Escape to the country: Ambitious plan for city workers to be encouraged to work remotely from the bush to be proposed to Scott Morrison
- The plan will be proposed to Prime Minister Scott Morrison by the Nationals
- It aims to incentivise Australians to ditch expensive city living for the bush
- The plan is a bid to reboot the economy in regional areas following COVID-19
- Some bosses can no longer afford to have all employees working at city offices
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Professionals could soon be encouraged to move away from cities and work remotely from country towns.
The idea will be proposed to Scott Morrison by the Nationals, who are hoping to take advantage of working from home technology implemented during the coronavirus pandemic.
Decentralisation Minister Andrew Gee is preparing fresh policies to incentivise Australians to ditch expensive city living for the country to rebuild the economy post-COVID-19.
'We know that real estate is cheaper in the bush, we know that the lifestyle is unbeatable, but what's holding people back is wanting to stay with their current firm or finding employment,' he told the Daily Telegraph.
The idea will be proposed to Scott Morrison by the Nationals, who are hoping to take advantage of working from home technology implemented during the coronavirus pandemic
Decentralisation Minister Andrew Gee is preparing fresh policies to incentivise Australians to ditch expensive city living for the country to rebuild the economy post-COVID-19
'Now that we've seen what's possible, we want those people moving to country areas, working from home and even starting their own business from home.'
Mr Gee said the timing of workers relocating to the country works well as some companies can no longer afford to have all employees working out of expensive city offices.
Westpac's productivity has gone up among its IT staff who have been working from home, while legal services who can offer advice remotely have seen a workload increase.
But University of Sydney professor of gender, work and employment relations Rae Cooper said while most clerical and professional employees would excel working from home, a small minority would struggle to stay productive.
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'There's also the issue around supervision,' she told Daily Mail Australia.
'That's often a concern that managers talk about, worrying, 'How can I trust someone if I can't see them?'.'
Instead of working diligently, every hour of the day, these are the staff who would spend hours exercising or walking the dog instead.
'What a lot of people who work on a regular basis, in flexible working arrangements, tell us is that actually, they often do do that,' she said.
The long hours spent on leisure wouldn't be an issue should staff perform their required tasks.
'Someone might be working from 7 o'clock in the morning, pop off to the gym for an hour at 11 to 12 and then come back and work through til six,' Professor Cooper said.
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