By Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson

Almost two in three Australians would not consider working for a company that required a long commute and many were willing to sacrifice higher wages and perks to work closer to home.

Employees with short commutes also reported being happier and more productive, and saved an average of $236 a month in transport costs.

International Workplace Group released the findings from its employment trends study on Tuesday, which tracked opinions about hybrid working trends in Australia.

The research comes after the Victorian state government announced plans for a law to protect employee rights to work from home for two days each week, and after a study by the Australian HR Institute found most predicted hybrid working would remain stable or increase.

More than 1000 full-time workers were surveyed for their opinions about employers, commuting time and productivity for the report titled Australian Local Workspaces and Hybrid Trends 2025.

It found one in three workers (37 per cent) would accept employment that required a lengthy commute, but most (93 per cent) said access to a local office was a top priority when job-hunting.

Working closer to home saved most employees money (81 per cent), the report found, with the average saving reaching $236 per month.

Almost one in three employees (32 per cent) were so eager to work close to home they would forgo health and wellness benefits to do so, the study said, and almost as many (31 per cent) would accept a lower salary.

Working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic had accelerated changes by a decade, International Workplace Group country manager Damien Sheehan said, and worker attitudes towards commuting had continued to shift.

“People realised when they had to start to come back to workplaces that they genuinely did not like the commute,” he told AAP.

“The impact highlighted not spending as much time with family and friends, the additional costs, general frustrations around wellbeing, and they weren’t exercising as much.”

Most employees surveyed (74 per cent) said businesses that failed to offer local workspaces would fall behind their competitors, and Mr Sheehan said they could also fail to retain employees or get the most out of them.

“As far as employers are concerned, this is about understanding workplace trends because it is a fight for the greatest resource, which is people,” he said.

“It’s about talent-attraction and, once you’ve got them, how to create a work environment to retain them.”

Long commute times could be inefficient, marketing agency founder Chris Sutherland said, in the same way that working from home did not work for everyone.

The Victorian businessman chose to locate his enterprise in a co-working office in Burwood, a 15-minute drive from his home, because it helped him network with others without consuming much of his day.

“I’ve done a commute from Sorrento to St Kilda Road, which is about two-and-a-half hours each way and it was a killer,” he said.

“It’s about that sweet spot – half an hour and below I think is good.”