Working on tenders for clients in different time zones across Australia and New Zealand means that Vijay Pawar's days can start and finish at different times from week to week. 

Since working from home almost full time over the past 18 months, Vijay has found that he is much better able to accommodate these changes to his schedule. 

"It used to be that I would spend an hour getting to the office, then work a long day, and spend an hour getting home again," Vijay says.

The flexibility I have through working from home has really helped me get balance back in my life.

That balance includes eating better and exercising more, something his wife Rinky is very pleased about. 

Vijay is a senior estimator in Ventia's Transport team and works on tenders for contracts all over Australia and New Zealand. One week he may be pricing a tender for a New Zealand job, the next for one in Western Australia. Vijay is based in Ventia's North Sydney office. 

As Vijay's direct manager is based out of our Melbourne office, coming into the North Sydney office doesn't put him face-to-face with his boss either. 

^{Vijay Pawar pictured with his family}

Productive whilst working remotely

Vijay says he knows that this model doesn't work for everyone, and that he's lucky he has the kind of role that allows for flexibility in where he works. 

"Over my 31 years in the workforce I've often had roles where I would be in the office at 6am and not get home till after dark," he says. "I also admit that prior to COVID, I didn't think people working remotely could be as productive. Now I know from experience that it can be."

There are definitely times when coming into the office and meeting face-to-face with my colleagues is helpful. But I think we've shown over the past year that it's not necessary every day.

Vijay has found that working remotely means you have to make more effort to build relationships with colleagues you may not see face-to-face for long periods.

"In the early days of COVID, several of us would have coffee catch ups over Teams once a week to ensure we were maintaining the relationship we'd built up previously," Vijay says. 

As for the future, Vijay expects that he will commute to the office, at least a few days a week, while maintaining some flexible working arrangements. He knows that working from home has been beneficial to him and to his family, as he's been able to spend more time with them and contribute equally to the running of his household. 

"It's been great to have the opportunity to work more flexibly," Vijay says.