August 2022 – Page 18 – Michmutters

Month: August 2022

Categories
Business

Australia is in the middle of a cost of living crisis but we’re not the only ones. Here’s what inflation looks like around the world

A person pushing a big ball with a dollar sign on it up a steep slope.

Aussies are well aware that the cost of living is increasing. Prices of food, gas, petrol and rent have skyrocketed thanks to the inflation rate rising to 6.1 per cent in June – to 21-year high.

While the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported a 2.4 per cent rise in annual wage growth for the March quarter, this has not been enough to compete with the soaring cost of living, leaving people struggling around the country.

But we’re not the only ones.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international organization that includes 38 countries such as Australia, the USA, Canada, New Zealand and the UK.

International events such as supply chain interruptions, COVID-19 implications and the war in Ukraine saw inflation in OECD countries rise to 9.6 per cent in May compared to 9.2 per cent in April. This represents the sharpest price increase since 1988.

Here’s a crash course in inflation and what it looks like around the world.

What is inflation and what causes it?

Inflation measures how much more expensive a set of goods and services has become over a certain period of time.

The most well-known indicator of this is the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

The CPI measures the percentage change in the price of a basket of goods and services consumed by households.

Temporary changes in inflation may be caused by events like supply disruptions or seasonal sales, according to the RBA.

More persistent changes in inflation generally arise when people and businesses change their expectations about future price moves, and thus start demanding higher wages or passing on cost increases to their customers to compensate for them.

In the worst case, these expectations of rising prices can cause inflation to spiral out of control.

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Categories
Technology

Nintendo Promises The Switch Price Won’t Go Up Despite Rising Production Costs

Nintendo Promises The Switch Price Won’t Go Up Despite Rising Production Costs

Nintendo will not adjust the Switch’s price point, despite the ongoing semiconductor shortage pushing up the cost of manufacturing.

In Nintendo’s most recent earnings report, it was revealed that the Switch has seen a 23% drop in hardware sales across the April-June quarter. This puts Nintendo’s profit forecast down 29% on its original expectations. The dip in Nintendo’s fortunes is tied to the continuing semiconductor shortage affecting every sector of the consumer electronics industry. Despite the rising cost of producing the popular console, Nintendo says it won’t move its price point to soothe the pain on its bottom line.

In an interview with Nikkei, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said he made the decision to avoid “pricing people out.”

“In order to offer unique entertainment to a wide range of customers, we want to avoid pricing people out,” Furukawa told Nikkei. “Our competition is the variety of entertainment in the world, and we always think about pricing in terms of the value of the fun we offer.”

He also went on to say that he believes the pain is extremely temporary. Holding on the price of the Switch makes sense because, to Furukawa, there’s no reason to panic. Furukawa says Nintendo currently anticipates improvements toward the end of the year, and that it still expects to sell 21 million units by that time. “Beyond that,” he says, “things are uncertain.”

“(The Nintendo Switch) is in its sixth year since its launch. All I can say is that we’ll try to keep up sales at the same pace. Having hit software also gives a boost to hardware,” Furukawa told Nikkei. ”We have a lineup of new games that will allow us to take a crack at meeting our sales forecast, including Splatoon 3 coming out in September and Pokémon Scarlet And Violet in November.”

The refreshed Switch OLED, at a higher price than the standard model, appeared to be bearing the brunt of the shortage. “For the time being, our OLED model will continue to be less profitable than our other models. Costs have undoubtedly increased for shipping not only by air, but also by sea. We’re thinking about what we can do.”

Nintendo’s decision to hold steady on pricing comes only weeks after Meta announced it would raise the price of its Quest 2 virtual reality headset in an effort to curb manufacturing expenditure. The jump, around a $100 on either model, was received poorly by those yet to invest in VR and with relief by those who’d already picked up a headset.

For Australian Nintendo fans looking to pick up a console closer to Christmas, this is a positive sign that stock will remain plentiful come November. For now, fans looking to pick up a Switch or official accessories in the near future should probably call their local retailer ahead of time.

Categories
Entertainment

Acting Class by Nick Drnaso review – ah, look at all the lonely people | Books

Yon 2018, Nick Drnaso’s sabrina was longlisted for the Booker prize, the first graphic novel in its history to be so. And no wonder. Drnaso’s story de ella, about a missing woman and the effect her disappearance de ella has on those close to her, deals with subjects many traditional novelists continue to be wary of tackling, gun control and conspiracy theories among them. Unlike many seemingly of-the-moment books, however, its power has only grown in the years since. Four years on and, following the US Capitol riots, it reads, at moments, like a prediction (Drnaso lives and works in Chicago). Go back to it, as I did the other day, and you will, I guarantee, find it at least twice as terrifying as you did the first time around.

Thanks to this, my stomach lurched a bit when I picked up Acting ClassDrnassus’s first full-length outing since sabrina. Is it as wildly successful as its predecessor? In truth, I’m not sure that it is. But my queasiness was hardly misplaced. In this book, Drnaso again distills quite brilliantly aspects of 21st-century anomie and alienation, on this occasion through the prism of a group of lonely and awkward strangers who sign up for an acting class run by a highly controlling but seemingly unqualified teacher called John Smith. Who is this mysterious guy? And why is this crowd – among its members are an anxious single mother and a bored married couple – so willing not only to trust him but to believe he is going to change their lives for the better? Drnaso’s narrative operates in the bewildering space between the reader’s instinctive skepticism – John stinks to high heaven of charlatanism – and the naivety and desperation of his crowd of misfits.

A page from Acting Class by Nick Drnaso.
A page from Acting Class by Nick Drnaso.

Acting Class isn’t an easy read. Drnaso’s blank, Playmobil-ish faces are hard to tell apart; I sometimes struggled to work out which character was which. The way he presents the class’s improvisations as reality on the page can also be, to put it mildly, extremely confusing, as if two films have been suddenly spliced ​​together. But perhaps this discomfort is half of the point. In the age of social media, fantasy and reality are increasingly blurred; an addiction to the notion of self-help, Drnaso suggests, is born of exactly the same impulse that has people tweaking their personalities, and even their bodies, online, and why should we regard one as better (or worse) than the other? It’s all delusion. In 2022, artifice and authenticity are close to the same thing. Who could slip a paper between them?

As for John, he is in some senses an Everyman figure: an all-purpose mountebank who might just as easily represent, in cultural terms, a certain kind of politician as a guru or cult leader. We know he’s making it up as he goes along. We know he’s preying on the deepest vulnerabilities of his class. Yet we can do nothing to stop him. Drnaso’s flat drawings, dun shades and slow-spooling scenarios are relentless and deliberately so. The crowd walks blindly towards this trickster, falling hungrily on his every exhortation from him. They believe only what they want to believe. Reality is inverted. The person who resists will be lonely indeed.

Categories
Sports

Football news 2022, Socceroos, World Cup Qatar, Aaron Mooy Celtic, Tyrese Francois, Fulham, EPL results, transfers, Ajdin Hrustic

Football news 2022, Socceroos, World Cup Qatar, Aaron Mooy Celtic, Tyrese Francois, Fulham, EPL results, transfers, Ajdin Hrustic

Socceroos star Ajdin Hrustic appears destined for a late transfer after being exiled at German club Eintracht Frankfurt.

Hrustic played 38 times for the German first-tier side over the past two seasons – mostly off the bench – culminating in scoring a penalty in a shootout win over Rangers in the Europa League final.

But the playmaker has been entirely left out of Frankfurt’s match-day squads for the opening three matches of the season, including their UEFA Super Cup clash with Real Madrid.

Watch the world’s best footballers every week with beIN SPORTS on Kayo. LIVE coverage from Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Serie A, Carabao Cup, EFL & SPFL. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

Tuchel & Conte see red in feisty derby | 00:42

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MORE COVERAGE

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Reports from Spain claim Real Betis – which finished fifth in La Liga last year – is interested in his signature, having previously considered a move for the classy 26-year-old in the last transfer window.

Serie A battler Salernitana are also rumored to be interested in signing the Aussie, whose priority is gaining match minutes ahead of the World Cup, in which he should play a key role for the Socceroos.

Salernitana narrowly avoided bankruptcy as well as relegation last campaign, presenting a high-risk option for the Australian.

AUSSIE GETS PREMIER LEAGUE MINUTES

It might have been brief, but Australia has a Premier League player once more. Young Tyrese Francois came off the bench for Fulham in stoppage time of their 0-0 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

A Fulham Academy player, Francois previously managed one Premier League appearance when Fulham were last in the top flight in 2020-21.

Having just turned 22, Francois has reportedly signed a new two-year deal with an option in the club’s favor for a third season.

The Olyroos star will be hoping for more minutes in coming rounds to build his case for a shock World Cup call-up.

MOOY BUILDING

Veteran midfielder Aaron Mooy is showing promising signs at Celtic. He has now appeared off the bench in all three of the Scottish giant’s league matches so far this season, but having been given just eight minutes then five minutes in the first two rounds, the Australian played 24 minutes in a 5-0 win over Kilmarnock FC. The win took Ange Postecoglou’s men top of the table on goal difference.

Also in Scotland, Aziz Behich made his Scottish Premiership debut, starting and playing the full 90 at left back for Dundee United. Kye Rowles also played the full match for Dundee United at centre-half in a crushing 4-1 win. Meanwhile Martin Boyle came off the bench for Hibernian at halftime in a 2-1 defeat.

In Spain, Awer Mabil made his debut for Cadiz CF in a 1-0 loss to Real Sociedad – the team that Mat Ryan recently departed. Mabil played the second half off the bench but could not find the all-important equalizer.

Over in Japan, Mitch Duke played 61 minutes for Fagiano Okayama in the second tier in a 3-2 win over Renofa Yamaguchi, the victory taking their unbeaten streak to seven games.

“A man’s game” Souness comments torched | 00:32

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Categories
Business

Wall Street’s surge may be a false dawn

Wall Street's surge may be a false dawn

While there were some fears that the Fed would add another 75 basis point hike next month, investors now expect a 50 basis point rise.

Essentially, the markets are pricing in more rate increases this year but in smaller increments as the Fed gains confidence that inflation, while still high, is retreating. While there are analysts who think the Fed will still be raising rates next year and that the federal funds rate will peak with a 4 in front of it, the markets are pricing something closer to 3.5 per cent.

There were fears Jerome Powell's US Fed would add another 75 basis point hike next month but investors now expect a 50 basis point rise.

There were fears Jerome Powell’s US Fed would add another 75 basis point hike next month but investors now expect a 50 basis point rise.Credit:AP

Sharemarkets are very sensitive to interest rates both because interest-bearing securities are an alternative to equities but also because long bond rates are used to calculate the net present value of future cash flows as a core approach to valuing companies. The lower the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bonds used to discount those cash flows the more they are worth.

If you step back from the shift in the markets since mid-June it would seem that they are signaling that the Fed can bring inflation under control without tightening monetary policy so severely that it plunges the US economy into a deep and prolonged recession. That doesn’t rule out something shallow and short but it’s certainly a more optimistic view that the worst fears earlier this year.

That optimism has been buttressed by the first real signs that the dysfunction in global supply chains that has been a major driver in soaring inflation rates around the world is easing, with the cost of shipping containers across the Pacific, for instance, plummeting to about a third of what it cost a year ago.

It’s also been helped by the fall in the oil price from more than $US123 a barrel to about $US97 a barrel and a consequent decline in US gasoline prices from more than $US5 a gallon to less than $US4 a gallon. The spike in oil prices after the Russian invasion of Ukraine was a contributor to the surge in inflation.

For the upturns in sharemarkets to be sustained, of course, the “go hard” (if not early) approach of the world’s key central banks, including the Reserve Bank, has to be successful in bringing down inflation rates substantially and have them trending clearly. towards their targeted level of about two per cent within the first half of next year.

That will entail a significant slowing of economic activity and a rise in unemployment rates from near-record lows.

While investors and markets are forward-looking – they price in what they expect to see in six to 12 months out rather than current conditions and settings – they might be underestimating what it will take to achieve the central bankers’ goals.

It is quite conceivable that the bullish run of the past month might be one of those bear market rallies – “dead cat bounces” – that trap risk-takers into thinking the worst is over. The rate rises so far haven’t yet impacted economic activity significantly and are yet to show up in corporate profits. Monetary policy takes time to bite.

Despite the apparent conviction of equity investors, these remain highly uncertain times.

There’s also something quite uncomfortable seeing volatility (as measured by the VIX, or “fear” index), falling back towards sub-20 levels from the mid-30s of mid-June even as the war in Ukraine continues and, with Taiwan acting as a new flash point, the tensions between China and the US increase.

China’s faltering economy and Europe’s energy crisis will also subtract from global growth even as the US and other western economies continue to slow.

A buoyant stock market isn’t consistent with a global recession and the easing of global market interest rates, despite the efforts of central banks, might be a better predictor of the deterioration in economic conditions ahead.

It is notable that retail investors have returned to the market – “meme” stocks like Bed Bath and Beyond and AMC Entertainment have soared during the current rally – which is something of a reverse signal that the market is still vulnerable.

It is premature to declare the battle against the biggest outbreak in inflation since the 1970s won or to start factoring in rate cuts in the second half of next year and think that the foundations for a new cycle of rising share prices is underway.

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The US inflation rate might have peaked and the peaking of others might be in sight but, in large parts of the world, inflation remains historically high, the current economic data is mixed and confusing, the real-world consequences of the efforts to control them have yet to play out and there is a disconnect between what the Fed has been doing and saying and the interpretations of its actions and statements that equity investors are pricing in.

Despite the apparent conviction of equity investors, these remain highly uncertain times.

The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day’s trading. Get it each weandkday afternoon.

Categories
Technology

Unity’s new real-time Lion demo runs at 4K 30FPS on PlayStation 5

Unity's new real-time Lion demo runs at 4K 30FPS on PlayStation 5 01 | TweakTown.com

Unity teased its new real-time demo at SIGGRAPH 2022, with Lion debuting in the glorious 4K resolution and running at 30FPS on the Sony PlayStation 5.

The new Lion demo from Unity utilizes a bunch of Unity Engine features including some real-time hair and fur rendering, powered by Weta Digital’s new Wig hair and fur tool. Remember Unity purchased Weta Digital in late 2021, where Unity Technical Artist Sara Hansen explained the use of their tools in the new Lion demo: “Wig is a different way of working – it’s actually the fastest grooming tool that I’ve ever used“.

“A high-quality hero groom – which would take me several months in another grooming package – is much faster to create in Wig. It takes just a couple of weeks, and some grooms go from weeks to create in other tools to only one or few days in Wig, and at far better quality levels and with greater artist controllability… Even when you have to react to detailed art direction feedback notes, like adjusting a specific strand from a reference shot, it’s easy to author in Wig“.

Unity had to be updated in order to get the rendering of millions of individual strands of fur, which all over independently. The developer explains that “One set of improvements includes a new GPU-driven clustered hair simulation that enables millions of hair strands to react dynamically in real-time, part of the new Hair System released on Unity’s GitHub. This approach builds on the hair simulation used for the incredible Digital Human showcase, Enemies, and expands the method to handle several orders of magnitude more hair strands efficiently on GPU“.

“For hair and fur rendering, the graphics developers at Unity designed a set of improvements to a GPU tile-based software rasterization algorithm in HDRP, with significant optimization to render several million unique hair strands. This method achieved smooth visuals with analytic anti-aliasing with compute-sorted order independent transparency for hair strands and improved advanced physically-based hair lighting models for film-quality hair strand rendering“.

Unity's new real-time Lion demo runs at 4K 30FPS on PlayStation 5 01 | TweakTown.com

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Categories
Entertainment

Fran Kelly is fine and familiar, but she’s not the future of the ABC

Fran Kelly is fine and familiar, but she's not the future of the ABC

Now allow me to put on record that my disappointment has nothing to do with Fran Kelly as a broadcaster or person. I’m a big Fran-Fan, long-time listener, first-time complainer.

When she departed Radio National’s Breakfast Last year, I was the first one in the family group chat to send the link accompanied by the heartbreak emoji.

But I reckon even Fran would concede she’s had a pretty good run. She was on the microphone at Radio National for 17 years, which is the exact age of all the people who don’t listen to Triple J.

As a political journalist, Fran has runs on the board, but this type of show doesn’t sound like a vehicle that requires her expertise. Instead, it feels like a missed opportunity for the ABC to achieve two critical goals: reach a younger audience and spotlight emerging talent.

Ironically, the press release for frankly promises “frank yet fun chats” with “big thinkers and change-makers.”

But if we’re really being frank (yet fun), the ABC appears allergic to big thinking or change-making.

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Earlier this year, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age ran a story on how the same set of faces has dominated the Australian TV landscape for the past few decades.

As part of that piece, Tom Ballard, perhaps the last millennial to be given a chance by the ABC thanks to his 2017 chat show, tonightlypromptly identified the problem.

“At its worst, Australian TV just often feels suffocatingly safe,” Ballard said.

Rather than playing it safe and dusting off Kelly after six months on the shelf, the ABC should have invested in the future instead of pandering to the past.

A Friday night chat hosted by Fran Kelly might satisfy what’s left of the ABC’s boomer audience, but it’s a sign the broadcaster seems to have given up on high-production, prime-time content aimed at younger audiences. That’s bad for us, and it’s bad for ABC.

Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.

Categories
Sports

Manase Fainu: NRL rising star jailed, convicted of church stabbing

Manase Fainu: NRL rising star jailed, convicted of church stabbing

NRL young gun Manase Fainu has been jailed as he awaits sentencing over the stabbing of a Mormon church youth leader during a wild and bloody brawl.

A jury took just two hours to find Fainu guilty of plunging a steak knife into the back of Faamanu Levi at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at Wattle Grove in October, 2019.

The Crown prosecution made a detention application for Fainu to be sent to prison after he was found guilty of one count of wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years.

Defense barrister Margaret Cunneen SC previously flagged to the court the verdict would be appealed.

Judge Nanette Williams on Monday morning ordered the Manly Sea Eagles hooker to be taken into custody ahead of a sentence hearing later in the year.

During his trial, the court heard that one man Tony Quach had seen Fainu stab Mr Levi in ​​the back near his right shoulder blade during a late-night brawl in the church’s parking lot between two parked cars.

Another man, Kupi Toilalo, told the jury that he saw a man approach him and his friends with his left arm in a sling holding a knife.

It was not in dispute Fainu had undergone shoulder surgery a month earlier and had his arm in the sling at the time.

Fainu has been stood down from the NRL since the incident and has not played the last three seasons.

During the trial he denied playing any part in the stabbing or the brawl, claiming he stood back 10m because he was scared.

He said he began back-pedaling because he feared for his safety when he heard someone yell “knife, knife”.

Ms Cunneen told the court on Monday Fainu should be able to remain on bail after he had suffered an “enormous” and “unthinkable downfall”.

She said he needed time to adjust mentally and prepare financially for when he will be sentenced at a later date.

Ms Cunneen also tended to a character reference from Manly coach Des Hasler, who watched proceedings via audio visual link.

“This young man, Mr Fainu, had the promise of a most extraordinary football career ahead of him and that has been smashed,” Ms Cunnen said.

“Everyone would be entitled to say through his own fault he lost that.

“The necessary punishment the court must impose will also bring about the most extraordinary extra-curial punishment, that is the end of what had promised to be an extraordinary, exceptional stellar career in what Mr Hasler has described as the hardest game in the world. ”

The court heard he had previously battled prescription drug addiction and entered into rehabilitation.

His counselor Jan Earl told the court on Monday that Fainu had suffered a mental episode over the weekend, which involved him shaking uncontrollably, was being monitored by a mental health team and had to be prescribed anti-anxiety medication.

Ms Earl said that Fainu was feeling “great shame and remorse” and suffering depression, intrusive thoughts and suicidal ideation.

Ms Cunneen said that two of Fainu’s brothers, who were contracted to Manly, had paid his legal fees after the club advanced them money from their 2023 contracts

She argued he needed to make mental preparations to go into custody and ease the financial burden on his family, having been offered work as a laborer.

However Crown prosecutor Emma Curran said none of that amounted to special or exceptional circumstances.

During Fainu’s trial, the court heard that prior to the brawl, two of his friends – including Uona “Big Buck” Faingaa – were involved in an altercation on the church dance floor and escorted out.

Fainu told the jury he went to church dance with four of his friends because Mr Faingaa was seeking to collect money owed to him by a man for a concreting job.

He said he left the church grounds as his mates were being escorted out and apologized to a security guard for his friends’ behavior as he exited.

CCTV played to the jury showed Fainu, with his arm in a sling, jump the fence from an adjoining Coles car park back into the church grounds shortly before the brawl.

Fainu testified that he had told his friends that he would go inside to collect Mr Faingaa’s money by himself, however they followed him over.

Fainu told Ms Curran during his evidence he jumped the fence despite admitting that he could have walked back in the front gate.

More to eat.

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Categories
Australia

Indigenous Sydney teen ‘tripped’ by police officer officer describes bloody injuries in court

Play Video. Duration: 43 seconds

An Indigenous teenager whose arrest resulted in a NSW Police officer being charged with assault has told a Sydney court he fell unconscious after being “tripped” and was spitting blood because his face hit the ground.

Constable Ryan Barlow, 30, was with two junior colleagues in Ward Park in Surry Hills when they stopped three teenagers in June 2020.

Part of the interaction was filmed on a mobile phone, showing one of the teenagers, then 16, speaking to Constable Barlow before saying he would “crack” the officer in the jaw.

The video shows Constable Barlow then used a technique known as a leg sweep, in which he kicked the complainant’s feet out from underneath him while holding his arms from behind, causing him to fall forwards.

Constable Barlow has pleaded not guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The teenager told Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court he remembered being “spun around” by the officer before being “tripped” and denied doing anything to resist.

A nurse holds a boy's hand, while he sits down
Doctors attend to the boy at St Vincent’s Hospital.(Facebook: Justice for Buddy, Lewis Kelly Jnr)

He recalled his knee hitting the ground first, followed by his shoulder and the cheek area of ​​his face.

In the video, he can be heard making a high-pitched moaning sound while on the ground.

He told the court he was unconscious after he fell and has no memory of what happened until he was sat up, when he recalled spitting blood.

“I don’t even remember making those noises,” he said.

The teenager said he recalled “going off my head” while sitting.

“I just lost it. Got angry, I guess.”

He said Constable Barlow was holding him at the back part of his neck and he told him to stop “squeezing” it, but the officer didn’t.

“He pulled out capsicum spray and told my friends to go away.”

The teenager said he made the comment about cracking the officer in the jaw out of “frustration”, after hearing one of his friends defend himself.

“What were you frustrated about?” Crown Prosecutor Darren Robinson asked.

“That I can’t, you know, go to my own park [without being] harassed by police.”

Mr Robinson earlier told the court an expert in the use of force is expected to testify that the leg sweep technique is not the methodology taught to NSW Police Force officers, however it is not prohibited.

“The prosecution says the force used by the accused was not reasonably necessary in the circumstances,” he said.

Mr Robinson said Constable Barlow gave a version of the incident during an interview which “contradicted” the video, including that the complainant “tensed” his body and attempted to break free.

The court was told the complainant’s injuries included cuts and abrasions to his leg and chin, soreness and pain to his neck, a chipped tooth and bleeding from an injury to the mouth.

Constable Barlow’s barrister, Brent Haverfield, said there would be “an element of self-defence” in the matter.

The hearing, before Magistrate Rami Attia, has been set down for three days.

Under cross-examination, the teenager accepted he was told he was under arrest shortly before the leg sweep.

He also accepted the video showed that while Constable Barlow was behind him, his right leg moved backwards, but denied this was an attempt to kick the officer.

“I don’t accept I was trying to hurt anyone,” he said.

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Categories
Business

More than 40% of Australian employers allow work from home full time

More than 40% of Australian employers allow work from home full time

More than four in every 10 companies no longer expect their staff to show up to the office.

A survey of nearly 1,200 companies, conducted by the Australian HR Institute in July, found just 4 per cent required employees to work in the office full-time.

Of those surveyed, 7 per cent of organizations allowed employees to work from home continuously, while 34 per cent had no set number of days required in the office but did encourage it.

The average proportion of employees working continuously from home has increased from 5 per cent before the pandemic to 18 per cent.

Almost 30 per cent of companies are requiring a minimum of three days a week in the office and 16 per cent request two days.

More than half of the organizations revealed they were offering incentives to lure staff back to the office, such as social events and free coffee or meals.

Those surveyed reported that before the pandemic, on average 23 per cent of employees worked from home at least one day a week. Now it’s 58 per cent.

More than half of the human resources professionals surveyed expected that working from home or remote working arrangements would remain the same over the next two years, while 25 per cent predicted that the rate of working from home and remote working would increase.

This is despite 65 per cent of them reporting that employees were feeling disconnected from their colleagues due to work from home arrangements.

AHRI chief executive Sarah McCann-Bartlett said the survey results showed companies needed to invest more resources into redesigning work processes to adapt.

“Most organizations are thinking about hybrid work only in terms of location, but there

are other factors that need to be considered,” she said.

“Hybrid work models need to be designed with connection in mind. And those connections need to be meaningful.”

Flexible working arrangements do not just include working from home.

Almost 30 per cent of companies said they were planning to introduce or expand compressed hours, like a four-day work week or nine-day fortnight.

Work from home demand

“Work from home” is the top keyword searched on employment marketplace Seek, with many jobseekers choosing to search it over any job title or industry.

“Instead of just searching for … a software programming job, instead of putting those words into the keyword search, they’re putting work from home,” Seek senior economist Matt Cowgill told news.com.au.

“People are telling us as well when we ask them that they are likely to resign and look for a different job if work from home isn’t offered.”

In a survey done by the company in May, 61 per cent of jobseekers said this.

But while the demand for remote working is clear, it is not reflected in the number of employers actually including “work from home” in their job ads – less than 5 per cent in fact do so.

“We have seen a significant rise in the proportion of jobs ads that say that people are able to work from home but it’s still perhaps surprisingly small overall,” Mr Cowgill said.

“We’re only seeing approximately 5 per cent of job ads on our platform explicitly mentioning those words and phrases – work from home, WFH, that type of thing.”

Mr Cowgill expected there would be more employers willing to offer flexibility but have not explicitly stated it in their job ads.

It was also noted that not all ads on the site could offer remote working due to the nature of the work.

Mr Cowgill said the mention of work from home in job ads is predominantly for the jobs you would expect – public service roles and white-collar professions.

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