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Original poster

No more WFH or flexible working

659 replies

Lizzie523 · 17/05/2021 20:39

Been WFH for a year now - about 6 months ago the company MD said we had done brilliantly, was thrilled by how we had risen to the challenge etc. We were then told the future would likely be hybrid working & we all had to complete detailed consultations about our preferences RE this. Personally ive been more productive overall & I feel a mix would work well.

Imagine our shock to now be told we are all to go back to full time at the office 5 days a week. They said they would no longer consider the results of the consultations and wished they hadn't done it - many of us tried to appeal this but were just told 'no'.

I moved during the pandemic which means I am just far enough away that 5 days a week in the office is going to be a hassle (not to mention awful for the environment).

We work with a few people with young kids and it obviously isn't inclusive for disabled people either. Our main competitors have already confirmed their commitment to remote working.

Is everyone else headed back to the office or am I right in thinking most places are being more flexible now?

OP posts:
Procrastination4 · 18/05/2021 07:54

@maddiemookins16mum

We’re moving from an office that housed 150 to one that houses 40. 75% of people wanted to WFH or do mix. So they are doing just that. Great for those who wanted to WFH, bad for those who cannot WFH as we now have to do all their shitty jobs (printing off their documents for posting, scanning their incoming post to clients online folders etc etc). A lot of extra ‘admin’ that they used to do themselves is now picked up by ‘someone in the office’ .
Now that is really unfair, I think. If people want to work from home, fine. But if some aspects of their job require being present in the office to do them, albeit one day per week or whatever, then they should be doing that. Working from home permanently isn’t feasible, if it means that onsite staff has to make up the “shortfall”. It’s one way to breed resentment among staff, that’s for certain.
partyatthepalace · 18/05/2021 07:55

Well they want you back, presumably because they think the company runs better that way. It sounds like they did consider other options, in which case - it’s up to them. They won’t be the only company to decide this.

BoomChicka · 18/05/2021 07:56

This was predictable, but I can see why you're annoyed. The media spun everyone a line that the office was dead, to the point that construction on office buildings stopped, and people relocated around the country.. employers are now easing back to "normal" and it's really backfired for some people who made long term plans based on emergency flexibility.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Jobs
userxx · 18/05/2021 08:01

Dust your work clothes off and get your arse back in work. You're lucky to have had a year at home.

MiddleParking · 18/05/2021 08:03

@userxx

Dust your work clothes off and get your arse back in work. You're lucky to have had a year at home.
Pathetic.
looptheloopinahulahoop · 18/05/2021 08:04

I agree that it wasn't very sensible to move before you knew what the outcome of the consultation was going to be. I suspect quite a few people are going to get their fingers burnt with that one.

But demanding 5 days in the office is a nonsense. Find another job - I suspect their competitors might be getting a few calls if they are allowing remote working at least some of the time.

ImInStealthMode · 18/05/2021 08:05

My company are almost all back in the office.

Flexible requests were welcomed and there is now just 1 person who does 2 days a week from home. Nobody else wanted to do it for a day longer than absolutely necessary.

I'd imagine that a big consideration for some employers is the extra costs involved in flexible working from home. When we all had to go home in an emergency situation it was one thing, but if it's by choice then dependent on the role surely they'll have to consider workplace health & safety, maintaining proper GDPR procedures, maintaining secure remote system access and communications, potentially contributing to costs such as broadband & heating. It's a lot to consider just for people to do a few days from home here and there because they don't fancy commuting anymore.

looptheloopinahulahoop · 18/05/2021 08:05

Dust your work clothes off and get your arse back in work. You're lucky to have had a year at home

Oh for goodness sake.

With the exception of one year, I've worked from home at least some of the time since 2008! A lot of people, including the OP's employer need to get into the 21st century.

Work is what you do, not where you go.

looptheloopinahulahoop · 18/05/2021 08:06

My company are almost all back in the office

Are you in England? Glad to know they're following the "work from home if you can" guidance then Angry

Seefoodwaffle · 18/05/2021 08:06

Go work for your competitors?

ImInStealthMode · 18/05/2021 08:11

@looptheloopinahulahoop No.

userxx · 18/05/2021 08:12

@looptheloopinahulahoop except when you're office based. If it's so important for the OP to WFH then go and find a company that accommodates, which clearly her current employer doesn't.

ShirleyPhallus · 18/05/2021 08:13

I actually agree with you OP and think some of these responses have been a bit hard

Our employer has done the same thing. Big consultation process, lots of comms around hybrid working model and then did a 180 and wants everyone back.

The reason it’s galling is because everyone was told one thing and it’s now all shifted. Emotions wouldn’t be so high if everyone thought they were coming back to the office full time from the start.

Moondust001 · 18/05/2021 08:13

No good reason given for this change as I said. All very strange.

There is quite a lot of research now that wasn't around 6/8 months ago. This is tending towards returning to the office for a variety of reasons. Some of these are:
(a) employees have become less productive, and especially so as time went on. You cannot have a system for those who work from home well and those who don't, and productivity trumps what those who do work well from home want.
(b) as time has progressed people have become sanguine and have started to take the proverbial - not being "in work" when they say they are, prioritising their personal lives and commitments over work, etc
(c) employers have realised that it is not cost effective for them to have offices running for a minority of people, but they cannot dispense with them altogether, so they need to use them more, not less
(d) creativity and interaction are essential to really productive working and this simply isn't as effective when carried out by other methods than face to face
(e) some staff may simply not be resilient enough to continue working from home, and wellbeing is an issue

Some of these things can be factored into a hybrid system, but not all. For many employers, it becomes a problem of trying to treat everyone in a way that suits them. That is a recipe for grumps, accusations of favouritism and disputes.

Personally, I think hybrid systems are effective, and work well for my teams. But that is specific to our circumstances - there isn't a system that works in every workplace. But I very much doubt that the employer here has no reason for doing this. I suspect they have very good reasons for doing it, but reasons that they won't be willing to share. I can definitely say with certainty that if (a) or (b) apply, most employers would have everyone back in the workplace. Getting around the mire that is employment law is hard enough in any circumstances, but doing so when some of your staff have freedom to take the proverbial and not be able to properly monitor this is a motivator.

stalachtiteorstalagmite · 18/05/2021 08:13

It's very easy for people to say "you shouldn't have moved" but life does go on even during a pandemic. Families grow, needs change - particularly when you've spent a year working in your bedroom and trapped in a small space. Often moving further out is the only way to afford more space. I don't think you were unreasonable to trust what your employer said about adopting hybrid working.

Personally I would vote with my feet and look for a new job. There are plenty of companies out there offering partial or full remote working. Offering flexibility is going to become a source of competitive advantage for employers and your company are being unrealistic if they think people will just stick around.

TheAlphaandtheOmega · 18/05/2021 08:15

We only have OPs word that she is wonderful, don't most employees think that of themselves, the competitors might not want her.

Carriemac · 18/05/2021 08:18

I'm NHS and so is DH and we are hybrid - both WFH at least one day a week depending on clinical commitments. The trust has invested heavily in IT so we can do this and the problems with office space and car parking at our site have really eased . Everyone seems much happier. I realise how stressed the daily fight for parking made me, has to be in by 730 to get a space which meant school drop offs used to be a nightmare.

ilovebrie8 · 18/05/2021 08:22

Not much you can do if they are saying back to the office. If you’re not happy look for another job ...that’s your options in a nutshell.

Franklin12 · 18/05/2021 08:24

I worked for over 30 years for a big FTSE company which was very keen on home working mainly because they didn’t have to provide a desk.

I have worked at home for years but was in a middle mgt position. There was a lot of skivvy especially amongst the more junior employees who normally werent allowed to work from home without special circumstances. Often you could hear children in the background and one person in my team made a request to work at home stating she would save shed loads on childcare! When I pointed out she needed to arrange this she asked why??

Working at home means you have to accept a lot of responsibility not skivve off. Of course you could say that your line manager should be sorting this out but this company had endless reorganisations and line managers changed all the time and people took advantage.

I suspect a lot of companies have recognised this and do want people back in the office.

Arbadacarba · 18/05/2021 08:24

It's far from unlikely that we'll have future Covid 'waves' and even if these aren't severe, people will still be required to self-isolate and so on - so it's short-sighted of workplaces to pull everyone back into the office now. If I were a CEO I'd want to keep WFH infrastructure in place until we'd had a year or so of normality (whatever a post-Covid normal might look like).

looptheloopinahulahoop · 18/05/2021 08:27

Working from home permanently isn’t feasible, if it means that onsite staff has to make up the “shortfall”. It’s one way to breed resentment among staff, that’s for certain

I totally agree with that. Either people go in one day a week to do their admin or you have a small admin team to do it. My DH has a job a bit like this where there are some things he can only do in the office. So he saves them up and goes in about once a month.

You cannot have a system for those who work from home well and those who don't

of course you can. Good employers allow employees to play to their strengths (within reason).

Tal45 · 18/05/2021 08:28

My OH is working from home and will continue to, he already had a colleague that pre pandemic WFH. His commute was an hour and a half so it has been wonderful and neither of us would want to go back, it's cut his day by 3 hours. Our heating (solid fuel/storage heaters) is either on or off anyway so no impact there.

I'd start looking for a new job where you are trusted to work from home - and be clear when you leave that it is due to their inflexibility.

BoomChicka · 18/05/2021 08:28

@looptheloopinahulahoop

My company are almost all back in the office

Are you in England? Glad to know they're following the "work from home if you can" guidance then Angry

Many office workers have been in the office since last summer, me included.
Fishandhips · 18/05/2021 08:29

@TheAlphaandtheOmega

We only have OPs word that she is wonderful, don't most employees think that of themselves, the competitors might not want her.
Judging by OPs last few threads I agree, they might not be arsed.
Jenala · 18/05/2021 08:34

Surprised by some of the arsey comments on here. Extroverts who hate not being in the office, loudly gossiping and being the centre of attention maybe?

My employer has really embraced flexible working. My team manager already did, so I already only came into the office from time to time. However the organisational culture overall, and most managers, were very much about being in the office and making a show of presenteeism. So it's been interesting to see that they want everyone to only be in the office max a couple of times a week from now on, and I wonder how those particular managers cope with that. Of course I think employee wellbeing is only part of it, there's massive financial savings as they are getting rid of many of the huge offices they rent.

OP perhaps overall productivity isn't improved. Maybe yours is but many aren't so they've decided they need everyone back to "make it fair" because they can't really only let the people who work from home well do it.