to think some people think WFH should be a constant nose to the grindstone?

Presumably you apply the same principle and post just as much criticism of jobs that pay more than others, or have better benefits such as pensions, maternity leave etc? Or more actually, since not everyone does want to work remotely whereas everyone likes more money.

Weird the way we don't seem to see as many threads saying what a great social divide it is that some people get great maternity pay and others SMP, some people get twice as much annual leave as others etc.

In my workplace, there are groups of people who have to clock in and out (yes, in 2025) and others who WFH. Epitomises the great societal divide

Are they fulfilling exactly the same roles? Because I could say the same for my workplace, but that's because different groups of people in my large organisation have different jobs.

If both groups are indeed doing exactly the same role then I would suggest that's a shit management issue, not a societal one.

I think I remember the person, on AMA. IIRC they were looking after a child aswell and were doing 2 "full time" jobs that each required 1 or 2 hours work per day

While I broadly agree with your stance OP, I don’t think it’s helpful to keep talking about running your “side business” during working hours. You’ve mentioned that your employer is fine about this but it would be in breach of many people’s employment contracts and could land them in big trouble. It’s really important to check that carefully.

This reminds me actually of some ridiculous person who posted an AMA last year claiming that they had two simultaneous full time jobs in marketing that they were able to do while WFH, and neither employer knew about the other. Running two laptops simultaneously etc.

THIS. OP's story epitomises the unfairness of WFH and why companies are requesting a RTO. As for meeting targets and company not worried, my question is are you paid per job or for specific contracted hours?
In my workplace, there are groups of people who have to clock in and out (yes, in 2025) and others who WFH. Epitomises the great societal divide,
I know people who have given up paid childcare whilst wfh?????. looked after GC, visiting hairdressers and nailbars, gardening groups (as some examples), all whilst WFH. Says it all
As always, I am prepared to be shouted out on this

No, it doesn't suit all roles - it was a reply to PP describing it as "archaic", which it clearly isn't as it's widely used across many industries.

Some of us are old enough to remember the days when taking 20 minutes off every two hours for a 'fag break' was acceptable if you were a smoker. Apparently that was a golden age of dedication to your employer and staying on task. Don't make me laugh.

A lot of industries operate on that basis, and in the case of many professional services it will be a breach of regulatory standards to fabricate time recording where a client is being charged (accountants, lawyers, auditors etc).

Even if your charging structures aren't based on hourly rates, surely it's a good way of keeping track of how much time people are spending on particular tasks, in order to allocate a cost to the business, assess staff capacity levels etc?

That’s so archaic. I’d hate to have a job like that.

A lot of time being bored. I've tended to have jobs where you're waiting for an email or task to come in, so a lot of waiting around, keeping an eye on your inbox while time ticks by at a glacial pace. Making tea. Spending longer than needed on the tasks if I knew I'd be sitting around for a while otherwise. Seeing if anyone else needed anything (if appropriate - also tends to get people's backs up so not recommended on a regular basis). At least at home I can read a book (or go on mumsnet) during the pauses.

Fir people who used to work in an office but now reach all targets in half a day at home, how did you spend all the spare time in the office?

I dunno, it seems to be quite beyond the understanding of some people.

This has been going on for decades. It isn't new. Many roles cant be done offshore because they require onshore working due to the services they provide.

God, you're smug.

You should be working the hours you are paid for.
It's not difficult.

We complete timesheets so it would be considered fraud if we put down times we weren’t working. If you don’t put down 37 hours, you’d be expected to make the time up. If you’ve run out of things to do, you’d be expected to help someone who’s overloaded.

But OP, if you do all that, your targets must be wrong. Still, not necessarily your problem.

Clearly you've not read the thread. Do you think people who WFH aren't bound by the same employment laws as everyone else? I do 9 hours per day from home, 5 days per week. I have one hour unpaid break, that's broken up through out the day. 15 minutes in the morning, half an hour for lunch and 15 minutes in the afternoon.

Morning break I make tea and toast whilst putting a wash on and hoovering. Lunchtime, I'll put the washing on the radiators/in the dryer and then walk the dog. Afternoon break I have coffee and biscuits whilst doing any other housework that needs doing.

Do you work all day without a break? Do you never go the loo, make a cuppa, chat to a colleague or pop out for lunch? If you don't then you have a point, if you do, well bit hypocritical of you, yes?

Exactly I’m on the south coast. There are 8 people in my team 2 others live close enough to go to the same office as me. Another 2 in London, one in Shropshire and 2 in Scotland. Which office are we all supposed to be in or should we all commute to our nearest office to then sit on our own in an office and speak on Teams?
we also do an international job and have to have calls regularly with Australia, India and the US, which don’t fit into standard hours.