To wonder how we ever did 5 days a week in an office?

I save my work that needs focus and concentration for my WFH days. In honesty, my office days are spent mostly chatting and going out for coffee with colleagues I no longer see regularly.

You realise that thriving high street exists because low paid works cannot work from home as they have to physically be in the shop to serve you?

And that if teachers switched jobs, your kids wouldn't be able to go to school?

Enjoy working from home. But accept its a lucky perk, and not that simple for everyone.

(Self employed, work from, appreciate the flexibility!)

I certainly get more work done from home!

The paid employment I had wouldn't have been able to be done effectively from home
I worked in a busy open plan office, saw clients and did outreach work
I loved it. I left pre lockdown. I'm now self employed (not full time) now and do some work remotely and some face to face in my own office. I can't imagine enjoying remote work for an employer 5 days a week and not having an office to go to and people to interact with. It would drive me mad in a week. I suppose we're all different. I do think customer service is poorer since so many people WFH though.

A lot, if my recent experience of trying to contact two different councils is anything to go by, and it's to their detriment. I was trying to hire a hall and despite numerous phone calls, it rang out each time. They lost my business as a result.

That was annoying enough and was just for a frivolous matter. I can't imagine how stressful it must be for anything serious.

Are all your WFH partners doing school pick ups, washing and dinner prep as well as working or is this just another way women are expected to do all the family management work?

This does seem a bit dramatic.

I quite like a mixture - so luckily my job is hybrid.

Hopefully the world is getting to a point where people can do what works for them more than in the past and can apply for the jobs that suit them.

How did “we” do it? In the not too decent last, where there was a married couple with a house to run, and especially with children, only one went to one. That person literally just did that- they came home to dinner on the table, playing with children was optional but they didn’t have to do any of the difficult bit, not worrying about the kids life admin etc, and could decompress entirely for their evening: then just get up and out in the morning.

The other person ran the house and looked after any kids 24/7.

That was how we did it.

The problem was, there was no choice for women and men as to who was who, and not choice to mix and match.

I changed jobs a few weeks ago and after the commute I am now permanently exhausted and chronically unproductive. I lose a minimum of two hours a day, and I weep for the progress we made in the wfh area for those of us with a disability which has now been overturned by backwards looking organisations. I'm not sure how long I'll last but my next job has to be mostly WFH. I am already dreading the winter.

On the other hand I have no idea how I managed to WFH for the 4 months that I had to in 2020. The most soul destroying, boring, insular experience I have ever had leaving me in tears most days and extremely resentful of my husband who needed to go out to work. It left me in such a state of anxiety it required medicating.

You're right, horses for courses but you could pay me double my wage to WFH and I'd turn you down!

I WFH only because my company lost its office during lockdown, it was a cost-saving measure. Why pay rent on an office you can't use? My manager is still an idiot, though. It's not the scenery, it's the people. I don't miss the weekly science experiments in the office kitchen.

Overall WFH has its pros and cons. Can't train people easily, which isn't helpful when recruiting is so difficult now. On the other hand, you can't get pulled into a meeting quite so easily, it's not so easy for people to be rude to you when you can mute them.

I’ve done full time in the office, fully remote and now I’m hybrid, 2 days in per week.
initially I thought remote was great but now I actually think office work is better. Starting a new job when hybrid was difficult, training new staff is much harder. The dynamics are completely different. I would actually happily go back to more office days.

OMG @OptimismvsRealism , you sound so nasty

This sort of work was already done by people wfh. Those sorts of sectors had been switching a lot of staff to wfh. Our County Council had already sold off its huge county hall type building before lockdown etc. for example.

You’re enjoying the rise you’re getting, aren’t you? Are you in a manic high?

I think a lot of people think they get a lot more done.

One aspect of my role is monitoring productivity and I can tell you a lot of people’s perception on this is very off!

I have no idea how I used to do 5 days in the office.

I now do 2, occasionally 3 and I love it. But I go in late and leave early.

And yet if wfh was a sudden real priority for a person they are able to apply/train for other roles, nobody is frog marched into a particular job and never allowed to leave.

I have a disabled child, who has an absent father. WFH is the only way I can keep a roof over our heads. I was working remotely before covid but now there are more employers who offer it I'm very grateful! I take the work seriously.

Everyone's circumstances are different. I'm sure people are capable of assessing their own needs and requirements and acting accordingly!

Well stop starting goofy threads about how it is so unbelievably how we all did 5 days in the office and anyone can WFH if they really really wanted to.

You sent the tone of the thread with your OP, especially with the claim that those of us who work out of home love it.

Because older people tend to have their own homes, rather than living in a house share which a lot of younger people do - wfh in a house share would be a bloody nightmare.

You’re replying to a post that said you could switch jobs, not that your current job offers working from home… nobody is forced to do any job. If wfh is really really important everyone has the choice to change what they do for a living.

Why does working from home work better for older people

It’s not compulsory to do any of those jobs, if working from home is important for someone in their job then the option exists to find a job where it’s possible.

I enjoy my 5 days in the office. I did 2 years of wfh in the pandemic but was happy to return to the office ft. I moved house so I'm a 20 min walk away, can still drop off DCs at school before heading in, eat a free cooked breakfast there before starting work, have an on-site gym where I do a workout and do my main shower of the day, and a restaurant-quality cooked lunch. And lots of space for my 2-screen desk set up, plus air con in summer/heating in winter. I have the option to wfh 2 days a week, but I'm usually in for 5, I just wfh occasionally when there's a school event or I have a tradesman appointment.