A Nail in the Coffin for Work-from-Home? South Africans Are Heading Back to the Office

The work-from-home dream may be fading fast for many South Africans. New data from Discovery Bank and Visa reveals a clear trend: more people are returning to office life—and they’re spending more money and time doing it.

According to the SpendTrend25 report, which analyzes real-world spending and travel behavior, there’s a noticeable surge in fuel spending, time in traffic, and the number of monthly commutes. Discovery’s findings paint a vivid picture: the average client is now taking 118 trips, driving over 1,100 km, and spending 35 hours in their car each month—figures that mirror pre-pandemic levels.

A Shift in Employer Attitudes

The days of full-time remote work are rapidly diminishing. Discovery notes that more companies in South Africa are dialing back on work-from-home policies. Their 2025 Work From Index reports that 60% of clients are back in the office five days a week.

This shift reflects employers’ growing concerns over productivity, collaboration, and continuity. While remote work offered critical flexibility during Covid-19, many businesses now believe it’s time to return to structure—and in some cases, micromanagement.

Data Doesn’t Lie: Remote Work Declining

The trend isn’t just limited to Discovery’s findings. CareerJunction’s Q4 2024 Employment Insights Report shows a drop in remote or hybrid job listings from a peak of 4.3% in 2023 to 3.7% in 2024—and that figure is expected to decline further in 2025.

In 2019, remote work barely existed in South Africa (just 0.2% of listings). The pandemic brought a surge in flexible work, but it now seems more like a temporary blip than a long-term shift for most industries.

Still Holding Strong: The Tech Sector

There is, however, one major exception to the trend: IT and tech roles. According to CareerJunction, IT remains the most resilient sector for remote work, with 11.5% of job listings offering remote options in 2024—up from just 2.3% in 2019.

High-demand roles like software developers, UX designers, database admins, and IT architects remain hot property, and companies are still willing to offer flexibility to secure this scarce talent.

Recruitment firms like REDi Holbourne report that digital innovation and cybersecurity needs are keeping remote work alive in tech. However, a skills shortage—particularly at the leadership level—is intensifying the pressure on companies to retain talent.

Flexibility vs. Functionality

The battle between employee desire for flexibility and employer need for functionality isn’t over—but in 2025, it’s clear which side has the upper hand. With traffic levels, fuel costs, and office attendance all climbing, remote work is no longer the default for most South Africans.

Still, if you’re in IT, you’ve got a better chance of working in your pajamas for a while longer.

{Source BusinessTech}

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