Return to the office, via the bar: How to lure the WFH crowd back

Office space with an on-site bar at The Formery, for SMEs that might otherwise struggle to provide a vibrant workplace. (Image: Anna Heath/NZME)

Garth Bray

Tue, 06 Jan 2026

Prepare for “coffee-badging” and big emotions if you plan on making 2026 the year you enforce a return-to-office mandate, or consider incentives to head that off, perhaps including a better address that boasts a full bar service and a sauna.“I might sound a bit like a hippie, but the energy is everything in a business,” said Nick Lissette, chief executive of data technology company Blackpearl Group.“People now have a bit of a dedicated home office set up, where maybe five years ago they didn't, and people get s...

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