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?

Dh works for a global company, he works from home with very occasionally days in the office, once a month or so. He isn’t client facing, everything done in the cloud, seems to work from home very successfully and him and his boss aren’t expecting it to change any time soon, he is part of a big team uk and global and they are all working from home.

But hasten to add, it suits DH perfectly, he has done the drinking sessions after work, working the ridiculous long hours, falling asleep on the train home and waking up in a completely different station. Do feel sorry for the kids just starting out

Since Covid, DH is wfh 3-4 days a week and in the office 1-2 days (before Covid he rarely wfh), and that's still the case. I'm mainly back on site now and have been for a while.

Often wondered why firms would keep paying for presumably expensive offices when most staff were wfh. And to keep them open for just a couple of days per week for workers seems odd. Would assume they’d want to do one or the other. Maybe there are tax breaks for employers?

There will be some working from home for quite a while yet for me as the NHS Trust I work for have reduced estates during the last 3 years so fewer places to work!

I mean my job has always been field based.
So I’ve been WFH for 10 years.
And I’ve had a pay rise every year because my work is of a high standard.

What I have noticed, is that many people seem to think WFH is some new concept brought about by Covid and don’t even seem to realise that there’s lots of us that have had WFH jobs for a long time before Covid hit and have performed absolutely fine….

We have to come in twice a week if full time, once a week if part time. Fine with me.

Exactly. I’ve worked from home for 10 years, starting with Skype and moved over to Zoom about 7 years ago. Trained so many people on Zoom during the pandemic 😂

We have had a virtual office for years and always used to keep it a bit quiet that we all WFH as worried people might think us a bit tinpot. Don’t need to hide it any more as it’s the norm. I just don’t get why especially small businesses pay for office space, such a massive waste of money - and time spent travelling.

We speak to each other by Zoom etc every day and meet up F2F in London once every few months for a nice lunch.

It’s very civilised and we all work really hard. It helps that the boss is super respectful and trusts us all.

Me and DH both have to work minimum of 3 days in office.
My friend is permanently wfh now. Her DH could be too but he does 2 days in office.

Civil Service here - expectation is 2 days a week in which is what I do. I'm disabled and going in 5 days a week would be around £50 a week in travel costs for me.

However, it's flexible - for example I live with my mum and grandma. Grandma had major surgery yesterday so I've worked from home this week so I can pick up calls from hospital if mum isn't available. I'm also able to WFH during a small training academy, so that when mum goes back to work from leave, grandma isn't left on her own.

Same with bad weather, I really struggle in snow but as long as I let my team leader know, it's absolutely fine for me to stay at home.

Productivity wise, it's about equal for me.

We’re almost 100% in the office and new recruits don’t have hybrid offers. A few people choose to wfh 1 day a week which is useful if report writing etc. We have amazing free lunch, coffees etc and it’s very sociable. And regular pub nights.

I come across recent grads applying for internships and this year more places are saying 3-4 days in the office whereas a year ago it was the other way round. Young adults can’t afford to rent a space that gives 4 or 5 housemates enough room to all wfh and can’t afford to sit in cafes all week.

DH is wfh 3 days but travels a lot and that’s busier again. He would be back in more but they’re waiting to move office.

Same with my bosses. They trust us and know we’re capable of managing our own diaries and workload. We have Teams Meetings and F2F meetings. In fact I’ve just come back today from a 2 day conference with my entire department. I conduct interviews every day over Teams (I work in in-house recruitment) and over the phone.

My job is field based, as are my colleagues. Our one and only head office is 100 miles away from where I live. And we all cover certain regions around the UK.
So we have to WFH, as we have to be able to get around our regions.

Our team is very well respected in the company and trusted to deliver.

Works very well for us and has done for many many years!

Companies in London that I deal with are mostly hybrid 2-3 days in office which is perfect

Our offices were closed and sold off during covid so we continue to WFH. One face to face meeting weekly which is optional.
We have access to hot desks but hardly anyone uses them.
Hybrid working is the new normal I think, rightly so too!

I just feel so sad for people entering the workforce now. Admittedly, I enjoy the hybrid model now I'm in the middle of my career, but how will new starters learn how their workplace works and how to work. They won’t be able to enjoy after work socials, ask quick questions, meet colleagues or just generally absorb knowledge. In my early career I wouldn’t have survived working from home with no social interaction other than online. It’s going to affect them all so much and I think we’ll pay the price with higher churn and less knowledgeable, engaged and most importantly happy employees

I’m not going back to the office. Have only gone in for one meeting since covid

Really, I think that has been some analysis done on civil service and working from home and how it is failing and showing to be less productive. In my organisation. I work with someone who's wife is in the civil service and I often wonder when she or the children are ill does she ring in sick or takes leave🤔Also how does GDPR work in home offices for the civil service and NHS workers?

That’s a disproportionate reaction. Fortunately my employer does not see red over my working habits and associated performance, quite the opposite. Do you know how many people spend hours scrolling through social media apps whilst sat at their desk? Staring into space? Watching TV? Is it okay if they’re on a call in their study not paying attention but not okay if they’re totally focussed and concentrating on the conversation, whilst occupying their hands with something that takes no mental capacity?

The worst part about your anger is that there is a point to be made, but it is misdirected. It isn’t about the people who are doing the mental parts of their work away from their desk, it’s about the people who aren’t actually working and fly under the radar because they’re at home and can’t be seen.

I don’t think your second point was directed at me so not going to defend myself on that one, but have a think about whether your objections are based on sound logic or whether they’re based on appearances only.

Then you don’t work I the same area as me ! I have NEVER been so busy .. I have literally just logged off at 9pm having started at 7:30 am .. which is beyond ridiculous..

Hopefully there are enough managers for all those graduates and who don't refuse to go into the office....

What on EARTH are you talking about?! If you consider “life” to be spending nearly 20 hours a week unnecessarily on public transport commuting like drones, which I may add, is bad for your health to be “life” then you seriously need to get a one (a life) yourself! That’s honestly the saddest most depressing comment I’ve ever read. Christ! so glad you’re not my boss … how boring must life be ….

DH is still wfh and absolutely no plans to go back in the office. Actually they’ve downsized the office space and only 1/3 is available so even if they wanted to, it couldn’t happen!

I work for a very small company and we’ve been told we’re back in 3 days per week now. I don’t see the benefit really, im getting the same amount of work done. New head is quite old school though and a bit of a micro manager so I think that’s where that came from.