what's the obsession with "getting back to the office!

[Bells3032]

I get some people want to return to the office and i think they should have a right to. but i don't get the obsession that we "MUST" return to the office. Honestly, my DH and I have both been working from home. I am a public sector, he's private. his office have just started return but don't seem to be enforcing it much and they've also announced their best two years of profit ever.

I get some people e.g. those doing passports or probate etc would be much easier in the office as access to paperwork but my job is 100% computer based and I am far more productive at home.

1. no long commute so less tired plus less likelihood of being late.
2. no "nattering" in the office
3. no time wondering round looking for a desk in the morning and ending up with an inappropriate desk space because we are short. I have a proper desk and chair at home so less back pain
4. no trying to find meeting rooms - just hop on zoom and there everyone is
5. no spending time queuing for the toilet etc
6. less sickness as people not picking up bugs on the trains etc
7. they can sell some real estate or not pay as much rent

What actually would be the benefit to me or my employers to me returning to office? What is with the obsession? Could someone explain to me WHY I should return to the office?

Totally with you @Bells3032 I’ve just taken a job based 150 miles away so I’m screwed if they suddenly insist on full time office working 😬 At the moment it’s full time home working with a view to ‘once or twice a month’ in the office. I’m just praying that’s all it will be 🤞 I literally agree with everything you’ve said.

[quote mylovelydd]@midgedude of course they will be demotivated. There is literally nothing to motivate them.[/quote]
I don't get this at all. Any motivation I have for my job comes from resolving difficult issues, getting great feedback, working with brilliant people, earning enough to live a life I enjoy.
Not sitting in a feeezing office with single glazing and wondering who didn't put the milk back in the fridge!

There are definite pros and cons for going back to the office.
Loads of businesses have set up to rely on the office worker trade (small cafes/Sandwich shops for example) and running office buildings takes staff as well such as cleaners, maintenance, receptions teams, catering etc. So there are industries that are really suffering from people not being back at the office and jobs on the line after over a year of furlough.

It's not just wealthy landlords Scruge McDucking into piles of money....although they are the only ones the Tory's care about.

I think as a society there is a negative attitude towards people being at home.
SAHM s have a hard time, God knows why, and children who are home education get negative comments, again down to pure ignorance, take a a lot of self discipline to become self taught, and now people who are successfully working from home are under pressure to go back to the office or whatever, regardless of it being less productive and a more stressful way of life.
I think it's such a sha me, so many lessons have been missed regarding Covid. Some people are just so attached to familiarity and the old ways of doing things.

@Onabun

People forget what it’s like being in an office, they really do. Nothing beats real life discussion and bouncing ideas off each other in person,

People think they are more productive but quite simply most are not. I say this as an owner of a business.

I think most people know the benefits, but as they enjoy working from home will say otherwise to justify it

I do a day in, 2 days at home. I like going in for that day but am in a room on my own and just pop in to the other office to get my printing and use the kitchen. It really isn't much different from being at home but my job is such that it's just me doing it, it would be very obvious if I didn't as it's project based and that in itself enabled me to negotiate WFH the month before lock down. I've had roles in the civil service where I just couldn't see it working and that team was required and 20 years ago I would have missed the social aspect. Now, it's fits in with family life and saves me a miserable rural drive in the depths of winter or snarled up traffic in holiday season. There shouldn't be a one size fits all approach.

Other than dh who was back in the office from 'freedom day' I don't know any other office workers and thought most people were back already - the traffic is certainly back to pre pandemic levels, other friends and family are teachers, factory workers, drivers etc so cannot work from home. That said I think hybrid seems a good compromise for most

The government want people back so they are spending again

Companies want staff back because all research shows that working fully from home is not ideal.

I totally get it that for lots of people getting dressed up, commuting, chatting etc now seem a colossal waste of their time, however for employers it’s about the company, not the individual

I think people complaining about 2 days a week need to check their privilege, that’s 3 days to walk the dog, put on the wash etc

@seaandsandcastles

but it seems most employees work better at home.

@Antinerak How does it “seem” that? Because the evidence suggests WFH employees are far less productive, but believe they are more so.

I didn't say 'all employees work better at home' and I don't think productivity is the real measure of how people work better. 'Evidence' hasn't been collected for long enough for us to tell yet, but why not take the chance?

@AFuturisticalSound See above.

If people can work from home as successfully as they can in a stuffy office where they may be likely to catch La Rona, then I believe they should continue to work in their preferred environment safely, happily, productively.

@Moonface123

I think as a society there is a negative attitude towards people being at home. SAHM s have a hard time, God knows why, and children who are home education get negative comments, again down to pure ignorance, take a a lot of self discipline to become self taught, and now people who are successfully working from home are under pressure to go back to the office or whatever, regardless of it being less productive and a more stressful way of life. I think it's such a sha me, so many lessons have been missed regarding Covid. Some people are just so attached to familiarity and the old ways of doing things.

but that's the same for people who now won't leave home. I see it with my co-workers, they are almost scared of leaving. They've become so insular and reluctant to leave their homes.

Most people see the benefits of home working, but there are benefits from going into the office too (which aren't about spending money in pret or paying commercial rent on office premises) - as pp says, bouncing ideas off each other, problem solving,- I'm trying to arrange a team day to discuss plans for next year (so not just for jolly fun) in the office, and it's like people are having to be dragged out of their houses.

People forget what it’s like being in an office, they really do. Nothing beats real life discussion and bouncing ideas off each other in person,

This has annoyed me.

We are in IT so screen and speech are all we need. Physical interaction can be a hinderance because getting around one person's tiny laptop in an office meant about 2/3 of us couldn't see and 1/3 of us ended up with backache, so we didn't willingly do it.

Our team now does daily conference calls, and none of us are shy to ask to bounce ideas. In an emergency, we can now get everyone around one person's screen without having to sit on each others' laps, whilst using our own screens to troubleshoot. Now we don't have to travel, more of us are available and willing to help whoever is on-call out of hours.

It has honestly exponentially improved the way our team interact. Declaring employees are less productive at home based on what may work for other professions is, frankly, uninformed and high-handed.

Posters implying people like working from home because they can skive can stop projecting.

I'm not being dramatic but I really can't see any down sides to WFH. I mean that is if someone has internet. Other than that I genuinely can't see any downsides, and I don't think loneliness counts, people don't go to work to make friends.

I think that might be true on an individual level, @VladmirsPoutine, but I’m not sure about a societal or familial level.

When homes turn into offices, that impacts on all sorts of things and that’s the conclusion I’ve drawn tbh - wfh benefits the individual wfh but often doesn’t benefit others.

I think for people who have been in the workforce for many years (like me) and have therefore done the whole 'office working' then being at home is great. I'd be less enthused if I was just leaving school or uni and taking my first steps in the working world whilst sitting in my bedroom.

I agree. I work so much better from home. My office is freezing cold, smells and is just not a nice place to be.

Sadly they seem keen for us to go back. I have been wfh this morning but just about to go in. I only live a ten minute walk though.

People forget what it’s like being in an office, they really do. Nothing beats real life discussion and bouncing ideas off each other in person

This has annoyed me.

We are in IT so screen and speech are all we need. Physical interaction can be a hinderance because getting around one person's tiny laptop in an office meant about 2/3 of us couldn't see and 1/3 of us ended up with backache, so we didn't willingly do it

I think this just shows that whether it is easier or more productive to be in an office depends on what your work is.
All of us in our team have said they like the hybrid approach.
We were all missing hangovers where people updated the team on some of their cases. This is important to everyone as at some point in the week you may end up supporting their child.
The hand overs are a good catching up with what needs doing around the building and general information from the wider department us cascaded down.

I know you could do it on teams but it wasnt the same.
Everyone was pleased to have an informal development day acfew months ago which consisted if an hour or so if where we are up to as a service, changes that are going to be happening and then the rest of the time having a buffet and catch up with each other.

As a neurodiverse person who is fortunate enough to have a small box room office WFH has been a revelation for me. I'm not exhausting myself from masking, trying to rein in my fidgeting, RBF, etc. and just getting on with work. My sick leave is non-existent now and if anything my team are delivering far more work due to the flexibility - no rushing off for the train, etc.

I work in my own office and I am the only one doing the job I do in the organisation that I work in so it doesn't make much if a difference if I am there or not. When I am in the office unless i visit the kitchen or loo I can go a whole week without seeing anyone in person. Maybe get 1 phone call a week. The trouble is most people, if not all have to go in where I work so I think they want ot to be seen as fair. If my husband works at home which is rare now it, it is fine as we both have the focus of work whilst the DC are at school. The only time it was too hectic was when it was homeschooling and lockdown.

Going to work in an office for the sake of it is pointless if you don't need to. It is adding congestion to the roads and trains, my DH is finding it difficult to get a seat to London now. He needs to bring in clients and will go for client lunches etc. So he does need to be in the office as that is mostly his job now or travelling to different sites. I don't though and it has helped with school runs etc. I cam get more done. It is great for improving diversity in a workforce as the inflexible systems just exclude talent from certain jobs.

We currently have our offices open for return on a purely voluntarily basis (with compulsory 50% attendance to begin from December) and of an organisation of c.900 employees, we have around 250 choosing to be in on any given day - so we know that a quarter of employees think there are clear benefits to being in the office. Add to that the same number of people again who have acknowledged they want to return but are still cautious of using trains and the tube; the people who have acknowledged they do see some benefits but are enjoying not having to commute or pay for as much childcare; and the around 90 people who we know are seriously underperforming whilst at home; and it’s evident that the vast majority of the organisation either thinks some office attendance is beneficial or frankly need to be forced back into the office because they can’t be trusted at home / don’t have the facilities there to do their job properly.

The problem is that valid arguments for WFH are getting muddied by the latter two groups of people in that example who prefer not to commute / don’t want to go back to paying for as much childcare / have quite enjoyed doing a bit of shirking rather than being able to actively demonstrate that home is objectively the best place for them to be most efficient.

@MrsDThomas

Its time to get back in. We have lots saying “we dont want to”. Since when do they dictate where snd when they work?

They applied for an office based job in that very place and that us where they should be.

Yes this is true, but at the time they applied there probably weren't any other options than 'office-based'. The last 18 months have taught us that other ways of working do exist, and I think it's quite right that companies explore these.

What is particulaly pertinent is the effect it is having on many womens' work-life balance. For so long women have taken on a disproportionate amount of childcare and household management, which (as a general rule) can negatively affect their career progression. Hybid or home working offers people the flexibility to manage and divide these responsibilities more fairly, which might finally finally start to level the playing field a bit. Surely that is a good thing?

Yes, I agree with above, organisations have to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to diversity. It is all very well spouting you are an equal opps employer, that you embrace diversity but if you don't facilitate that with working practices that are inclusive at the end of the day it is all BS!

It's been a benefit to women, neurodiverse people, ethnic minorities... the list is endless. I hope we continue to embrace some model of hybrid working.

Of course people go to work to make friends!

At one time lots of people met their partners at or through work.

I’m deeply saddened at the prospect of a future where most work is done from home.

Of course people go to work to make friends!

But that doesn’t rely on full time physical presence.

I’ve made two new work friends since lockdown. We didn’t meet in person until we decided we wanted to meet socially rather than for work purposes. We struck up a rapport over zoom.