Australians are saving time and money and working more thanks to WFH

Australians who work from home since the COVID-19 pandemic have cut their commutes by around three hours a week, a time saving worth an estimated $5308 a year based on average wages, new research by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) has found.  

CEDA analysis of the latest data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey has found people who work from home commuted on average 15.7 per cent less than if they worked in an office.  

The analysis also found people who work solely from home are able to work nearly 20 per cent more hours than those who do not work from home, and workforce participation, compared to the pre-COVID trend, has increased by 4.4 per cent.  

“This confirms what many Australians have experienced since the pandemic – workers are saving time and money on their commute, and in many cases are also able to work more hours or even get a job, where they couldn’t do so before,” CEDA Economist James Brooks said. 

Our analysis shows people who WFH spend on average 3.4 hours or 15.7 per cent less time commuting each week than if they worked the same number of hours from the office.    

“Commuting less brings savings on public transport fares and fuel costs, but there’s also savings on time,” Mr Brooks said. 

“We value that at $110 per week or $5308 for a 48-week working year, using the average hourly wage of Australians who work from home. 

“This is 21 per cent higher than the approximately $4400 we have previously found Australians are foregoing in wages by working from home. 

“In other words, what they might be losing in wages, they are gaining in reduced commute time.” 

The data also shows people who do all their hours from home work nearly 20 per cent more hours per week compared with people who do not work from home. People who WFH half of the time work just over nine per cent more hours per week.  

“This can be due to a range of factors such as being able to add an extra day of work, using the time gained to get more work done, cost-of-living pressures and the strong labour market,” Mr Brooks said.   

Previous CEDA research has shown mothers of young children, primary carers and people with an impactful health condition have increased their participation in jobs that can work from home since the pandemic. 

“This analysis confirms that mothers of a child aged under four and those with impactful health conditions are now more likely to have a job,” Mr Brooks said. 

“This suggests groups that had previously faced barriers to on-site work are more likely to have a job now because they can work from home.” 

Australia’s jobs market has been surprisingly strong since the pandemic, driven by factors including worker shortages, cost-of-living pressures, changes to childcare subsidies, as well as working from home. 

To better understand the impact of working from home, we modelled how participation would have changed from the period between 2017 and 2019 to 2023 if COVID hadn’t happened, and how the rate has actually changed over that period. 

We found participation was 4.4 per cent higher in 2023 than it would have been if the pre-COVID trend had continued, as measured by the HILDA survey. 

This represents the upper estimate of working from home’s contribution to the rise in participation. While WFH has made a clear contribution, it is hard to definitively state how much it has directly caused. Continued focus is also required on management skills and strategies to optimise employee engagement, mental health and productivity as work from home arrangements continue to evolve. 

“Five years on from the pandemic, more than one-third Australians still regularly work from home, including approximately 60 per cent of professionals and managers,” Mr Brooks said.  

“Given the broad economic and social benefits of the working-from-home shift, we should look to maintain these gains, even as the labour market softens.” 

Media contact:  
Justine Parker, Media Manager and Content Specialist 
Mobile: 0436 379 688 | Email: justine.parker@ceda.com.au