To be so glad WFH became a thing (and to absolutely hate anyone who tries to curtail its availability)

I work on a laptop with an overseas based team. Absolutely no reason to be in the office. Was working from home thrice a week but my company is making everyone come in 5 days a week now. Awful as I might have to quit my job as can’t afford the commute in.

It works for me as I am 63, my social life has moved away from drinking and clubbing with work mates a long time ago, to coffee and nice meals with friends I made at the school gate 20 years ago, I can jiggle my hours around to fit, I can put a load of washing on at breakfast time, then get it pegged out or into the tumble dryer on my coffee break or lunch break. I LOVE it.

If I had been WFH as an 18 year old I would have HATED it. Most of my socialising and generally messing about and being young was done with work mates. I commuted to London so would often stay over, I had a complete change of clothes in my drawer for when it got organised at the last minute. I loved my early years at work in an office with similar girls. This was back in the 80s when coming back to work tiddly after lunch time in the pub was absolutely fine. It was often the managers standing the rounds.

I agree that hybrid options are the best and certainly might be better for training and people whom live alone. Really depends on the job and the person though. My partner WFH for most of his later career as the internet improved but in the last stage of it had a lot of staff and issues where he had to commute long distances 5 days a week and then do his actual work in the remain hours.
Then Covid happened, which probably saved his life.
In those final few years of WFH he said it was still quite clear who was and wasn’t pulling their weight as the job was very results orientated.

there’s a really good, old, short story by EM Forster called The Machine Stops - it’s food for thought!

And how depressing the house is 😂

I agree OP. My DH wfh a lot and it has made our lives so much more manageable. We have 3 young children and I have an inflexible job which can't be done from home. If he didn't wfh, I would probably have had to find a more flexible job, which would pay less and probably be less enjoyable. I'm sure there are many mothers like me who have been able to keep well-paid jobs thanks to WFH!

Being in control of the temperature and noise levels, being able to put a baked potato in or make a nice lunch instead of expensive crap/leftovers in a tub, saving money and time commuting. Also I can really concentrate on difficult tasks instead of being interrupted by boring smalltalk.

There are always people that take the piss like this in offices too. They are the reason a lot of office work is so restricted and logged now. I’ve been continually astonished over the years at how largely incompetent, lazy and dishonest people rise through organisations. It’s always happened of course (largely because of things like the old boy network) but it does seem to be more prevalent in very big organisations now. Grifters are always going to be grifters whatever their background.

Working carer here agrees

Yes so that is totally taking the biscuit 🤔firstly I wouldn't get away with it- I pick up and respond to teams calls same as I would on an in office day. I get more work done at home overall as I've posted upthread so I wouldn't do anything to jeopardise that. People like the one you've mentioned give WFH and HW a bad name, for sure. I also don't see why on earth they found it acceptable to joke about it when they were in the office 🙈

When I became an academic I had worked at home for 8 years going straight from an undergraduate to a postgraduate degree. So I was used to self directed study, setting my own goals and completing tasks without supervision. I went straight from that into an academic job where we WAH for 2/3 days a week. We went on campus for meetings, to see students and admin. I am not a team or a group person. I achieve best when I agree a set of tasks, a date by which they need to be done, and then get on with it. Ive worked through christmas and new year in order to complete a presentation or a grant application. Commuting is more of less a waste of time and money. Far more so now when so much knowledge is available online. I now tutor postgrad students online and only one lives in the same city. Ofter we communicate from different parts of the world.

Absolutely, and this is something we need to think about given the rates of people who are long term sick and those caring for them.

Depends how busy your job is and what you do in your off time, surely.

@USSAthena ‘What about turning office blocks into homes?’

I agree, but it really depends on the area and the local council. This what has happened to Croydon but the conversions are poor quality and mainly being used to house homeless spillover from other London boroughs, which has a lot to do with why the centre is so dire now. Having said that, I think it is very slowly on the way up as investment comes back and more good quality flats are being built. The new office developments around the station are largely government departments like the home office, tax offices, VAT, plus the land registry has been there for years. Between the 60’s and 80’s it was full of insurance companies and thrived.

@USSAthena’Many towns have fabulous amenities. Museums, gyms, even beautiful green spaces. Let’s live in them! We used to.’

Exactly. There will always be ebb and flow. No one wanted t live in London after the war unless they had no choice. I remember a lot of derelict sites, old bomb sites included, and that didn’t change until they deregulated the banking system and investment flooded in.

It takes a council with a vision and the investment. Many European cities have adjusted really well.

While WFH works for many especially those who are experienced and have strong networks and home situations, it can be challenging for the young who need training and everyday advice, the lonely and those who just want a chat that wouldn’t happen on Teams. If people don’t want to come in for a meeting, I doubt they’ll come in for Phil from Accounts’ shared birthday cake.
I also feel this determination to keep it as is fuelling jobs going to India/far east and the graduate and apprenticeship jobs have fallen off a cliff in the UK, partly because setting isn’t there to support the young. That’s not great for our kids’ outlook.
My advice to all is to embrace hybrid enthusiastically to keep any type of flexibility.

I guess that depends on your set up really, our house is spacious enough we don’t need to kick anyone out when I’m working. Friends are still allowed around.

I’ve found it’s been brilliant with teens, if I’m working and they’re on holidays we go for a walk at lunchtime, have lunch together. Even during term times I love that they’re not coming home to an empty house, can hear about their day straight away (assuming Im not in a meeting at that time).

I no doubt am much more present in their lives as a result.

I miss WFH a bit, my new job is FT in the office and can’t be done from home

Totally agree.

As someone with long term health issues having jobs that let me work from home or hybrid has allowed me to stay in the workplace.

I think that in general it is so much better for work life balance and helps people with caring responsibilities, kids, disabilities and so on.

Commuting is such a waste of time, energy and money and less cars on the road is better for the environment.

I always assume people who are against it are:

• commercial landlords
• micro managers
• people who are bitter that others can work from home.

Personally I HATE wfh. I’m much less productive. Thankfully my job now is one I can’t do from home, but when I do have things to do I have to go to a cafe or shared work space. I need to physically remove myself from home.

It’s not great for the kids sometimes either during school holidays. My DH WFH a lot which means we have to be quiet / out of the house some days when the kids would like to be home. Or we can’t have friends over during the day.

I also think it’s quite bad for new people coming into work. It’s harder to make friends / connections with colleagues. Lots of useful informal learning is missed (like how to answer the phone or how to dress for work)

While it’s been great for some, it’s not great for everyone.

I know lots of young graduates-none WFH everyday but all do a day or two and love it.

I love wfh and wish it had been more widely available when I was younger. It's not for everyone and it's not possible for every job, but I hope it remains available for those people who prefer it and those roles where it does work well. People who are vehemently against it need to mind their own business. If the employee and the employer are both satisfied, that's all that matters. I do think that some naysayers just resent it that they think someone else is getting a better deal than they have, but every job has its own good and bad points. Why single out wfh instead of other perks?

Oh meant to say, as I also have face to face aspects of my role, that counterbalances the problems with fully work from home, in terms of being isolated and not seeing other human beings!

My general approach to life is balance is key and try to have the best of both worlds when you can

I wasn't able to work from home but it seems like a huge plus in less time and money commuting and job satisfaction. I'm really in favour of it whenever possible.

Those commercial properties can be used for other purposes.

Do remember that for some new graduates and young workers, remote working is the reason they're able to get the job in the first place. Not everyone is able to afford housing close to decent sized job markets, for example.

Not sure about that outsourcing claim either, do you have stats? Outsourcing to India was underway a long time before remote working became easy in the UK.

This is the trouble, that some workers do not give WFH the same respect that you would give the office.

There was a thread a few weeks ago about an OP who had just started and was having a teams meeting - her DH was singing in the background, she was sat on the sofa and her dog jumped on her and knocked her laptop off.
Everyone said that this is just as serious as if you were in the office - you would tell everyone in the home to be quiet as you’re having a meeting, you’d put the dog in another room and sit at a desk.

If your child is not old enough to entertain themselves, then you need to book AL or arrange childcare - just like you would in the office.

Some people think WFH is an excuse to slack off.
Unfortunately those individuals make everyone else look bad and it’s why so many people are against people WFH, which is a shame as many people are very productive WFH.

I'm a mix of WFH, plus face to face meetings that are all over the county, which might be with clients or staff meetings etc.

It's the perfect balance. Mornings are chilled and relaxed, can take your time over coffee and breakfast, no sitting in traffic. You can even fit in a trip to the gym if you are so inclined.

Winter is the biggest game changer as you can walk the dog at 4:30 so get more time in daylight instead of having to start your drive home at that time. Amazing how these changes even impact on things like personal safety.

Although summers are also nice when you can sit and work in the garden to do admin/report writing (although obviously not for teams calls). You have time to walk the dog for a couple of hours before work when there is a heat wave, so they still get a good run around

Also nice to load the dishwasher while the kettle boils, or put the soup machine on for lunch.

All little bits that add up to a much easier, calmer and more organised life.