Working from home will require a rethink of noise restrictions

The impact of COVID-19 on work continues to evolve in many different ways. A week does not seem to go by without the demise of workplaces.

We hear a lot about zombie companies, so-called because they are the walking dead, or in other words, were unsustainable or marginally sustainable when the government stepped in to prop them up. Many people have lost their jobs and many more are clinging on, with it being only a matter of time before they lose their jobs.

Large numbers of people have found themselves stuck at home during working hours. This has led to a number of changes, some predictable and some not.

There has been plenty of coverage of how confinement is creating problems with domestic violence. I wonder, too, whether it may lead to conflict between neighbours. In Melbourne and Sydney in particular, there has been significant growth in medium and high-density housing. More and more of us are living in townhouses and apartments. Planning rules for new terraces will only increase this phenomenon.

Now we find that those lucky enough to still have work are frequently working from home. Suddenly the demands and expectations for peace and quiet during the day will increase. How can I be heard in my Zoom meeting when the next door apartment has workers drilling through the concrete?

Councils limit construction hours in residential areas mindful of the need for peace, quiet and respite in the early mornings, evenings and weekends. Now will they come under pressure to extend these courtesies to the daytime. But how is this possible without banning construction altogether, which is obviously not practical?

The notion of a residential zone is increasingly blurred by this move to work from home. This is of course nothing new to the 16 per cent, according the Australian Bureau of Statistics, who work shifts. They are well aware of the murder-inducing thoughts provoked by little Jimmy playing basketball during the day when they are trying to sleep. Now they will have new allies over the road who are trying to work. The whole residential/ commercial/ industrial zoning concepts seem inadequate to reflect what increasingly is looking like a permanent shift. In a sense we are all on the nightshift now.

And spare a thought for the poor fellows who ply their trade burglarising their neighbours. They will struggle to find a parking spot for their vans in the suburbs, let alone get through a window when the house always has people in it.

And with the pubs now shut again in Melbourne, where will one go to get a knocked-off computer?

Jim Bright, FAPS is Professor of Career Education and Development at ACU and owns Bright and Associates, a Career Management Consultancy. Email to opinion@jimbright.com. Follow him on Twitter @DrJimBright