Conor Whitten: Wellington Chamber of Commerce Advocacy Manager on the impact of working from home on the economy

There’s hopes a new Government directive will actually bring public servants back to the office. 

Agency chief executives are being required to report on how often their public servants are working from home. 

Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says working from home is not an entitlement. 

Wellington Chamber of Commerce Advocacy Manager Conor Whitten told Mike Hosking for many, working from home's become the default. 

He says it's been a hard time for businesses, and working from home trends are a big part of that. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Public Service been called back to the office. While some
of them have I'll talk to the Prime Minster about this,
I don't know how many have. I don't even think
they've got a plan around this. The government wants strict
to working from home rules. We just don't know what
they are. A Wellington Chamber of Commerces kind of wittens
with us, kind of morning.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Mind broadly you guys support this.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yeah, Look, we do think that this has the real
potential to make a difference for Wellington and it's important
to recognize that at a time when public finances are
pretty tight, it's something that really doesn't cost the government assent.
We all know it's been a hard time for businesses
in Wellington, but particularly for retail and hospitality. Working from
home trends are definitely a very big part of that.
And look, you're right the numbers are a little bit

(00:37):
hard to quantify. We will have those numbers because public
sector CEOs will be required to report on it. But
look at some ballpark figures. There are twenty eight thousand
public servants who still work in Wellington according to the
Public Service Commission. If they're working from home, and average
of two days a week that's more than fifty thousand
fewer potential customers for businesses in the CBD and in
the city size of Wellington. That makes a real impact

(01:00):
if we get some of those people back in the city.
Not everyone's going to buy a coffee or go shopping
or head out for a Friday drink, but tens of
thousands more people in the city the size of Wellington.
It's going to make a real impact at a time
when businesses are doing it tough.

Speaker 1 (01:12):
Do you have any confidence that there were no rules yesterday?
It was just a general, hey, we should really do
something about this vibe. Is anything actually going to happen?
Do you think, well?

Speaker 2 (01:22):
I suppose time will tell on that. I mean, of
course they can't really just step out and mandate it
all together. Some of it may be written into employment
contracts already. Any change will have to comply with employment law,
and every employee, whether they're in the public or private sector,
has the right to try to negotiate for flexible working.
There will be many situations where that might be the
right thing to do. What we don't want to see

(01:43):
is the current situation, whereas for many agencies it's just
become the default This change is about making sure there's
a good reason for public servants to be working home
from home, and we think that's a pretty sensible step.
What we would like to see, you're right, is that
it actually brings people back into the office. So CEO
has been required to report on that level of working
from home in their ministries is really important. We'll have

(02:04):
that data by the start of next year and that'll
be the point to assess whether it's really making an
impact or maybe whether there's something else that can be done.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
Good stuff, Candor appreciate it very much, con of Whitten,
who's out of the Wellings and Chamber of Comments.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
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