To think the call back into the office is an example of the patriarchy very much alive and well?

I WFH and its seen as a joke job now because I am at home it is difficult for people to understand I am actually working.

Really. I predominantly work from home. I'm up usually at 5am for a run, start work about 6.30am, usually finish about 6.30pm, not unheard of for me to do calls at 9pm Am I lazy or do you just not have a clue what you're talking about?

I have it as a reasonable adjustment
My job is heavily monitored and it's done as easily at home as in the office so it's impossible to skive!

how many men talk about enjoying wfh because they can pop a wash on at lunchtime?

I work on a team with 8 others - 5 women, 3 men. We're all roughly the same age, mainly mid to late 30's and most of us have children.

Of the 3 men, I've heard all of them on WFH days make reference to things like pegging a wash out, just made a curry in my lunch hour for later, started 20 minutes early today so I can do the school run at 9.

I personally don't see much difference at all between men and women with families who wfh 🤷‍♀️ Maybe I just work with a particularly nice bunch.

No, but if you are in a career, it's natural to want to progress.

How is that example of patriarchy within the workplace? Aren't your children your husband's responsibility, too? It seems like your husband is the issue.

I agree with you and @NeverDropYourMooncup even for those who argue “having kids is a choice” disability certainly isn’t.

I’m also concerned at the impact of WFH on finances. UK wages are far too low, they have fallen in real terms and senior employers are happy with that, but yet are demanding more time and money is spent traveling to offices.

I’m very fortunate that as a reasonable adjustment I only need to go to my office once a month, but the last time I went the train was so late going there and returning there that what would be a one hour journey if I drove was 2.5 hours each way. I was frozen stiff hanging about waiting for connections.

The government wants to sort out wages and the state of public transport first before dragging people back into the office for nothing. Btw I work for a large organisation that has various offices in England and wales. If I go to my local office I see a couple of people from my team at best if they happen to be in that day. There would be no benefit in terms of “teamworking” for me to turn up 3 or 4 times a week just to show my face .

Many are in the same position and yet it’s being demanded they show up anyway.

OP you’ve been away from the office so long you’ve forgotten the extra stuff that works better face to face.
Good for you if you’re happy in your established role but your company are looking at a bigger picture.
I am a feminist but don’t think WFH is the answer to a better deal for all women.
You're being selfish and why not, but your company aren’t necessarily being unreasonable.

because the patriarchy makes them WFH init 😀lol

Is career really the most important thing in life?

@Yestttlo

LMFAO. So you don't want to go back into the office because it means you can't get the housework done?

Are you for real?!

No wonder many employers are keen for their 'employees' to get back into the office!

Depends what 'the office' is. In my university, staff offices were deserted after the pandemic. Old lags like me were fine (I've left now) but it clearly has affected the newer and younger intake of teaching staff as well as postgraduate students who relied a lot on a critical mass of academics to be there outside classroom hours to talk to.

No-one is around for the many informal chats that constituted the additional mentoring of less experienced staff. The lunches and coffees where newer staff got to meet others with different roles and experiences and where lots of 'shop' talk got done are gone. Experienced people do their teaching and go home. Meetings are mainly remote.

Younger staff get email and 'it's all in the linked folder' handovers instead of face to face talking and demonstrating and sharing class time. The amount of mentoring, supervision and general passing-on of experience that can be done on zoom is lean and basic.

Management were initially happy with the way remote technology allowed staff to work 'smartly' but are now trying to get older, experienced staff to stay in 'the office' outside classroom sessions but those staff don't want to any more and prefer their newly-networked, comfortable study at home. More of the new, young staff are female than male.

Choose a different job.

Wfh mostly benefits women and the patriarchy don’t like it.

WFH means women do more unpaid labour and it can harm their career progression

It sounds like you're saying that women have a bigger need to stay at home to look after the children and do chores.

Fuck that.

Quite.Not all of us live downtrodden lives of domestic drudgery, OP, and I'm getting a little bit tired of the MN assumption that we all married useless men.

Well I'm a mother and definitely not brainwashed. Tbh from my view it sounds like you're brainwashed. Someone has made you believe that you should work and do the majority of childcare and house chores. Why should an employer enable your house life? That is up to your husband. I work in an office and manage. Think of all the people who can't work from home and do long shifts like nurses? Are they brainwashed? You should very privileged.

I disagree with this I industries like social care, teaching, probation services, nursing, care provision are all female dominated (not particularly well renumerated ) and without the option to work from home.
The patriarchy is alive and well in the expectation that it's women who flex their careers to accommodate childcare, school pick ups etc.

What do you want? Workplace equality or to be treated differently because you are a woman and have carer and household responsibilities?

I think the problem lies at home - that your partner isn't pulling his weight.

People who insist on working from home are lazy!

I think sometimes people feel it is easier to take on their employer than have the conversation with their husbands.

Op, why do you think it’s okay to do chores during office hours? Lunch time is for lunch !! If you cook during lunch time, when do you eat? If you do washing during coffee breaks, when do you take a break? You are allowed breaks so you can rest a little and get back to work. pls don’t tell me you are also doing school pickups and after school childcare!
Your attitude towards WFH is the problem.

It really isn’t. You’re confusing patriarchy with your own decision to take on a disproportionate amount of household gruntwork. Equal pay and high-quality, heavily-subsidised childcare is what is needed. Plus women no longer being socialised into thinking that cooking and cleaning are their chief responsibility, obviously.

So all that means is that you happen to work with some idiotic men.
You want to wfh because it suits your lifestyle better. Thats fine, but you're trying to make this a feminist issue when it isn't. You presumably accepted the role when the expectation was to be office based. Productivity is much better when there is a mixture of office and home working so fighting against being office based for any part of the week is unreasonable. This sort of attitude isn't doing women any favours because it perpetuates the idea that women are difficult employees because of childcare etc.