Census: Northlanders among top percentage working from home

Briar Rowsell works from her Kerikeri home as a freelancer, offering her the opportunity to juggle motherhood but continue with her career.

Northland had the second-highest percentage of people working mostly from home in 2023, with 20% of the region’s workers doing so, Census numbers reflect.

As the Government leads the charge to get employees back to the office, recruitment agencies are seeing a push-pull situation in which people desire at least the option for flexible working.

Working from home has been the saving grace for mothers who need to earn a living or people who face geographic barriers in the vast north.

For Kerikeri’s Briar Rowsell, the ability to work from home means she can earn a living and juggle motherhood.

She works as a contracting media agency account director for between 25 and 35 hours a week, allowing her to pick up her 2-year-old from childcare.

For Rowsell, productivity is at its best and she has “aged out” of the social connections that a younger employee would get from working onsite.

Her software engineer husband also works from home and the pair have individual workspaces.

Rowsell is strict with her hours and believes she frequently goes over what is on her contract.

The fact that 20% of the region’s working population works from home didn’t surprise her.

“I know there are a lot of skilled professional workers who want to come here whose parents have retired here and that’s the only work these people can do outside of the main city.”

She believed working from home was a good solution for parents, people with disabilities or pregnant women.

She felt trust might be an issue for companies wanting their staff on site.

“You shouldn’t hire someone who you don’t trust to get the work done.”

Since 2013, the Census has asked: “In [your main job], did you mostly work at home ... or work away from home?”

In 2023, 18,534 Northland-based respondents ticked working mostly from home.

Whangārei’s Direction Recruitment team were surprised at the numbers, particularly after noticing employers were pushing for more on-site staff.

Senior recruiter Ilse Channer said employers considered flexible working arrangements once they got to know the staff member.

“... They say maybe after three months they can have a look at it because then they have an understanding of that person’s reliability and also the new employee will have a better understanding of what that role requires and if they can work from home efficiently.”

Those who regularly worked from home either had living situations that required flexibility or geographic barriers, director Paula Kalkhoven added.

Whangārei's Direction Recruitment director Paula Kalkhoven (back) and senior recruiter Ilse Channer. Photo / Brodie Stone

She felt that whether or not someone could work from home depended on the position and company and, for some, working from home increased productivity.

“There’s less chit-chat in the office around the water cooler or kitchen. And when working in large organisations, there’s always a lot of noise and distractions.”

Channer said most employees asked about flexible work options but a flat “no” wasn’t a deal-breaker.

Those for whom it was a deal-breaker included mothers re-entering the workforce, whereas for others the option was a “nice to have”.

A survey by Auckland-based recruitment firm Cultivate found that, of more than 1000 office workers, 45% would reconsider their future with their employer if the flexibility to work from home was reduced.

Co-founder Tony Pownall said most jobseekers with whom Cultivate engaged had rebuilt their lives around hybrid working and it had become challenging to source talent without offering at least one working-from-home day.

The survey comes shortly after Public Service Minister Nicola Willis issued a directive to government departments to tighten up on working-from-home arrangements.

Cultivate co-founders Tony Pownall and Trina Jones.

She said it was important to ensure the pendulum didn’t swing too far and performance wasn’t being affected.

Working in the office allowed for the sharing of skills, experience and relationship-building, especially for younger employees looking to learn, she added.

“Many good employers have been taking active steps to ensure their working-from-home policies are fit for purpose. It’s time the Government did the same.”

She added that working from home was “not an entitlement”.

Pownall and Jones felt the Government’s move contradicted what employees were expressing as a preference.

“The concept that workers are most productive when in the same room is a hangover from the industrial revolution and doesn’t fit our increasingly knowledge-based economy.”

Overall, 72% of organisations continue to offer some working-from-home entitlement, with respondents from the utilities & energy sector (87.5%), government (87%) and information & communication technology (86%) most likely to have such an entitlement.

Brodie Stone is an education and general news reporter at the Advocate. Brodie has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.