A nail in the coffin for work-from-home in South Africa

New data from Discovery Bank and Visa shows that more workers are making their way back to the office, with more money spent on fuel and more time spent in the car.

This is according to the new SpendTrend25 report, which tracks South African consumer spending habits based on an in-depth analysis of transaction data.

Discovery noted that more South African companies are ordering staff back to the office, rolling back work-from-home policies.

The impact of this is now evident in spend and travel data, with spending of fuel climbing and the frequency, duration and distance of travel returning to pre-Covid levels.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, companies made significant concessions to allow employees to work from home.

This was done in the interest of decreasing contact and minimising the spread of the virus.

Over the two or so years employees were subject to lockdowns and social distancing rules, work-from-home became a way of life for many, and companies allowed the trend to continue.

However, the impact on business operations was also felt, with flexible time disrupting typical business hours, managers struggling to organise their teams, and employees losing out on vital skills transfer.

As it stands in 2025, many work-from-home concessions have been reduced or entirely reversed—though the tug-of-war between employee needs for flexibility and employer needs to continuity is ongoing.

The new data from the SpendTrend shows that the bosses appear to be winning—more employees are going back to the office.

Discovery Insure’s 2025 Work from Index report showed that 60% of clients are back in the office 5 days a week.

The SpendTrends report noted that following a sharp decrease in commuter trips in 2020, average km driven, average trip length and average number of trips taken have all increased.

The average Discovery Insure client took 118 trips, drove 1,100 km a month and spent 35 hours in their car each month. 

On the way out, but not for everyone

The new data from the SpendTrend 2025 joins a growing list of reports pointing to a decline in remote work in South Africa.

CareerJunction’s latest Employment Insights Report for Q4 2024, which provides a look into South Africa’s remote work trends, shows a steady decline in the overall work-from-home opportunities.

The report noted that in 2019, remote or hybrid work was almost non-existent, with just 0.2% of job vacancies offering that level of flexibility.

This shot up to a peak of 4.3% of all job listings being remote or hybrid in 2023, but the trend is turning.

Remote and hybrid work opportunities dropped to 3.7% in 2024, with indications that the same will continue in 2025.

The decline aligns with broader global trends as companies re-evaluate productivity, collaboration and operational efficiency.

Nevertheless, there is still hope for those who work in the tech sector, which remains a stronghold for remote work in South Africa.

CareerJunction’s findings showed that IT still holds the highest number of remote job vacancies, with remote work rising from just 2.3% of jobs in 2019 to 11.5% in 2024.

This makes IT the most resilient sector for work-from-opportunities followed by Business & Management, Sales, Finance, and Admin, Office & Support roles.

Key roles within the IT sector that have seen a large rise in remote work include technical and business architecture, software development, UX design, database design, development and administration.

The REDi Holbourne Recruitment Group also supported these findings, stating that companies continue to invest heavily in tech talent make sure that they keep up digital innovation and cybersecurity demands.

Sarah van der Walt, a senior consultant for REDi Recruitment, said that South Africa’s tech industry is facing a major skills shortage, especially at management levels.

With many experienced professionals leaving the country and training opportunities remaining limited, the demand for skilled IT workers is incredibly high.