In the ongoing negotiation between institutional habit and the freedoms workers discovered during the pandemic, CoStar has chosen a side. The multinational property data company is requiring some 800 Australian employees to return to the office five days a week from late September — a posture that places it firmly in the minority of Australian employers, and on a potential collision course with both workforce expectations and emerging Victorian legislation. It is a reminder that the question of where work happens is not merely logistical, but a contest over who shapes the conditions of daily l