Millions now working from home driving change to commercial building design and security

By Michael Fisher, Managing Director, Boon Edam Australia

The news that more than 6.7 million Australians now work from home at least some of the time has profound implications for workplace design and security. 

Market research by Roy Morgan reveals 46% of employed Australians worked from home at least some of the time in 2025, while the remaining 54% work entirely in-person.

The work-from-home (WFH) hybrid is strongest in Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra where a majority of all workers – 55, 52, and 51 per cent respectively – embrace WFH models. CBD workers in all larger centres are among those most likely to favour the practice.

These findings align with international trends showing work-from-home job levels have stayed high since the practice quadrupled across 20 countries in post-Covid years. 

Even in the US – where we have heard some of the most strident calls for workers to return to their office – about 52 per cent of workers with jobs that can be done remotely still work from home at least some of the time.

Apart from work-life balances, some of the factors driving the tectonic change in employee preferences (important in a time of ongoing skills shortages) include the time and cost savings resulting from not commuting every day to congested city centres while paying fares, tolls, and parking for the privilege of losing family time.

Some types of companies – notably technology, finance, professional services, and healthcare – are actively promoting the WFH trend by offering remote work to attract talent and improve retention, no doubt noting local and international surveys in which many employees state they would quit if forced to return to the office full-time. 

So even though there is no universal right to work from home in Australia, a hefty slice of workers are now happily adjusted to new ways of working, and they expect employers to do likewise. (While employees can request flexible working arrangements, including working from home, under the Fair Work Act, employers are only required to genuinely consider the request and can refuse it on "reasonable business grounds"). 

Despite the legal position, it looks like a substantial WFH change may be here to stay, which has profound implications if you are a building designer, builder, manager, security manager or owner, especially in CBD and major metropolitan areas, where the WFH trend is strongest. 

The security problem occurs on two levels:

1. Digital security (resulting from networks being dispersed over wider areas of operation, with computers, information systems, and access not subject to in-office levels of scrutiny and security).
2. Physical security, the area with which our company is concerned globally, with more people coming and going in shared office areas where team members are less likely to know each other, where it is harder to know who is entitled to be in particular areas – and which visitors and contractors are entitled to be there alongside workers who physically may visit just once or twice a week.

This is a big issue. Work from home impacts workplace security by increasing cybersecurity risks, such as data breaches through unsecured networks and increased phishing attacks. Equally as important – the other side of the security coin, in fact – are physical security concerns include coping with influxes of workers, contractors and visitors who may no longer know who is a member of their team and who is entitled to be in their shared workplace.

The physical security job starts at the front door and rises in intensity as it progresses inwards to increasingly sensitive physical areas that must be protected in a layered approach. Such an approach graduates and intensifies security as the need for protection arises in areas where critical IP, public and private data, financial data, operational data, and data centre facilities are located. 

Future-focussed security entrances employed in this layered security need to be intelligent, automated, and adaptable, incorporating advanced biometrics like facial or iris scanning, multi-factor authentication, and touchless solutions (which is also important from a health perspective with more people sharing smaller spaces required by more mobile workforces).

Key features to be considered include seamless integration with smart technology, the ability to handle high traffic flow, and support for remote and hybrid work environments, while also offering predictive capabilities and detailed data analysis for enhanced efficiency and security management. 

Key technological needs

• Multi-factor biometric authentication: Future systems will move beyond single methods like fingerprints to use a combination of technologies like facial recognition, iris scanning, and mobile device biometrics for more secure and convenient access.
• Touchless entry: With the rise of health concerns and convenience, technology will increasingly rely on touchless methods such as gesture control, facial recognition, and Bluetooth or voice recognition for entry.
• AI and IoT integration: Entrance systems will become more intelligent by using AI to analyse real-time conditions, predict potential issues, and adapt to user needs, while IoT will allow for seamless connectivity and data collection.
• Automated and speed gate systems: Automated speed gates are becoming a necessity for managing high-traffic areas efficiently, reducing wait times, and ensuring a secure flow of people. 

Strategic considerations

• Adaptability for hybrid work: Systems must be flexible enough to accommodate evolving technologies, such as those above, hybrid and remote work models, managing who is in the office from a security viewpoint, as well as for providing for essential fire and emergency safety, and practicalities such as efficient desk/room allocation.
• Scalability and futureproofing: Entrance security is an ongoing investment. New systems should be built to scale and be upgradeable to meet future enterprise needs without complete overhauls.
• Data-driven security: Integrated systems will provide valuable data on access patterns, which can be used to refine security protocols, monitor trends, and improve operational efficiency. Importantly, they should enable best use of manned security where this expensive resource is most required, at the time it is most needed, while enabling technology to do a comprehensive, complementary and cost-effective job 24/7.
• For publicly accessible venues: Such as those ranging from commercial building entrances and lobbies to entrances to hospitals and age care facilities, for example, where both staff and patients or residents need to be protected. In such areas, advanced physical security systems will need to incorporate data analysis to identify and mitigate safety risks and be able to close down access where this is an immediate need or threat.

Priority office-related risks to be considered

• Unauthorised access leading to theft of documents, data and property: With a hybrid working model, there's a higher chance of employees letting in unauthorised individuals, believing they are colleagues due to less consistent office presence. Most businesses handle sensitive documents and intellectual property that, if in the wrong hands, could have serious consequences.
• Tailgating: A common method used by intruders to gain access is tailgating – following closely behind an authorised person to gain access to a restricted area. The practice of employees following others into secure areas without properly authorised access can increase as the office is less populated and the entry and exit patterns become more unpredictable. Unauthorised individuals gaining entry to secure areas can not only compromise the safety of employees and visitors, but also of sensitive information, valuable assets and data centres.
• Security and emergency preparedness: Inconsistent office presence can lead to a decline in regular security drills, leaving employees unprepared for emergencies or violent incidents. Employees working flexible schedules may also find themselves alone in the office while working after hours, or in parking areas late at night, raising concerns about personal safety and an employer’s duty of care to anticipate this
• Visitor management: A hybrid model requires a more robust and adaptable visitor entrance and management system to account for the varying and less predictable flow of people entering and exiting the office. At any given time, it’s essential to know who is present in the workplace – not only for physical security, but also in case of a fire or incident. Unaccounted visitors or intruders pose a real security risk as their presence can go unnoticed, which can, in turn, make it challenging to identify and resolve breaches.
• Asset and data security: Less consistent monitoring of office spaces can make it easier for theft or vandalism of company assets to go unnoticed. However great they are, access control systems are only effective if individuals use their own identification credentials. Lost or stolen identification cards can undermine the security measures in place to protect physical property and cyber data centres.
• Social engineering attacks: Social engineering involves the manipulation of individuals with access entitlement by exploiting human empathy, information, and trust. Criminals may, for example, pose as interviewees, electricians, and stakeholders to get let in – and they’ll put the pressure on to do so. Social engineering is by far one of the most insidious, particularly given the shift towards more shared and transient working spaces and practices in which workers are less connected. In the last few years, social engineering incidents have been rising in frequency and severity, with the average organisation facing over 700 attacks per year.

The bottom line

Hybrid work-from-home models have advanced substantially and enduringly, from being a relatively uncommon practice just 10 years ago (when only 13 per cent of the Australian workforce regularly worked from home) to quadruple that level in some areas and particular industries.

Hybrid models are a new standard practice in some areas and industries, particularly in CBD areas and in knowledge-intensive industries, as discussed previously. Flexibility is a key expectation of employees in these areas: A 2025 Cisco Global Hybrid Work Study found that a majority of workers would even take a pay cut to work from home more, indicating that flexibility is no longer just a perk, but a baseline expectation for many.

Moves towards WFH practices are further likely to be facilitated by the rapid and ongoing growth in the digital economy which knows no boundaries. The expanding digital economy has profoundly facilitated the shift towards working from home by providing the essential tools needed to perform tasks remotely. The proliferation of high speed internet cloud computing, along with the variety of collaboration platforms, has made it possible for many jobs to be performed from virtually any location. 

No-one is yet predicting the 9-5 office job model is disappearing, with its strengths across appropriate industries of in-person collaboration, education, advancement, social interaction and team building. Reports of this death would, as Mark Twain/ Samuel Langhorne Clemens observed, be premature.

But the evidence shows that workplace models are evolving, as hybrid and remote work models gain traction in particular areas and flexibility becomes a key expectation. While some companies are pushing for a return to the office, a full-time return is unlikely for many, and the future is expected to be a blend of in-person and remote work.

Around the world, in 27 countries, Boon Edam is preparing for hybrid work models by developing security and entrance solutions that accommodate fluctuating visitor numbers and support a flexible workforce. This expertise – honed in the major workplaces of America, Asia and Europe – is directly applicable to Australia and the broader Asia-Pacific.

The transition to hybrid work models therefore has far-reaching implications for all of us involved in the commercial building design, building and management industry, requiring adaptability and foresight to address emerging challenges such as those this article has outlined.