Social ‘Hold them captive’: Australian billionaire boss aims to end staff going out for coffee

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Chris Ellison, of Perth-based mining firm Mineral Resources, has already banned working from home

Kalyeena Makortoff

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Chris Ellison, the managing director of Mineral Resources, a mining firm worth about A$8bn, said he had a ‘no-work-from-home policy’. Photograph: MinRes

A billionaire mining boss who has already banned home working has said he does not want staff to step out of the office for coffee either.

Chris Ellison, the managing director of Mineral Resources, said the industry could not afford to continue down the path of flexible working, and that his company was investing in amenities at the firm’s head office in Perth, Western Australia, to keep people from leaving the building.


“I want to hold them captive all day long,” Ellison said during a financial presentation on Thursday. “I don’t want them leaving the building … I don’t want them walking down the road for a cup of coffee. We kind of figured out a few years ago how much that cost.”

Ellison, who was paid A$6m (£3.1m) last year, criticised other businesses that allowed their staff to work from home. His ASX-listed company, which is worth about A$8bn and employs about 5,600 people, formally banned the practice last year, despite the widespread trend of more remote working during and after the coronavirus pandemic.

“I have a no-work-from-home policy,” Ellison said. “I wish everyone else would get on board with that – the sooner the better. The industry can’t afford it.”



He also suggested that the trend towards more lenient working hours was misguided. “We’ve now got the industry all heading out there going ‘why don’t we do a four-day week, we got used to it over Covid’,” Ellison added. “We can’t have people working three days, and picking up five days a week pay, or [even] four days.”

Mineral Resources has installed a range of amenities at its headquarters. “Head office is a place that a lot of our people want to be, and they love working in there,” Ellison said. “We’ve got a restaurant in there, we’ve also got a gym, and we’ve got other facilities that keep them glued in there.”
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The company has also opened a creche, which costs about A$20 a day compared with the typical A$180 charged by external providers. “So another reason for them to come and enjoy work: drop the little tykes off next door. We’ve got doctors on board and nurses, we’re going to feed them, but mom and dad will be working in our office.”

https://www.theguardian.com/busines...-office-chris-ellison-perth-mineral-resources
 
Mineral Resources has installed a range of amenities at its headquarters. “Head office is a place that a lot of our people want to be, and they love working in there,” Ellison said. “We’ve got a restaurant in there, we’ve also got a gym, and we’ve got other facilities that keep them glued in there.”
images

The company has also opened a creche, which costs about A$20 a day compared with the typical A$180 charged by external providers. “So another reason for them to come and enjoy work: drop the little tykes off next door. We’ve got doctors on board and nurses, we’re going to feed them, but mom and dad will be working in our office.”

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There's also news out there from yesterday that for the 1st time in 11 years the company couldn't give out its dividend to investors, it's putting expansion projects on hold, that Ellison personally lost $80M in worth and is quoted as saying it's the "shittiest time" and that they plan on mass job culling.

So, there's that context.
 
Ellison is at least recognising that they can't ban employees from going out for coffee, but time out of the office has a cost.

And realising that rather than draconian measures, increasing employees satisfaction and amenities is the better strategy.
 
This isn't the angle of attack if you're anti-bossman.

A-types like this guy probably put in 70+ hours of work a week.
I agree, he is probably one of the hardest workers at the company. At the office though? Or out meeting people, on the golf course, in his office at home, in the hotel in Milan, Phuket or Sydney. I bet a lot of his work is done outside the office, and for some roles that is perfectly reasonable, at least part of the time.
 
Doesn't sound that evil when you actually read it in full tbf. A creche that's much cheaper than paying for childcare elsewhere could be a massive help to employees with kids.
I was expecting a horror story and that is not what ii got. There a re a lot of people around the planet that would go wait what when they hears about gyms and massages.
 
Him wanting this for his company is one thing, but asking others to do it shows that other employers will be more attractive to people in the industry.
 
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I was expecting a horror story and that is not what ii got. There a re a lot of people around the planet that would go wait what when they hears about gyms and massages.

Yeah he wants you to stay on site but he's got a restaurant, coffee a gym and childcare sorted for you.

The horror!
 
yeah good luck with that

I go to office maybe once or twice a month, just to attend some team meetings - I would never return full time to those shitty offices (no matter how many nice ammenities they have)

Working from the comfort of your own home and not having to worry about traffic is worth more than free donuts at the office.
 
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