To think people who work from home don’t get it?

Oh yes, healthcare has been much improved since 2020 due to WFH

I think being sick gets blurred and I insist my team takes sick leave. During Covid two interns started and finished without meeting any colleague in person which was dreadful. You cannot mentor someone remotely and I still feel guilty about their experience. WFH from an apt on the 9th floor with the sun making your life miserable is way different to WTH in a big house with a garden and pets and I think people imagine the latter.

I get it, as a teacher, no scope to wfh. Yes it's the career I chose, however the luxury of being able to wfh in recent times has been enviable! I know quite a few people who wfh and have been looking jobs. Absolutely they do have all the bonuses that aren't afforded to going out to work, especially high pressure areas as NHS and education, where you're lucky to scoff half a sandwich and go for a wee!

Im sure there are many who do work very hard, however, as some MNs posters say they have times when not busy and have so much time to do other things.

My sister is a grafter and gets bored if she's underestimulated and left her job in an office in NHS because she went above and beyond but still didn't up the whole day and was frustrated at how slow it all was. She then moved to council office, wfh most days and one project required minimum time so lots of free time, new project more needed but still so much flexibility.

So yes, having to go to a proper workplace and be active for the whole time has no comparison IMO and IME.

I'm aware some jobs wfh are pressurised and scrutinised, even so, being able to roll out of bed, login, sit in your PJs is a far cry from being in the workplace, having to dress formally, traffic stress etc. X

I put you are bring unreasonable because there are loads of healthcare jobs wfh at least part time. So if it's annoys you, change 🤷🏻‍♀️

I feel you OP, it must be really hard. I went on mat leave with my third and last child in 2019 and when I came back all the COVID stuff had happened and the transition for my job to home working had happened. At the time I was told it was likely to go on for a few months after I got back, and here I am 4 years later still WFH.

I was able to go full time solely due to the fact I WFH. I've been able to do school runs, I've been there for plays and assemblies. I've had dinner prepped (though not lately due to work stress!) for when the kids get in from school. I am grateful every day for WFH and I do feel it has been a so positive as to be life changing to be honest. I actually see my partner instead of being ships in the night. I've been able to be around for my DC in their early years and I am eternally grateful.

I don't think you're too old to retrain, you would have developed an absolute load of transferrable skills. If you are serious about it then go for it.

The thing that bothers me wfh (half the time the rest in the office) is people assuming it is a cushy number. I still have to work. I still have to get the kids up of a morning and drop them to school but now I also 'get the privilage' to collect them too. I do not get a lunchbreak cos i just work on and I probably work more hours too as I just get up and stuck in and the laptop is there to 'just' pop on for half an hour even on a weekend to finish something.

The workload is the same, I do not get to be out of the house having chats with colleagues during the day or having a coffee with another adult. People think you can drop everything at every time because some people are of the impression you do fuck all just because you are doing the very same job just in your house. I dont get money back for electricity, for extra heating, I have no work coffee and milk to drink only what I buy myself. I pay for the internet, phone bill cos now I use my personal mobile when not in the office to use the landline.

I know there are pros but currently I am cracking up as it is summer holidays and I am in Ireland where my kids have been off since the end of May. The stress of trying not to constantly ignore them for work and then also being there constantly with them is taking its toll currently. I am bloody exhausted but I parent alone too so that does not help.

Nurses can be in demand for clinical negligence or PI legal work, reviewing notes etc.

If you want wfh get a wfh job. At 48 you still have 20 years to work. Lots of people retrain or move areas, I completely changed tack at 46.

@Corrag but a lot can’t. Nurses for example, people in the medical or teaching field. It’s not that easy to transition into another area or find a wfh job. For some professions it’s very hard. Bricklayer? Trade? Realistically office workers can wfh easier than others

I get it and appreciate my WFH set up every single day. It has other challenges but they are far less then working out of the home.

This! Being in the office every day is brutal

Oh and I haven’t had a sick day for five years. I had Covid twice and worked through it both times.

I get it. I commuted for 20 years, had jobs where my alarm went off at 4am, had jobs where I got the bus home at midnight.
I know the slog.

I WFH home now and it’s fucking amazing. My job is flexible. I’m here to help with homework, make dinner, pick up groceries, get to appointments, dropping to activities etc. Some days I work at 8pm, some weekends I log in. Difference is that I’m not bound to a 9-5.
I get to the gym most days and I’m way healthier than when I was stuck to an office chair eating a soggy sandwich for lunch.

Could I earn more? Yes. Is it worth it to give up WFH? No way.

It's not that great. I could WFH almost full time and for a year over covid but go to office now and only work from home a couple of days a year. I mostly hated not having a work/home separation.

Yes, they get it.
Yes, many work more productively and efficiently.
Yes, there is a welcome opportunity to create a better work life balance.
Yes, companies can save money on office space.
Yes, far too many take the absolute piss, and are being paid to look after their own children at the expense of their colleagues, and consider it an entitlement.

It's not "very unfair". The people in those professions can look for a WFH job if that's what they'd prefer to do.

Whilst it's easier and lazier, it's isolating, bad for MH and my physical heakth has also gone rapidly downhill due to the lack of activity.

That's your choice. I am more active now than I've ever been due to having more physical and mental energy. I go for a walk at lunch time meaning I get over 10,000 steps a day. I joined a sport which I now do 2 evenings a week which I have the energy for due to no commute, and even go to the gym a couple of times at the end of the day when I would usually be commuting.

Absolutely I get it. Blanket taxation does not work.

People who work key manual roles should not have tax applied to them.

Legions of people sitting at home leveraging automation and contributing little in tangible societal value while our key services fall apart should be highly taxed.

A lot of your points are very good and to an extent you are right. However, it would be very possible to write the opposite post:

To think that people who are able to work in the office don’t get it -

The second I go out the door at the end of work, the kids and dog mob me before I’ve gone for a pee and got a can of pop from the fridge (while you bought a cold bottle of coke at the train station and are sipping it dozing on the train)
If I’m unwell, I feel under pressure to work because I can drag my self to my desk with my box of tissues and don’t pass my lurgy round, whereas I might be better taking a sick day, but it feels a bit selfish.
I could book a contractor, but I couldn’t deal with them making noise or needing things while I’m in a work meeting, so in practice maybe if it was an emergency like no water or a leak I would, but in common practice no.
Overall you probably do an amazing busy job and I salute you for your service, Your job may well be harder than mine. I don’t think just because I can work from home, I have a better time though.

There are NHS wfh jobs. I have worked as a virtual ward nurse and there are more different ones

Weirdly the novelty of wfh has completely worn off for me. Whilst it's easier and lazier, it's isolating, bad for MH and my physical heakth has also gone rapidly downhill due to the lack of activity.

That's what the customer service industry has evolved into. Whether it's Amazon and other stores, credit card companies, IT, or telecommunications, there is a very good, very high chance, that your call will be answered by people from countries where they can pay pennies on the dollar compared to the US, GBR, CAN, AUS and much of Europe. Just as factories, clothing companies and so much else have moved to cheaper places to produce.
In reality, these days, nothing is really safe.

"had I known office jobs would turn in to work from home"

But you chose a career that meant you would never wfh? How is that people who work office jobs fault? At 48 of course you can change your career, you just have to want to.

I work from home 40% and in the office 60%. I'm not stupid so I completely understand the advantages of wfh in the scenarios you describe. I'm fairly sure most people with average intelligence could grasp it too.

We get it
I worked out of the home for 25 years - shift work, childcare all that stuff - that’s why at the age of 52 I changed and got a wfh job. I love it! I was ready to retire 2 years ago, stressed and exhausted, I feel like I can keep going for another 10 years now