The new approach to working from home will be overseen by new chief executive and former Commonwealth Bank executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, who took over from predecessor Allen Lew in the second week of the lockdown.

Mr Baylis did not, like other telcos, express a view on when the lockdown should end. But four of Australia's major players – Telstra, Optus, Vodafone and NBN Co – all agreed that when and how the government decided to open up the economy, the transition for the sector would be fairly smooth.

A spokesman for Telstra said ending the lockdown was not as urgent for telcos as it was for other industries because there had been no drop-off in demand for connectivity. On the contrary, with most Australians now working from home and relying on the internet for their socialising and entertainment, demand has rocketed.

NBN Co chief customer officer for business Paul Tyler said he expected the new post-lockdown normal to be very different from the old.

“We look at the way the world has so quickly moved to the working from home model and using all sorts of digital media, and we don’t see that dropping off, going back to the old way of working," he said.

"We think digital dependence will be much higher than before the crisis. Businesses will continue to avail themselves of the cost savings opportunities the crisis has allowed for."

Flexibility an advantage

Mr Baylis said Optus would continue to use offshore call centres, and "was still working through" how many would remain. The work from home innovations would only apply to Australian contact centre staff.


He said the key advantage of having employees working from home was flexibility. It would allow Optus to ramp up its workforce at times of high demand, potentially by contacting workers at short notice. Not requiring them to come into the office would make this much simpler.

Asked whether Optus favoured the work from home model because it was cheaper, Mr Baylis said the financials were not yet clear, and the immediate drive to keep the new model was improved service.

An Optus spokeswoman said employee rights would remain the same whether the employee worked from home or the office, and that work from home arrangements had "been established in accordance with existing guidelines to protect the health and safety of our employees ... and confidential and sensitive information, such as customer information".

She did not say whether employees' contracts would differ, or whether having more employees on flexible and potentially casual contracts would allow the company to reduce its payroll costs.

Mr Baylis said one difficulty in having employees work from home was ensuring they had the necessary equipment and connectivity.

"It's very easy to say to everyone, 'Go and work from home.' And we can probably get the software and systems working. But what technology do people have in their home? Are we expecting them to provide their own equipment?

"We're running a pilot this week where we actually provide all the kit, being the hardware, the PCs, the screens, the keyboards, everything they need at home to be supported, including the virtual training that's required." He also said Optus would reimburse employees for costs such as internet and energy.