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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:
SamusIsAGirl · 17/05/2021 22:39

IT is just so old having to tolerate corporate making decisions without taking any feedback from employees. Surely there are business realising a hybrid model can get things done faster with less need for rent and less body-destroying mind-killing commuting, as well as making jobs more inclusive to disabled people?

The sooner employers realise they are only part of life not all of life the better. Bums on seats doesn't necessarily mean that things are done. How much more thinking am I supposed to do in a stinky killer metal box than if I can actually walk around outdoors during the day?! Sooner or later people who aren't getting things done will get found out.

LemonTT · 17/05/2021 22:42

The OPs opinion is perfectly valid. Her employer asked her to express it in a consultation. They reviewed it along with other responses. They will have also looked at other factors. They reached an alternative opinion and as decision makers acted on it.

The consultation was not a plebiscite or a debate. At best they are tick box exercises that rarely change the fundamentals of cost, efficiency and productivity. Or indeed the opinion of a powerful decision maker, like the employer or shareholders.

Personally the amount of noise they generate is more annoying than a bad decision.

mobear · 17/05/2021 22:42

I think this will be the case at a lot of companies that first thought flexible working would work long-term and have now thought better of it.

I am on maternity leave at the moment but made a flexible working request (which you have a statutory right to make - www.gov.uk/flexible-working) at the beginning of the year as I knew my company would be deluged with requests post-lockdown.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Jobs
Clydie89 · 17/05/2021 22:43

Just put in a formal flex working request, which your employer has to consider and has set legal grounds on which they can approve or deny it. It'll be considered on an individual basis, you just need to have worked there for long enough (28 weeks I think) and to not have already made a request in the last 12months.

Yikes38 · 17/05/2021 22:43

Hahaha jesus why are 90% of the comments on here from miserable AF grouch’s 😂 Op, I think you’re well within your rights to slightly miffed, considering you’d been promised one thing and now a sudden chance to the other

Puzzledandpissedoff · 17/05/2021 22:45

I really hate employers who think they're all it and not bother listening

So do I, but we don't actually know that this is what's happened since listening and handing folk what they want aren't the same thing

It may be that they have listened, but found that - for whatever reason - having staff back in the workplace is the better approach for the business all round

BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand · 17/05/2021 22:45

@DicklessWonder

As above, cars don’t like being driven. On a WFH day I take my car out for a blast at night so the engine doesn’t seize/DPF get blocked. Triple whammy: office heated for 3 rather than 15 people, house heated for 1 and car pumping out of an evening as well.
You think your engine will seize after 1 day of not being driven? I can't tell of this is serious or not.

A weekly run out will help to keep the engine ticking over, sure, but DAILY? Madness.

EarlGreywithLemon · 17/05/2021 22:45

All the employers I know of in real life (where friends, family etc work) are moving to a 2-3 day a week model. I’ve not heard of a single one who isn’t, apart from Goldman Sachs. YANBU. I’d also say vote with your feet!

HarrietSchulenberg · 17/05/2021 22:46

The culture of presenteeism has nothing to do with productivity and everything to do with how well employees are valued and trusted. In a nutshell, they want their staff back in the office because they don't trust them. This does not make for a happy workplace and I think they'll find they've shot themselves in the foot when productivity decreases because the workforce is resentful and disillusioned. A year ago we were told that WFH would be here to stay so people settled in and got used to it.

I was much more productive when I WFH as I didn't get stupid interruptions from chatty colleagues and my wellbeing was better as I was less stressed about balancing work and home. I could run a hoover round and sort the washing in the time it would have taken to have a tea break, which meant less housework piling up at home. And I could make tea an hour earlier as I didn't have a commute. I actually got more "brain work" done during the day, which meant I didn't have to do it at evenings and weekends, so my work/life balance was much better. All gone to bollocks now, so I agree with OP that her employers are unreasonable in seeking then discarding the opinions of their employees.

BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand · 17/05/2021 22:46

I have never commuted by car so my vehicles only ever get driven at the weekend. It has never done them any harm at all.

Ewe202 · 17/05/2021 22:46

We seem to be the only firm looking to hire more space as old office has changed hands, and those who want to work from home full time are being told they’ll lose their London weighting... Confused

Original poster
Lizzie523 · 17/05/2021 22:46

I've started looking. There are some jobs in my field locally though not loads. If it came to it I would probably prefer a WFH role for a while than back to the office full time.

It has reminded me of the things I loved about freelancing as well. It would be a big leap to return to that but I will consider doing it for a while if I don't find anything else.

The job is not so beguiling that I would stay in the face of inflexibility.

OP posts:
Spinningaround21 · 17/05/2021 22:47

My partner was told June to go back office working now it’s September. It’s local government/council though so they are very cautious. Small offices crammed and hot dealing isn’t great in a pandemic.

A friend works in a uni ( not student related) they’ve been told September but part time working.

Lots of offices are all doing differently.

EarlGreywithLemon · 17/05/2021 22:47

That should have said “2-3 days a week in the office”

Sillyduckseverywhere · 17/05/2021 22:49

My company were considering letting people stay at home if they wanted to, but our service levels from the home workers just wasn't up to scratch. Phones were left unanswered etc. Which put more pressure on the office staff.
So despite a massive hissy fit that nearly resulted in disciplinary for one of the homeworkers we are 100% office based again.
As usual the few ruin it for everyone.

Sillyduckseverywhere · 17/05/2021 22:50

@Ewe202

We seem to be the only firm looking to hire more space as old office has changed hands, and those who want to work from home full time are being told they’ll lose their London weighting... Confused
There's no way that London Weighting should still be available to people WFH!
Needanewhat · 17/05/2021 22:50

I have almost total flexibility. I work 21 hours a week. I have one standing meeting, for an hour on a Tuesday.

Other than that I can work whenever I want. Not "within core hours", whenever I want.

Everyone at my place of work does it that way. Been pretty successful so we must be doing something right!

IMO employers who will stick firm to refusing flexible working will not get the pick of the best. Even my husband's highly competitive, pretty traditional financial services role is going to be based only two days in the office from now on.

BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand · 17/05/2021 22:51

@Ewe202

We seem to be the only firm looking to hire more space as old office has changed hands, and those who want to work from home full time are being told they’ll lose their London weighting... Confused
To be fair, if people are now able to WFH and therefore live in areas with cheaper house prices, why on earth should companies pay London weighting? They can recruit staff to WFH from anywhere in the UK or in the world.
Ostara212 · 17/05/2021 22:52

Is it possible there's been a big change at senior level and some big cheese doesn't like it, like what happened at Yahoo?

Puzzledandpissedoff · 17/05/2021 22:53

The OPs opinion is perfectly valid. Her employer asked her to express it in a consultation. They reviewed it along with other responses. They will have also looked at other factors. They reached an alternative opinion and as decision makers acted on it

Beautifully put - the "jealous / dinosaurs / bitter / miserable AF grouches" not so much, being more suitable to a playground than the workplace

Anyway, hope it works out for you, OP, whether you decide to stay or move elsewhere

Needanewhat · 17/05/2021 22:53

Hahaha jesus why are 90% of the comments on here from miserable AF grouch’s

MN in general is massively old fashioned when it comes to work.

RaininSummer · 17/05/2021 22:53

My workplace is moving back to all in the office though currently we have some wfh still to facilitate social distancing. We have been told no empty desks though so will be asked to come in a wfh day if somebody is away and a desk is spare. The public are back in the offices too.

OwlTwitterings · 17/05/2021 22:56

There are a lot of very anti-wfh posters on this thread. Most of the big companies I know are now doing a combination of wfh and in the office.

Ewe202 · 17/05/2021 22:56

Because people who live in London have mortgages and families and lives based on salaries with LW? WFH does not affect the value of my home sadly, nor the cost of my mortgage, but it does mean I can see more of my children. Or should I have to move and uproot my children from their school and family nearby when I can no longer afford the mortgage because I wanted to work from home to spend time with them??

JeanClaudeVanDammit · 17/05/2021 22:56

Mine isn’t being flexible, we’ve all been banned from the building since March 2020. The plan was a move to some form of hybrid in the summer but if full reopening is delayed, it will be delayed too and we’ll continue being forced to wfh for god knows how long.