HR Leader’s top 10 workplace culture stories for 2025

Read here our 10 most-read stories about workplace culture for this year.

10. Compassionate leadership matters more than ever right now

In this column, CEO at Springfox, Peta Sigley, identifies the quiet strain that stress, burnout, and worry about the future is having on performance, communication, and culture. This story dives into how there is no “quick fix” for these issues and highlights the importance of compassion.

9. How leaders can create workplaces that support nervous system resilience, not overload

In another column, Dr Kaitlin Harkess delves into the attitudes that workplaces have on burnout and how it should not be viewed as “just part of the job.” The story explores ways that workplaces can manage the “threats” of today’s world, diving into the concept of nervous system overload and how the cycle of overload will continue if burnout is treated as an individual weakness.

8. ‘Where’s my desk?’: Workers brave rain to protest Minns’ workplace presence policy

A crowd of public service protesters rallied in the rain across Elizabeth Street in the Sydney CBD in May, chanting “where is my desk.” These protests stemmed from NSW Premier Chris Minns’ workplace presence policy, which caused an uproar among these workers. This story dives into why unions believed that the policy “serves no one” and the approaches of other NSW government departments to the policy.

7. Axed high school swimming coach claims unfair dismissal

After leading the school’s swimming squad through an “extremely successful season,” a multi-medal-winning swimming coach was let go by the Anglican Church Grammar School in Brisbane. This story goes into what the angry parents thought, with one parent seeing his employment with the school swim team as “exactly what the club needed”.

6. ‘My heart just sank’: Macquarie University plans ‘savage’ job cuts

Retrenchment plans by Macquarie University were announced in June, with 75 roles set to be cut, and the discontinuation of a number of courses also announced around this time. This story explores the potential damages that would arise from these changes and how it is an “attack” on the humanities and social sciences.

5. Bupa confirms cuts to office-based roles

In July, Australian health insurance company Bupa announced that it would cut close to 150 office-based roles within the company. This story explores what the company aimed to achieve through this restructuring and what a previous class action against the insurance company meant for its business.

4. Bank of Queensland confirms 9 branch closures, union claims a ‘shameful act of betrayal'

With the closure of nine Bank of Queensland branches in June, this story looks at the union response, what this decision meant to staff, and potential impacts to their “connections to local customers and communities”.

3. The return-to-office mandate for government staff solves a problem that doesn’t exist

In light of the return-to-work directive placed on NSW public sector workers earlier this year, research from the time revealed downsides to the mandate, including “office-based inefficiencies”. Dr Gleb Tsipursky, CEO at Disaster Avoidance Experts, drew insight from the data into the myths and the potential consequences of a return-to-office mandate.

2. Minns stands on back-to-office stance despite Albanese’s objections

In March, Chris Minns backed RTO mandates and called Prime Minister Albanese’s praise of flexibility as “out of touch”. This story highlights key union commentary for this “hot-button” issue that was a headline issue leading up to the federal election, which took place this year.

1. Woolworths to cut office-based staff

For our top workplace culture story, Woolworths announced cuts to its office-based staff in February, with a planned business restructure. This story collated key reflections by spokespeople for the supermarket about the implications and the desired outcome of these decisions.