- The Workplace Has Already Changed
- Not Every Role Needs To Be Local
- Looking Beyond The Office
- Workforce Strategy Is About More Than Cost
- The Best Time To Review Your Workforce Isn’t During A Crisis
- Looking Ahead
The Victorian Government’s proposed Work From Home laws have generated considerable debate across Australia’s business community. As a committed offshore IT, business support, and accounting outsourcing partner to many Aussie SMEs, we have looked into this subject closely.
If passed in their current form, eligible employees whose roles can reasonably be performed remotely would gain a legal entitlement to work from home for up to two days each week. Employers wishing to refuse a request would need to demonstrate that doing so is not reasonable under the criteria set out in the legislation.
Whether you support or oppose the proposal, one thing is certain: many businesses will soon be asking an important question.
Can this role be performed remotely?
It’s an operational question that every employer should be considering. But there is another question that naturally follows.
If a role can be performed remotely, does it also need to be performed in Australia?
The Workplace Has Already Changed
The pandemic fundamentally changed the way businesses think about work.
Many organisations discovered that productivity could be maintained, or even improved, when employees worked from home. Others concluded that collaboration, mentoring, and company culture suffered without regular face-to-face interaction.
The reality is that there is no universal answer. Every business is different, and every role is different.
The proposed Victorian legislation doesn’t create remote work. It simply recognises that many jobs can already be performed from almost anywhere.
For businesses, that may become the catalyst for a broader strategic review.
Not Every Role Needs To Be Local
Some positions will always require a physical presence.
Reception staff, warehouse employees, laboratory technicians, retail workers and many healthcare professionals need to be where the work is performed.
However, many knowledge-based roles are different.
Accounting.
Customer service.
Digital marketing.
Graphic design.
Software development.
Bookkeeping.
Administration.
Recruitment.
Engineering support.
Estimating.
For many businesses, these roles have already proven they can be performed successfully outside the traditional office.
If location is no longer the deciding factor, employers should also ask whether geography still matters.
Looking Beyond The Office
For years, businesses have compared office-based work with working from home.
Increasingly, the more relevant comparison may be between local employees working remotely and offshore employees working remotely.
Both require strong management.
Both rely on technology.
Both depend on effective communication and clearly defined processes.
The difference is that an offshore strategy also provides access to significantly larger talent pools and can substantially reduce employment costs.
That doesn’t mean every role should be offshored. But it does mean businesses should evaluate all available options rather than limiting the conversation to where an Australian employee performs their work.
Workforce Strategy Is About More Than Cost
When people think about building offshore capability, they often think only about salary savings.
Cost is certainly one factor, but it is rarely the only reason businesses build offshore capability.
Many employers are struggling to recruit experienced professionals in highly competitive labour markets.
Others want to scale more quickly than local hiring allows.
Some are seeking extended operating hours, improved business continuity or access to specialist skills that are difficult to source locally.
In many cases, offshore teams become an extension of the existing workforce rather than a replacement for it.
Australian managers remain responsible for leadership, quality and client relationships, while offshore professionals perform work that can be delivered just as effectively from another location.
The Best Time To Review Your Workforce Isn’t During A Crisis
Too often, businesses only rethink their workforce after costs have increased or recruitment has become difficult.
The proposed Victorian legislation is another reminder that workforce planning should be proactive rather than reactive.
Whether the Bill ultimately passes in its current form or is amended during the parliamentary process, it has already prompted many business leaders to examine how work is performed within their organisations.
That exercise has value regardless of the legislation’s final outcome.
Questions worth asking include:
- Which roles genuinely require an office presence?
- Which roles can be performed remotely without affecting quality or customer service?
- Which functions are becoming increasingly difficult or expensive to recruit locally?
- Could an offshore team strengthen the business while allowing local employees to focus on higher-value work?
These are strategic questions, not simply HR questions.
Looking Ahead
The proposed Victorian Work From Home laws are still making their way through Parliament, and aspects of the legislation may change before becoming law.
However, they reflect a broader trend that has been developing for several years.
Work is becoming less tied to a physical location.
Businesses that embrace this shift thoughtfully will often find opportunities that extend well beyond working from home.
For some organisations, that may mean introducing more flexible workplace policies.
For others, it may mean building a high-performing offshore team that complements their Australian workforce.
Either way, the most successful businesses will be those that look beyond today’s headlines and use this moment to ask a much bigger question.
Not just “Where should our people work?” but “What is the best workforce strategy for the future of our business?”
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To know more about responding to business challenges through accounting, business support, and IT outsourcing to the Philippines, get in touch with Yempo Solutions here.
