceptance of telecommuting”.
Satellite work
Still, technology was a factor. This was a time when telephones and telefax machines were the only telecommunications equipment most people knew. Very few homes had personal computers, let alone access to the early internet. So the book focused more on redesigning work to let employees commute to local satellite offices.
Nilles illustrated the idea with the diagrams below.
<img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324813/original/file-20200402-23090-19tezy3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="">Jack Nilles’s diagrams for teleworking.
The principles were similar to the early architecture of the internet, whose designers were also interested in system resilience (notably a communications network that could <a href="https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/papers/2005/P2626.pdf">survive nuclear attack</a>).
<img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325153/original/file-20200403-99351-113b71x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="">
Baran’s 1962 diagrams of the internet as a distributed communications network.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325170/original/file-20200403-74243-ddo26s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325170/original/file-20200403-74243-ddo26s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
A magazine advertisement for the Apple II computer in December 1977. <a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apple_II_advertisement_Dec_1977_page_1.jpg">Apple Computer Inc/Wikimedia</a>
Home telecommuting became more viable as the personal computer market exploded in the late 1970s. Apple’s <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/personal-computers/17/300">breakthrough Apple II</a>, for example, was released in 1977.
In 1980 futurist Alvin Toffler, author of the 1970 book Future Shock, predicted in his sequel, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/The_Third_Wave_Alvin_Toffler/The%20Third%20Wave%20-%20Alvin%20Toffler_djvu.txt">The Third Wave</a>, that the home would “assume a startling new importance” in the information age, becoming “a central unit in the society of tomorrow – a unit with enhanced rather than diminished economic, medical, educational and social functions”.
Here comes the internet
Toffler accurately saw technology’s potential, but it would be some time before remote working became relatively easy. Consider what sending an email involved in 1984:
How to send an email 1980s style. Electronic message writing down the phone line first shown on Thames TV’s computer program Database in 1984.
But with the growth in the internet, management guru Peter Drucker felt confident enough <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.amazon.com.au/Ecological-Vision-Reflections-American-Condition/dp/0765807254">by 1993</a> to declare commuting to the office obsolete:
It is now infinitely easier, cheaper and faster to do what the 19th century could not do: move information, and with it office work, to where the people are. The tools to do so are already here: the telephone, two-way video, electronic mail, the fax machine, the personal computer, the modem, and so on.
Vision versus reality
Despite the technology, the growth in working from home has been slow. A large survey of Anglo countries <a href="https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/O90WYGXZ">by IBM in 2014</a> found just 9% of employees teleworked at least some of the time, with about half of those doing it full-time or most of the time. Data from Australia and US suggest the proportion was still less than 20% at the end of 2019.
<a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/6333.0Main+Features1August%202019?OpenDocument">Australian statistics</a> state almost a third of people do some work from home. But this inflates the number by including all those who work at home to catch up on work from the office.
There are have been two main barriers to greater uptake.
One, as Nilles himself <a href="https://www.citylab.com/life/2015/12/the-invention-of-telecommuting/418047/">acknowledged</a>, is organisational culture.
How we organise often <a href="https://chiefmartec.com/2016/11/martecs-law-great-management-challenge-21st-century">lags behind</a> what technology permits. Many organisations still cling to traditional ideas about managing people. If managers can’t see their employees working, they assume they won’t be.
The second problem is more intractable.
People actually like to be around each other. We’re social creatures. Indeed, a direct consequence of remote work is the <a href="http://codinginparadise.org/ebooks/html/blog/start_of_coworking">the co-working movement</a>, a response to the psychological and social challenges of working alone from home.
Even the technology companies that make teleworking and electronic cottages possible remain wedded to central offices. In 2013 Yahoo’s new chief executive, Marissa Mayer, <a href="https://www.sesp.northwestern.edu/masters-learning-and-organizational-change/knowledge-lens/stories/2014/are-face-to-face-teams-more-creative-than-virtual-teams">discouraged employees</a> from working from home, because “people are more collaborative and innovative when they’re together face to face”.
Apple founder Steve Job was also apparently obsessed with having physical office space that encouraged staff mingling. This reportedly including stressing over details like bathroom locations so <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/238433">personal encounters</a> would occur.
What about the future?
These challenges remain.
But circumstances should assist at least with the organisational and cultural barriers. Home working is simply, for now, the new reality. Businesses have no choice but to make it work.
After at least <a href="https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/scott-morrison-warns-australia-to-prepare-for-six-month-coronavirus-battle-c-746412">six months</a>, it’s easy to imagine some of this will stick.
The issue of social needs will be thornier. As Toffler himself <a href="https://archive.org/stream/The_Third_Wave_Alvin_Toffler/The%20Third%20Wave%20-%20Alvin%20Toffler_djvu.txt">said</a>, “it would be a mistake to underestimate the need for direct face-to-face contact in business, and all the subliminal and nonverbal communication that accompanies that contact”.
Perhaps the future will look a bit more like Nilles’s idea, with the growth of local co-working spaces, designed not overcome the limits of technology but to meet our needs as social beings.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/135034/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/julian-waters-lynch-1005137">Julian Waters-Lynch</a>, Lecturer Entrepreneurship and Innovation, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a>
This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/50-years-of-bold-predictions-about-remote-work-it-isnt-all-about-technology-135034">original article</a>.
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Predictions about remote work, it's not all about technology

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GUEST OBSERVATION
 
The precautions taken by some employers over the coronavirus mean you may find yourself working from home, some for the first time.
For example, Telstra <a href="https://exchange.telstra.com.au/coronavirus-precautions/">says</a> it wants any Australian-based office staff who can work from home to do so until the end of the month “at a minimum”. Many <a href="https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/twitter-indeed-foxtel-media-tell-staff-to-work-from-home-201423352">other employers</a> are encouraging their staff to do the same.
You might feel this is a chance to stay in pyjamas all day, graze your way through the kitchen cupboards, and balance work tasks with online shopping and social media entries.
But that won’t help the work get done, and it won’t do much for your sense of well-being. So here are some useful strategies to help if you want to be productive and still feel connected to your workplace over what might be a long working-from-home period.
Work as normal
First prepare yourself for a normal working day. Get up as normal, shower, dress for a casual work day, brush your hair, look as normally presentable as you usually do.
This will put you in your normal work mindset. It will also help if you’re suddenly included in a work meeting via <a href="https://www.skype.com/">Skype</a>, <a href="https://zoom.us/">Zoom</a>, <a href="https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT204380">Facetime</a> or Google <a href="https://hangouts.google.com/">Hangouts</a>.
Next the physical environment. If you can, have a dedicated work space in a quiet room. It’s really preferable not to work in bed or in your bedroom.
 
Set up some desk space similar to your office space at work, aiming to replicate your real work space will also help you achieve that work mindset. Plus you want a neutral background behind you for that work video call.
Use software and apps to help you stay connected, such as <a href="https://slack.com">Slack</a>, <a href="https://www.cisco.com/c/en_au/products/unified-communications/jabber/index">Jabber</a> or other similar tools.
Your household data usage will likely increase as you become home-bound. Boost your Wi-fi facilities if you need to – refer to the support offered by your telecom company or internet provider. Some are already <a href="https://www.whistleout.com.au/Broadband/Guides/every-telco-COVID-19-coronavirus-assistance-package">offering free upgrades</a> to customers.
Have a plan
Book in daily work meetings via video hook-ups to stay connected and plan work tasks (now you’ll be glad you got out of your PJs!).
You’ll likely still have as much work to do, so plan for a full work day and prioritise your tasks as usual. Make sure you know what is expected of you. Discuss your work tasks with your supervisor as you normally would, it’s important both you and they are clear about your daily work tasks and due dates.
If part of a team, then make sure you know what each member is working on and when their work is due, and follow this up by calls and emails. As always, tell your supervisor of any problems you experience with completing your work.
And remember it’s preferable to discuss any problems via a phone or video call, rather than multiple emails, to better clarify the issues involved.
It’s also important to look after your psychological health, during what could become long periods of isolation. Your may feel a bit overwhelmed by the directive to work from home, and also anxious about the broader coronavirus situation.
Social contact is very important. If you’re used to having lunch or coffee with colleagues, plan a quick social phone or video call to each other at lunchtime or after you have finished a few hours of work. It’s really important to stay connected with your colleagues as usual and to make sure all feel supported.
Get some fresh air. If you can, have a daily walk to your local shop, or at least get outside in your garden or balcony. Hang out some washing, walk the dog, water a plant, pick some fresh veggies, just take a break from your desk and move around.
Call family, friends and colleagues to see how they’re doing. Stay socially connected.
That work/life balance
It’s also important to think through your work-home boundaries. We’ve become used to blurring these boundaries a little, which is often beneficial, helping us to manage our multiple demands.
But when your home and work are located in the same place, the boundary setting needs some consideration.
Be aware of home demands interfering with your work. Don’t procrastinate work tasks by first doing some housework. Set yourself a target to complete a work task and when you’ve finished it then spend ten minutes doing the tidying.
Equally, don’t let work take over your home life - just because work is always there doesn’t mean you have to be. Finish about the time you normally would.
Walk away from your desk. Engage with your family and friends. A period of psychological recovery from work is vital to make sure you feel rested and productive for working from home tomorrow.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133775/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/paula-brough-6145">Paula Brough</a>, Professor and Director, Social &amp; Organisational Psychology Research Unit, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>
This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/get-dressed-and-set-goals-some-routines-not-to-break-if-coronavirus-means-you-have-to-work-from-home-133775">original article</a>.
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Advice for working from home with the Coronavirus outbreak

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The increasing migration of flexible office space to areas outside of major metropolitan cities globally is creating a ‘flex economy’ that could contribute more than $11.5 billion AUD to local Australian economies, according to a first of its kind Regus study.
They found an individual business centre in Australia would create 222 permanent jobs at a national level (ranking seventh highest out of the 19 countries analysed) and 122 net local jobs.
In Australia, an average business centre will generate $31.21 million AUD in GVA per annum, with $16.87 million AUD going into local economies.
Time saved by employees avoiding the commute would be 8,105 hours per hour, this equates to roughly 337 days or 48 weeks.
By 2029, this means over 80,000 jobs created within business centres across the nation, providing net additional employment opportunities for local residents amounting to over 44,000 jobs, alongside $11.5 billion AUD of annual value, of which $5.99 billion AUD would be retained by local economies.
Steve Lucas of Development Economics, and report author, said “this study reveals a shift in jobs and capital-growth moving outside of city centres, where it has been focused for the last few decades, into suburban locations."
"This can benefit businesses and people, from improving productivity and innovation, to reducing commuting time, which leads to improved health and wellbeing” he said.
Read the <a href="https://www.regus.com/suburban-economic-survey" target="_blank">full report here</a>.
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Flexible workspaces to contribute $11.5 billion to local Australian economies: Regus

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EXPERT OBSERVER
If more of us were free to work from home, fewer of us would be stuck in traffic. 
<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/traffic-congestion" target="_blank">Traffic congestion</a> is one of the most significant challenges facing our cities. Melbourne’s population is growing by around <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/PrimaryMainFeatures/3218.0?OpenDocument" target="_blank">325 people a day</a> and is <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/booming-melbourne-to-become-nation-s-largest-city-by-2026-20190327-p5186v" target="_blank">projected to overtake Sydney’s</a> within a decade.
<a href="https://www.aaa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/AAA-Congestion-Report-2018-FINAL.pdf">Identified as the most congested city in the country</a>, this was a factor in Melbourne <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/nation/melbourne-loses-title-of-most-liveable-city/news-story/f5145850143b5801db36c75ed7d73133" target="_blank">losing its seven-year grip on the “world’s most liveable city” title</a> last year.
One obvious solution to traffic congestion, caused mostly by workers commuting to jobs in the city centre during peak hours, might appear to be building more, or bigger, roads. But a less obvious answer, and potentially a more cost-effective one, might be to increase flexible working arrangements.
<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162518301549" target="_blank">Our research</a> has looked into ways to ease congestion by reducing the need for travel in congested areas in the first place. It shows city workers definitely have an appetite for flexible work hours and practices.
However, many (36%) still can’t or don’t work remotely. Those who do work remotely do so for a small fraction of the week – 1.1 days on average – even though a high percentage of their work tasks can be done anywhere.
<h2>More roads don’t solve the problem</h2>
Traditionally, congestion has simply been accepted as the starting point, with infrastructure being built to accommodate it. However, as a report on <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w15376" target="_blank">US research</a> findings about so-called induced demand <a href="https://www.wired.com/2014/06/wuwt-traffic-induced-demand/" target="_blank">explains</a>:
If you expand people’s ability to travel, they will do it more. […] Making driving easier means that people take more trips in the car than they otherwise would.
This increase in travel uses up any extra capacity improved infrastructure might bring. As a result, <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w15376" target="_blank">traffic levels and congestion remain constant</a>.
A <a href="https://www.infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-08/Urban%20Transport%20Crowding%20and%20Congestion.pdf" target="_blank">2019 report</a> from Infrastructure Australia observes that the huge number of road and rail projects in Sydney and Melbourne, both current and planned, will not prevent crippling congestion by 2031.
<h2>What did the flexible working study find?</h2>
This issue was the motivation for our study into alternative ways to ease congestion. It identified flexible working as one possible solution.
The term <a href="https://www.fairwork.gov.au/employee-entitlements/flexibility-in-the-workplace/flexible-working-arrangements" target="_blank">flexible working</a> refers to arrangements that enable employees to adjust the number of hours they work, the pattern of those hours, or where they work. Flexible working has risen significantly in recent years, with many potential <a href="https://fortune.com/2019/02/20/four-day-work-week-research-benefits/" target="_blank">benefits</a> for both <a href="https://www.recruitment-international.com.au/blog/2018/06/73-percent-of-australian-employees-value-flexible-working-hays-reveals" target="_blank">employees</a> and <a href="https://employsure.com.au/blog/rewarding-retaining-employees-flexible-work-arrangements/" target="_blank">employers</a>. Yet few studies have examined its potential to reduce traffic congestion.
For our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162518301549" target="_blank">study</a>, we surveyed 263 city workers from ten of Melbourne’s biggest employers. We asked them about their commuting habits, existing flexible working arrangements, attitudes toward flexible working and the nature of their work tasks.
We found 64% of workers were already taking advantage of some sort of flexible working arrangements that allowed them to work from a remote location, usually at home, an average of 1.1 days a week. And 83% of them either “liked” or “loved” the ability to do this.
Only 2% said none of their work could be performed from an alternative location. A majority of participants, 58%, indicated they could do at least half their work duties out of the office. Some 30% of the workers indicated 80% or more of their work duties could be performed remotely.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288868/original/file-20190821-170951-a5jci6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288868/original/file-20190821-170951-a5jci6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
Breakdown of participants in flexible working survey. <a class="source" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162518301549" target="_blank">Author's research</a>, Author provided
Technology enables these flexible working opportunities. Laptops, smartphones, high-speed internet and cloud access were highlighted as the must-haves for remote working.
Many of us no longer need to travel to a fixed location to work because the tools of our labour are located there. The tools of our labour are now in our back pockets or work satchels.
<h2>Finland shows what’s possible</h2>
Urban congestion is a growing problem worldwide. Today, <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/property-observer" target="_blank">55% of people live in urban areas, a figure expected to reach 68% by 2050</a>. The use of motor vehicles is also growing rapidly.
But access to flexible working is growing around the world too.
Finland, a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20190807-why-finland-leads-the-world-in-flexible-work" target="_blank">pioneer of flexible working practices</a>, recently adopted a new <a href="https://nordiclaw.fi/new-working-hours-act-of-finland-enters-into-force-1-january-2020/" target="_blank">Working Hours Act</a>. It will give a majority of full-time employees the right to decide when and where they work for at least half of their working hours.
A similar flexible working bill was introduced to the UK Parliament in July by Conservative MP Helen Whately. She <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49003413" target="_blank">said</a>:
The 40-hour, five-day working week made sense in an era of single-earner households and stay-at-home mums, but it no longer reflects the reality of how many modern families want to live their lives.
Our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162518301549" target="_blank">evidence from Melbourne suggests</a> the appetite for, and availability of, flexible working will continue to increase as more people do it and more millennials take up leadership roles.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290005/original/file-20190829-184234-ircnwd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290005/original/file-20190829-184234-ircnwd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
A small reduction in peak-hour commuter numbers could make the difference between being able to squeeze onto a train or not. <a class="source" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.flickr.com/photos/14027144@N00/94288580" target="_blank">Runs With Scissors/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/" target="_blank">CC BY-NC-ND</a>
If the 64% of workers who now work remotely 1.1 days a week increased this to five days a fortnight, this could cut the number of daily commuters to Melbourne from <a href="https://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/2011/files/report_125.pdf" target="_blank">572,000</a> to 440,500 a day. If the remaining 36% of workers were also able to work remotely 50% of the time, daily commuter numbers would fall further to around 337,500, a total reduction of 41%.
Even much smaller reductions in commuter numbers could have significant impacts on congestion. An <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/DBAssets/InquirySubmission/Summary/52831/Sub13%20NRMA.pdf" target="_blank">NRMA submission</a> that advocated flexible working hours and practices to a 2013 NSW parliamentary inquiry noted:
As a rule of thumb, when traffic on congested roads reduces by 5%, traffic speeds increase 50% (even if this only means going from 20 to 30km/h) […] A small reduction in the amount of passengers during peak hours can sometimes make the difference between being able to squeeze onto a bus or train, or not.
In this era of growing urban congestion, an increase in flexible working practices appears to have serious potential for easing the strain on our roads and transport networks. Isn’t it about time we asked ourselves if we could all be a bit more flexible?<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122130/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/john-l-hopkins-255434" target="_blank">John L Hopkins</a>, Theme Leader (Future Urban Mobility), Smart Cities Research Institute, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/swinburne-university-of-technology-767" target="_blank">Swinburne University of Technology</a>
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/flexible-working-the-neglected-congestion-busting-solution-for-our-cities-122130" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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