A recent survey of close to 1000 Australians, conducted by software solutions company UserTesting, found only 14.5 per cent of people have increased their WFH days where possible.

Just five per cent said their employer had actually encouraged or offered remote work during this time.

Over the past 12 months in particular, companies across the country have been ramping up return-to-office mandates, with many even ordering staff back five days a week.

Mr Cowan said it was a “real tragedy” that leaders are “burning trust and engagement to fill car parks”.

“The evidence overwhelmingly shows that outcomes matter far more than where someone sits,” he said.

He also warned that employers who resist WFH requests during this time could see an increase in staff finding ways to push back, including “longer ‘client calls’ from home, strategic sick days, and increasingly creative reasons to avoid the commute”.

Recruitment specialist Roxanne Calder has a different perspective on the situation, saying that while fuel prices might intensify the conversation around WFH, it won’t fundamentally change the direction many companies are heading towards.

“Organisations didn’t push for a return to the office lightly; they did it because something wasn’t working as well as they needed it to, whether that was collaboration, accountability, productivity or simply the day-to-day rhythm of the business,” Ms Calder, founder of recruitment agency EST10, told news.com.au

“And this is where the debate can start to feel slightly misplaced, in my view. It’s not really about WFH versus office. It’s about who really carries the cost when external pressure like this one hits.”

For employees, Ms Calder said they are feeling the negative impact of rising living costs and travel expenses, whereas employers are feeling it in maintaining structure, performance, and consistency across teams.

“So, while you might see some adjustment at the edges, a broad voluntary reversal purely because of fuel costs would be unlikely and precarious,” she said.

The recruitment specialist believes that the current conversation is starting to “move into more complex territory” than it may appear.

While there are growing calls and suggestions for how organisations should respond to the unfolding situation, she said most business owners will “draw a fairly clear line” when it comes to how they run their teams.

“Regulation and compliance are one thing. Day-to-day operating models are another and government should leave businesses to make their own call and not run interference or fear mongering,” she said.

However, Ms Calder did note that “it would be a mistake” to ignore the pressure employees are under, with the cost of living shaping behaviour whether organisations formally acknowledge it or not.

“So, the tension remains. Everyone is responding to pressure, just from different directions. The organisations that navigate this well won’t be the ones that take an absolute position,” she said.

“They’ll be the ones that make deliberate choices about where flexibility genuinely works, where it doesn’t, and who absorbs the cost when the environment shifts.

“Because those decisions tend to last longer than the crisis that triggered them.”