If you're now WFH, have you bought yourself new furniture and equipment?

[Thurlow]

Minor debate at work. Our large corporate firm has everyone wfh and likely to until next spring. Some colleagues have been working for months on a sofa with a laptop and no mouse. I expressed surprise they didn't at least buy themselves a mouse (and even more that they didn't just ask IT for one!) and someone else said perhaps they didn't want to spend their own money on equipment.

Firm is now gearing up to get people proper equipment at home. But I did think, surely if you're saving several hundred pound a month on travel, as most of my colleagues are, you can spend a little on getting a reasonable set up at home of you have room...

I've recently bought a desk, and a long ethernet cable out of my own pocket; work will be providing a monitor and docking station. Is anyone else buying themself, or should it be on work to provide everything?

I was supplied a laptop and mouse, and office chair
Bought my own desk

To add we usually work from a standard computer at work but it's manageable on a laptop. Job is 100% computer based so it's 8hrs at the laptop

@Timeforabiscuit

A domestic broadband package with fixed download is very different to a business one for four people WFH who need upload capacity as well as download.

So yes, improved upload in my case would cost an extra £40 per month - that would only double my upload capacity, which actually still wouldn't be enough when we are all working at full flow.

I know they are different, as I work in IT, but a normal FTTC broadband connection is fine. 4 here doing numerous calls, me remoted on to various servers as well, plus Xbox, streaming, etc. It doesn't even cough.

I think work should provide the equipment tbh - it's a bit shocking that your company hasn't checked up on its employees. The staff at my place were provided anything they needed (included laptops) and we're a charity! Most had furniture but some collected office chairs from the office (back issues etc). If it's going to be long term they'll have to do work place assessments and stuff I think.

That said, I've bought my own desk and chair because I'm poncy and wanted a nice one, and a printer (for everyone in the house to use). I still mostly sit on the sofa to work though.

I work for a medium sized charity. I have been supplied a work laptop because I don't have another computer at home but everyone else is using their own equipment. I've bought myself a mouse, paying for my own printer ink and just had to order an office chair as my back can't take the backless stool any longer. Although I don't have a desk so i'll still be my tiny dressing table.

Work won't pay for any of it, I think they should have offered a contribution as they've been quite upfront that they are making savings on electricity, postage costs and office supplies while the office is empty.

Work already provided laptop and fibre BB

We were sent home a month before lockdown in the UK.

As soon as the UK lockdown was announced, I treated myself to a 34" ultra wide screen monitor. Saves me printing something grout to look at while I do something else on the screen.

Hope to never have to go back to the office.

My organisation didn't (and rightly so imo) authorise any expenses for this on the basis that most people are benefiting from no commuting costs / costs of working in central London.

Glad it's working for you philcornwall1, suffice to say that working over a flaky VPN/ intermittent teams/fucking SharePoint is making me slowly lose the will to live.

If my work laptop performed the same as my Xbox one I would be a very happy bunny!

Work has provided kit for us. We all WFH two days a week before all this but when we went into lockdown they ordered us all new chairs & anyone who didn't have a desk - and has room for one - has had one sent out.

@Timeforabiscuit

Glad it's working for you philcornwall1, suffice to say that working over a flaky VPN/ intermittent teams/fucking SharePoint is making me slowly lose the will to live.

If my work laptop performed the same as my Xbox one I would be a very happy bunny!

Half your problem there will be the crap VPN.

That's not the broadband though @Timeforabiscuit.

Doesn't apply to me as I'm on ward, but all those who could work from home are being told to and are being advised to take any equipment they need home with them - desk chairs, keyboards and mice (desk tops until they can be issues with a laptop). Other equipment is being supplied as required.

We were told to take home from work everything we needed, DH's work gave money a few weeks into lockdown which we put towards a good quality office chair. I work in pharma so large corporation and doing very well at the moment, DH is public sector.

We are thinking about buying new office furniture for the attic so 2 matching desks and matching chairs (well, a pair for the one we've already bought) because we now will be working at the same time (we've done shifts round each other to cover the home schooling so shared the desk and ). We'll buy that ourselves though so we get exactly what we want. For the DC we got a new desktop (so have 2 now and if there's school closures in the autumn we'll get a laptop as well for them, we have 3DC and will have 2 at secondary come Sept and they are doing regular zoom calls), and a desk and office chair.

Although just to balance that, I do need for example a new work bag to carry the new laptop around etc, I will buy that myself!

When I first got a laptop from work I was given a budget to buy a bag, I bought a laptop sleeve then got a lovely tote from Hobbs that was several times work's budget

Employers should really be providing as an absolute minimum a laptop, keyboard, mouse, laptop stand, and adjustable office chair. Everyone should do a DSE assessment for their home setup.

we were told to spend up to £500 on whatever we needed

i bought a monitor, an internet extender, mouse, keyboard and laptop stand, about £300 all in

we've all had to do online ergonomic something or other assessment which generated a report on out wfh environment and line managers were required to act on any recommendations made in that report

I already had a desk and chair, others have bought them too

Love my employer

^ and still some people moaned about them making no contribution towards internet or electricity costs

I live in a one bed flat using a laptop and no mouse on my bed. DH is in the living room with a more permanent set up. We are both in calls a lot of the day so working in the same room isn't really conducive (he's also used to a quiet work environment so my phone pinging dozens of times a day is really distracting). What other option do we have? I also walk to work so I'm saving zilch and getting a backache. We were encouraged to take anything from the office we needed though. I feel supported on the whole.

I already had a laptop with webcam, headset with microphone and mobile phone from work. We are both planning to wfh as much as possible in the future so we have bought comfy office chairs, 2 big desks, a new monitor and riser each. We already had keyboards and mice. We’ve spent (several hundred pounds on it) but then it’s our choice to continue wfh after our offices go back (probably 2021).

We already had laptops - we have been sent headsets.

We have also been able to go into the office at arranged times to collect a chair, footrest etc.

Our office is staying closed except for a very small number until at least the end of the year.

We are both in calls a lot of the day so working in the same room isn't really conducive

We were told to buy noise cancelling headphones and put it on expenses.

We got £150 to get external monitors, mice and keyboards. Work supplies laptops, fortunately I have a peripatetic role and was already set up with laptop and remote login We were specifically told not to buy printers.

My new job is WFH 4 days a week & employer has said to buy a desk & chair & claim back on expenses.

Problem is I'll be working in my living room & the desk to match the furniture is £600 - I don't think that's what they meant but I won't be sticking any old desk in my living room so will pay for it myself.

They have provided all IT equipment & because I'm an idiot they've supplied me with an extra laptop charger to leave in my drawer in the office forgot it twice already

Sorry - I'm having a crap time of it today and mothballing all my frustrations. But yes it is the VPN which is the big problem, the capacity of broadband "could" be a problem, but the assumption that these are trivial gripes is the thing setting my teeth on edge.

My company seems to think that everything is going swimmingly and happily talking about this being permanent, but with no longer term infrastructure plans in place.

We already had a desk, work provide me with a laptop. I have bought a second monitor as it's pretty much impossible to do my job with one screen, a keyboard, mouse and stand thing to put my laptop and monitor on to get them to the right height. I have horrendous back problems so would need a better chair than we have to wfh a lot but mine just tends to be mostly for extra work - weekends and evenings; I have been in the office pretty much five days per week throughout this with the odd exception of a day here and there wfh.

My job didn't provide anything or even ask. My husband's job - where he has worked FH for 5 years! - automatically sent him 200 pounds :)

The only things we have bought are a video cable and a microphone. The cost of both could probably be claimed back from our employer but I'm not sure that can be bothered.