THE coronavirus pandemic has forced many people to work from home, but it is not an arrangement that everyone wants to see continue.
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Bathurst Regional Council has managed to retain all staff during the crisis and has devised different working arrangements to comply with social distancing.
Council has made use of a number of its facilities to thin out numbers in the civic centre, with some people being temporarily relocated to places like the Mount Panorama precinct.
There are also 35 staff working from home.
At last week's council meeting, councillor Warren Aubin asked if this arrangement would continue post COVID-19, potentially as a way to save on office space.
The answer given by general manager David Sherley indicated it was unlikely.
"We will always continue to look at the operational styles of the organisation and how they run, and we do discuss down at an individual level," he said.
"I've got to say, the anecdotal evidence that we're receiving ... [is] that the majority who are working at home are looking forward to or asking to come back to the workplace.
"There's a lot of talk about how great it is working from home. We're find that the staff who probably have the greatest mental stress are those working from home."
Staff in that position find it difficult to separate home life from work life, and are missing the support of a structured work environment with their colleagues.
While council will look into potentially having some staff work from home permanently, there are many that won't be suited to it due to the demands of their job.
There is also the possibility of a more flexible arrangement, where staff may split their time between working from the office and home.
"It is quite interesting when you see all the press saying this going to be the future. There is no doubt there's going to be changes, but talking from the Bathurst council experience, we've got a lot of people who would rather be back," Mr Sherley said.