Are the days of WFH over?

[MerryMarigold]

Dh been working from home since Covid. Been 1 FtF meeting a week/ fortnight for past year.

Work have said everyone needs to be in work in central London for 3 days per week after Easter.

Not too bad for us, we live in the same place we lived before. Still a 1.5hr commute each way (plus associated costs). Not so good for others who live in the middle of nowhere.

Is this a trend or just his global company?

I think people who insist on office-based work (where WFH is possible) are either those who have no life outside of work or those terrible managers who love to micro-manage people

I hate WFH with a passion and was delighted when exjob said I could go back. I live alone, I have no space for an office set up, I like the F2F interaction with colleagues, I like having the proper equipment and desk setup that means I can do my job properly. I don't even mind commuting because it marks the break between work and home. The first day back at work the change in my mood and productivity was very noticeable.

Why do you think that is? Poor management? Recruitment of the wrong people?
There will always be people who take the piss, but to have a team of people unable to do the work they have been employed to do indicates a wider problem.

I’m freelance but several of my clients’ organisations seem to be gradually shifting back to in-person.

(Obviously all that follows is specific to office-type work.)

There’s been a kind of collective realisation that younger staff in particular aren’t served by WFH well at all.

If you live in shared accommodation and your only space is a small bedroom (like many thousands of people in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh etc) it’s extremely difficult. The younger people I know tend to keep their cameras off because they don’t want to show their bedroom at work, they don’t feel it’s very professional. But they don’t have any other option, besides heading back into the office. As a result, they’re not learning or getting on professionally at the same rate as their slightly older peers would have done pre-pandemic.

Like much of the pandemic/lockdown regulations, WFH works for the comfortable middle classes who already have their own homes and working space within that home. It doesn’t work for someone who’s 22 and lives in a cramped, poorly heated houseshare with five other people.

And certain collaborative functions simply don’t work as well when everyone’s behind a camera rather than in the same space.

The companies I work with are planning to get everyone back over the next year or two. It’s fundamentally necessary. Those that need to WFH (for example people with disabilities) will obviously continue to be able to. But everyone else will be going back, or risk losing their job.

Unless they have no space at home, I agree entirely.

Our team is spread across the UK from N Ireland to Kent.

We manage fine

That wasn't remotely obvious, no. And your explanation doesn't make sense either, because it doesn't address the fact that more remote working means more job opportunities for many disabled people. Legal protections didn't deliver that either, culture change did. Its one thing when a disabled person is already in a role with a remote contract, quite another at the application and recruitment stage.

That's great but you can't expect us all to come in to the office to keep you company

Those that needto WFH (for example people with disabilities) will obviously continue to be able to.

Just continue to be able to, or do you envisage making ongoing provision for disabled people when recruiting? I hope it's the latter.

I'm currently working for a major British org and in 1 day per week. Policy is 2-3 day per week in the office, but I work in a tech dept and they won't get software engineers etc in more than that when there are plenty of better paid/remote roles available. Flexibility and work life balance is what our place sells itself on.

In the process of moving roles and again role will be remote first, expectation to be in a couple of times per quarter (not in my local office). Large buildings being sold to save money and remaining spaces being reconfigured to suit ad hoc office days rather than big banks of desks for depts.

I love WFH but have purposely kept some flexibility in my schedule. Son still goes to after school 2 days per week and my new role has a local office if policy changes and I need to go in more frequently. I feel people that have moved hundred of miles from the office/bought a dog based on full time WFH forever have taken a big risk.

Judging by slowly increasing traffic at rush hours people are returning. It seems certain days are quieter so I suspect it's a mix

I don't think I could wfh as much as I do if I didn't have the space. I had a lodger during lockdown one of us worked in the kitchen and one of us worked in the hallway on a kitchen table. It was awful.

When they moved out I turned my spare room into a home office and have it all set up with two screens, keyboard, proper desk and computer chair. I have no spare room now but wfh is so much easier.

My mental health is infinitely better when I don't have to see my boss every day or spend it on the tube for a two-hour round trip or spend it in an open-plan office 🤷‍♀️

Why is it taking the piss to not switch your camera on or fit chores in around work? Working flexibly is a good thing and it’s ironic that you mention MH because being forced to sit with your camera on all the time can be extremely stressful for some people.

I carry out housework and sometimes pick up my children from school on days I WFH. I don’t consider it to be an issue as my work is always completed, I might have to work earlier or later than usual to catch up, but it’s done nonetheless. It’s definitely a problem if colleagues have to pick up the slack for someone who WFH but that should be effectively managed by management.

Nope they arent protected by law. There is nothing in law that says if you employ a disabled person who would be better at home that you have you have to let them work at home.

There is nothing in law that says if an employee develops a disability that working from home would help with you have to let them

They could argue its a reasonable adjustment, but at the moment you could also be sacked for having to many absences if you can't come into the office

And that's utterly ridiculous. But unsurprisingly people didn't give a shit about helping disabled people into work with remote working before the pandemic. And they are happy to go back to that after the pandemic.

But apparently the disabled people who want wfh to continue because its makes their life significantly easier who are entitled and only think of themselves Not the people like you who want to stop it altogether, you aren't the selfish one of course 🙄

Absolutely all of this

DS started his first graduate job in Sept 2020, so right in the middle of Covid. He left 2 years later having never been in to the office or met any of his colleagues in person. He worked from his bedroom the whole time. He's very much an introvert so rather liked this, but it wasn't good for him. It impacted his ability to develop an independent adult life. He left in the end because whilst the company was a good one, they weren't giving him enough direction or challenge for his career growth. I think this would have been different if he and his peers had been in the office, discussing issues and prospects face to face.
DS now works for a bank in Canary Wharf and is in the office 4 days a week. His team has a lot of long standing people who have a bit of a presenteeism attitude, but his floor is never more than 1/3 to 1/2 full.
Being in the office has forced him to break out of his bubble and learn about office culture, to meet senior people and get his face known and deal with challenges as they arise in a way he just couldn't do remotely. He chats to his colleagues and picks up all sorts of stuff that he would never do WFH where I think it's easy for junior or new staff to become a bit invisible.
For those with domestic responsibilities WFH is great but I agree with others, for young people or new joins it is not ideal - even if they don't see it that way. Hybrid and flexible working has to be the way to go.

So the reasonable adjustments that may help a disabled person need to be given to everyone regardless of whether it's in the best interests of the business? That doesn't help anyone.

Also managing absence when it relates to a disability is significantly different to other sickness absence and it's not easy to "sack" someone when there are reasonable adjustments that could have avoided their absence.

I get you're angry, maybe you've seen or suffered some injustice, but employment practices that don't provide adjustments for those who need it surely isn't something to aim for?

Yeah this stuff is so important. Young people learn at work through a sort of osmosis, don’t they? I got on in the early part of my career as much by simply being around more senior people and, say, getting chatty with Gail the CFO next to the coffee machine. I’m glad your son has moved on and found a job that pushes him a bit — his career will hopefully blossom due to it. (Although I know the Wharf World of finance is not without its challenges, not least of which presenteeism and no small amount of misogyny.)

It is actually in the interest of the business to have employees that are happy to work there. So flexibility for everyone should be absolutely something to aim for.

I started a new job recently and there was absolutely zero reason for anyone to be in our city office (that the idiotic management decided to move to during the pandemic) but one of the Partners insisted gor his whole team to work from the office from 9am 5 days per week with zero flexibility.. oh wait.. except for his wife (who had the exact same job as me and others in the team) could work from home full time. 😅 He also monitored anyone who came in at 9:05-9:10 like we were school children. Needless to say, I left and went elsewhere. As did many others.

Pre-COVID, I was adamant that WFH equated to skiving. Then COVID happened, and we all had to adjust overnight. My large, public sector employer rose to the challenge and it worked remarkably well. People who were previously diligent remained so, and those that had always been hard to contact didn't change. Nearly everyone found they could do their job just fine from home, however it's good to see people, so coming into the office 2 days per week suits everyone. I should also note that even when we're on site, it's a large site, so we still do Teams meetings with other colleagues who are also on site. So being 'in the office' doesn't always equate to seeing your colleagues because they could be in other buildings.

I should add that until we got our hybrid policy finalised, we couldn't recruit new staff. No one was interested in coming to us until we confirmed hybrid.

Thanks. He got a 50% increase in salary (which has all gone on rent!) and has now broken into the world of online dating!! But seriously, it's really important to understanding how careers and organisations work - that sometimes simply doing your job well is not enough. WFH can really induce a silo mindset.

I declined a tech job because of exactly that

We're getting into dubious territory deciding that other people are wrong about whether wfh suits them or not. I'm not talking about eg a manager who has stats on productivity, to be clear, but on broader statements about development and happiness.

I think in time when careers and jobs are be considered by young people the WFH angle will be part of the consideration process.

My DS1 loves building. He helped DH build our extension, but he absolutely hates being wet and cold. So he ruled out being a builder as a career.

One of my DDs has narcolepsy and had to take her cataplexy triggers into account when thinking about a career option.

Once companies, and industries, settle into a norm for them it’ll just be another thing people will consider when making decisions. People who don’t like blood don’t become phlebotomists, people who don’t want to wfh full time won’t apply to company X whereas folks who don’t want to be in the office full time won’t go for business Y.

It’s only causing hassles atm because it’s all new changes.

"Flexibilty" is different to permanent homeworking and I don't believe permenant homeworking oes make "most " people happy. It will suit some people, certain personality types well established in careers but it won't attract younger people in early careers. Hybrid yes, permanent WFH no. (Which is what OP was about)