Working from home.

[Sunriseinwonderland]

Its not a criticism but why are so many people still working from home. I genuinely don't know.
Im not in a job that can be done from home so I've had to go in throughout.

And I can't be any less productive as my job is monitored heavily. My manager knows if I'm on the phone, on lunch, taking personal time for the toilet/drink etc
(I'm on annual leave today!)

I left employment to WFH freelance in 2015 because I was sick of having to go somewhere every single weekday and be there all day.

I've dabbled back into employment but not full-time.

Now I have a child in school and am applying to the civil service which means I can WFH most of the time which means I can do the school run and choose my hours, and do hours in the office that don't interfere with time with my child, which is important to me.

Because my team’s job can be 100% done from home so there is no need for my organisation to pay for office space, especially considering there’s been no negative impact on productivity. Surely cutting costs is the right thing to do if you run a business.

I don't do that, children both in 5 days. School she children go to school. My employer knows if one child is at home in an emergency like school strikes.

If anyone is being cheeky it's their business, nobody else's. They'll get called out if their performance is bad.

Because I can get more done at home without distractions. I do still go to an office for meetings, but my employer saves money nit having to service the office full-time and I'm paying for my heating etc.

Funny how since covid, working from home staff are hailed as heroes or villains on a regular basis. I've been wfh for decades.

I’ve worked from home doing this job since 2015. Is it OK for me to still work from home?

MirandaWest · Today 15:01
pipe down dear! Ffs

I've always thought that working remotely and living wherever you want - in my case holed up in a remote part of Scotland would be my ideal - instead of having to be stuck in a city somewhere or a big town or commuting

That's me. I live in a remote part of Scotland (island), have WFH for over ten years. I regularly thank the broadband gods for facilitating this lifestyle.

My employer does hybrid working and it’s been a real game-changer. 3 days home/2 days office per week. I am no longer permanently exhausted and no longer spend an hour in each direction travelling every day.

I get more done at home as I need a lot of concentration for my role

My employer is very happy with my work and wants to keep me

I am much less stressed as I find being with people exhausting

Why wouldn't I ?

Everyone is different and its wonderful that diversity is being recognised and supported

Dh was an outsourcing consultant for years. Trust me if you can do your job from home then plenty in India and Asia can too. For no benefits and far less money.

That's the global world.

Main thing for us is cost - we massively save on the cost of commuting every day, not to mention the time saved!
For my business, having an office is an enormous overhead that we no longer need (or use).

I find it better. I find being around people exhausting so being in the house helps. Yesterday I had to go into the office, I had to get up at 6.30, get dressed in work appropriate clothes and put some naked up in do
I didn’t scare small children, walk in the rain to the station, get on a manky scotfail train, then up to the office and put on my game face. I got home at 6.30 and then had to make dinner etc. Today I got up at 8am, sore comfy clothes, had a few calls during the day so did brush my hair at least. Had a healthy home made lunch and I will log off at 5.30 and be home.

we save £350 in commuting costs now, we have a better work/life balance (no kids so not doing any childcare free or otherwise). I can put a washing on in the morning and take it out to dry at lunch.

i got norovirus from the office and Covid from either the office or commuting…not really a good advertisement for going to work.

I'm another for whom anyone using it as regular childcare would be a disciplinary issue.

But I know a lot of people whose teens were usually home alone for hours after school and they now enjoy the peace of mind of being in the same house as their kids for that 2-3 hours a day, even if they never actually speak to them.

My kids are in primary, and I wfh around 3 days a week, DH likewise. I'm saving a fortune in breakfast club. They still go to after school club on the days that they need to, but if they want to do an activity that starts at 6 or finishes at 5 they can now, before it would have been impossible. I can often flex my lunch break to be able to go to school events and activities.

From a work perspective, it's a good balance. I prioritise team interaction and staff mentoring/support in my office days; I save work needing concentration or fewer interruptions for my home days; it's generally a good balance. Part of my team is in other cities so we have always been 'virtual' in a way, they really like the new set up as the smaller offices don't get marginalised/forgotten about as they were when the majority of staff were all in the same building in London; it's also meant that the senior leadership are more open to giving key positions and leadership jobs to people from outside the London office whereas that was almost impossible before, you had to be physically present and visible (in London) to get promoted.

We got rid of our office after WFH during Covid. Saves the company money, saves us money. I market stuff to people who aren't even in the same city. No office rental costs, no commuting costs. As for free childcare, if people aren't performing they will be pulled up on it. If not, then why would employers care about the arrangements?

If you hear people talking about saving childcare costs, they are probably talking about breakfast clubs-no need if they can drop them at 8:30 and be at their desk for 9. And I suspect there is a large primary window, probably 8+ though I don't have kids myself, where you wouldn't leave them home alone after school until you got back from your commute, but who are old enough to amuse themselves by doing homework, watching TV, bouncing on a trampoline, whatever, and understanding their parent is working and is only to be disturbed in an emergency. And they get more parental attention because there is no commute.

Which is why I still been replaced

Or not

People in India can work in offices too you know - so all you in offices are just at risk from offshoring

lockdown was a game changer for us in terms of IT - although people did WFH before, the IT was a bit patchy. Now it’s often better than the office. The work they did to get it going in a very short time was brilliant and a real surprise to us all. Software and hardware is much much better.

True but it's a hell of a lot easier to lay people off remotely rather than managers firing people they see every day.

This.

I can see a huge swing in the coming years of where and who are employed. If companies based in London can avoid paying London salaries they will. They can recruit someone in Lincolnshire or Wales for less money.

I also think its sad for youngsters. I think on here the demographic is mainly working mothers. Is WFH as good for twenty-somethings? Sitting in their bedrooms in their parents houses. They are completely missing out on the social side of working. The opportunity to meet people and network with people from different departments. I worked for a big organisation and made a point of introducing myself to everyone.

It's shit for cafes and small retailers too who used to rely on footfall

But can completely understand why people do.

Covid has deffo divided us. Middle class can work from home. Working class not so much

On the flip side for youngsters it may free them from having to be in a location they can't afford to buy or rent in, but still do their dream job, or in fact move to experience living somewhere in the world while still doing the career they want to do more easily through digital nomad or whatever. Obviously won't work for every job, but that can be said for many things. Also some high streets are thriving again as people are staying local and using local cafes, shops, restaurants etc more. I know i am. We're not here on this earth just to work, but to have a life too and Covid has shown this is possible without us all sat in an office five days a week.

Save on commute time and costs which means more money and life for me.

And depends on the workplace, but my office based jobs have usually had a lot of passive aggressive colleagues who create anxiety and tension or bullying atmosphere when you're sat in the same office as them.

Our company downsized the building. Wfh with fantastic equipment (provided by the firm) as soon as the first Lockdown happened worked very well (tax accountancy firm) although it was literally our busiest time! We moved to an office over half the size smaller the next year. So some now wfh all the time and have different start times (9.30am for instance). Some of us wfh now do 8-4pm (like me), it’s been life changing for many of us. However, we have regular days in the office (on a rota) so we can catch up and there is a golden rule that if is feeling lonely or a bit down, they can come in the office whenever they want.

Yes very interesting. It does seem quite unhealthy for a group of people to be cooped up in a office together for 8-9 hours or more a day for five days a week really when you think about it? Can definitely say in our teams i think the space has helped rather than hindered many relationships.

CBA travelling somewhere to do work I can do just as well at my own house.