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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:
Definately · 20/05/2021 04:46

YANBU OP. There seems to be this opinion of people who don't WFH that everyone who does WFH sleeps til noon then spends the afternoon watching Netflix whilst firing off the odd email. But at the start of the pandemic office based workers were told one day right you're working from home now, and we scrambled to take home the files we needed, many of us bought our own laptops/equipment to keep working in the midst of the panic, we worked all hours to try to limit the effect of the upheaval, we worked while our kids were at home needing home schooled. And forcing everyone back into the office seems like a pretty poor way to thank the workers for their dedication and flexibility during a really shit time.

Toomuchtrouble4me · 20/05/2021 07:08

@riceuten

You may think it’s presenteeism, but most likely having had another good look they’ve realised you aren’t more productive at home (the majority of people like to think they are and will defend they are to the death, but the fact of the matter is that it’s very rarely the case)

= I voted for the Conservative Party at the last election

Well they did win, again so she’s not alone but a weird conclusion to draw.
TinyGlassOwl · 20/05/2021 07:29

Now, the country is trying to get back to normal, ie, back to what was happening 15+months ago, in the OP's case this means going back to the office.

But why does 'getting back to normal' have to mean 'going back to doing things exactly the way we used to'?

As so many people on this thread have said, the companies who try and pretend the last 15 months haven't happened, who've learned nothing, and who make no accommodation whatsoever to new working practices, are highly likely to be the ones who lose out. Talented people will vote with their feet and move to more flexible set-ups that treat their staff like adults.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Jobs
TinyGlassOwl · 20/05/2021 07:30

Flexible season tickets from next month

Egghead68 · 20/05/2021 07:40

I agree with others that they are trying to shed staff without paying for redundancy.

NewMatress · 20/05/2021 07:55

@TinyGlassOwl

Flexible season tickets from next month
This isn't new, DH has been buying tickets like this for his commute for at least 4 years.
Blueberry40 · 20/05/2021 08:19

@Redwinestillfine

Vote with your feet. Employers that keep on insisting on the workforce being in the office full time will be in the minority and will loose their best staff if they refuse to adapt.
Exactly this.
NewMatress · 20/05/2021 08:22

I don't think employers who want people in the office will suffer. They'll get the people who want to be at work, the ones who enjoy interacting with colleagues and developing/mentoring new staff, the ones who like networking events, the ones for whom work is an important part of their life etc. The ones who encourage a lot of home working will get the people who'd rather not be working at all.

TinyGlassOwl · 20/05/2021 08:27

The ones who encourage a lot of home working will get the people who'd rather not be working at all.

Oh, give over.

UserAtRandom · 20/05/2021 08:31

@Iseestupidpeople

Actually working from home is more environmentally friendly. Who doesn’t heat their homes during the week? It doesn’t require more heating then it would if you’d be at work unless you don’t have a timer or thermostat.

But I’d frankly just go work for the competition if they have committed to working from home.

Most people I know don't heat their homes when they are not there. Pre-Covid our heating was off from 8am-5pm. Why would we heat an empty house? Even the heating at work got turned off in evenings and at weekends (it was always freezing on a Monday morning). Plus there's extra costs of electricity. The environmentally friendly argument only really works for people who commute to London or other big cities. Most people I know who don't work in London, live within 10-15 minutes drive of the office. Many of them walk or cycle.
NewMatress · 20/05/2021 08:32

@TinyGlassOwl

The ones who encourage a lot of home working will get the people who'd rather not be working at all.

Oh, give over.

We'll see. I give it a year after things are properly back to normal before the majority of "flexible" employers realise it's a mistake.
TinyGlassOwl · 20/05/2021 08:35

Your Dh's employer included, I take it @NewMatress?

Given that you say he's been buying flexible season tickets for the last 4 years I assume he doesn't go into the office every day?

NewMatress · 20/05/2021 08:37

He doesn't go to the same office every day

TinyGlassOwl · 20/05/2021 08:45

Ah, right. I see.

looptheloopinahulahoop · 20/05/2021 08:48

The ones who encourage a lot of home working will get the people who'd rather not be working at all

the people in the office spend all their time chatting to their colleagues and making coffee, and then have to stay late because they didn't do their work during working hours

I give it a year after things are properly back to normal before the majority of "flexible" employers realise it's a mistake

Hmm as I said above I've been working from home in some capacity since 2008. 13 years of it working. And in fact my father was home-based in the 1980s - he worked at home and visited customers - I think he used to go to his office a few times a year, that's all.

NewMatress · 20/05/2021 08:50

I don't dispute that it can work for some people or that some managers will be able to manage people remotely.

However, the majority are not those people. En Masse it won't work out well for employers.

TheKeatingFive · 20/05/2021 08:54

En Masse it won't work out well for employers.

I totally agree with you.

I think the time frame will be a bit longer though as companies try hybrid models and then eventually give up on them. I think two years from now we’ll be back to 2019 patterns with maybe a bit of flex for 1 day wfh a week.

Parker231 · 20/05/2021 08:58

We’ve worked flexible for years - it’s not a new idea. Our employer trusts us (as we are responsible adults) to complete our work. I work from home, the office, clients, airports- where you work is irrelevant so long as work is completed to a high standard and on time.

Porridgeislife · 20/05/2021 08:59

Actually working from home is more environmentally friendly. Who doesn’t heat their homes during the week? It doesn’t require more heating then it would if you’d be at work unless you don’t have a timer or thermostat.

It’s really not. Your average office is many magnitudes more efficient to heat or cool than the average leaky, poorly insulated, British home. You also tend to heat the whole home, not just the room you’re working in.

It’s one of the issues employers with a carbon zero target are grappling with if they have to take employees’ home emissions into account. At the moment it seems that WFH is only more carbon efficient in summer.

BeautifulandWilfulandDead · 20/05/2021 09:04

I also think that refusing to offer some element of flexible working is bonkers, but the company may have its own reasons. Whatever they are, this is terrible change management and indicates a company that is not engaged in the wellbeing of their workforce. If they were, they'd be making sure that they communicated the reasons for the change and make sure you were supported to meet it.

MiddleParking · 20/05/2021 09:06

@TheKeatingFive

En Masse it won't work out well for employers.

I totally agree with you.

I think the time frame will be a bit longer though as companies try hybrid models and then eventually give up on them. I think two years from now we’ll be back to 2019 patterns with maybe a bit of flex for 1 day wfh a week.

That must vary a lot by sector because no one in mine was working five days a week in the office in 2019, ever. It would have been really poor form to try to do so. We had to fight for office time, not the other way around, and that won’t and couldn’t change now.
Egghead68 · 20/05/2021 09:07

Unless they actively wanted people to leave...

Squish122 · 20/05/2021 09:10

By leaving the house you are also supporting the local economy (shops/restaurants/coffee places, etc) and I think this is one reason many big employers are asking people to come back in as well. I understand that you can do the job from home (I'm in the same boat as you) but there is a bigger picture that we can't always see

Faultymain5 · 20/05/2021 09:33

@TheKeatingFive

En Masse it won't work out well for employers.

I totally agree with you.

I think the time frame will be a bit longer though as companies try hybrid models and then eventually give up on them. I think two years from now we’ll be back to 2019 patterns with maybe a bit of flex for 1 day wfh a week.

Most people I know are actually asking for that.
NewMatress · 20/05/2021 09:35

Occasional days wfh, absolutely, but people seem to be clinging to the belief that they'll be doing the school run and moving to the country.