The working world has become ridiculous

[Rothschild]

Recently a manager at my company attended an online meeting in tears because of a minor issue regarding her child's school. She excused herself from the meeting and took a mental health day.

I can barely get hold of anyone at 3pm in my (large) organisation because everyone is doing school pick up. I don't believe they're getting much work done once they've picked up because they become hard to contact, don't respond to messages and won't attend meetings, despite it being their normal working hours.

It's ridiculous. When our children were small we paid for wrap around childcare or for someone to collect. We were available to work between 3 and 4pm and afterwards.

I'm not talking about anyone who has negotiated flexibility or finishes at 3pm, I'm talking about others who are, frankly, taking the piss.

And if I had taken a mental health day every time I'd had some difficulty in my life I'd have hardly worked.

Some people have to do pick ups and drops of even if they didn't wanted. In my area all the wraparound care was ended with covid and still today there is little to none.
Other than that I agree, some people just take the piss, but not all.

Having "absolutely no care" is unacceptable. People know when Christmas occurs. Those with children have the other 364 days to source paid carers, friends, family, the other parent, etc.

If working the occasional Christmas and Christmas Eve, or whatever, is a standard part of the job, those who can't step up to that shouldn't be taking such jobs in the first place. Same with other work requirements.

Nor teachers, nurses, shop workers, etc.

YANBU. I won’t win myself friends with this view, but working from home has made slacking off for various reasons far too easy.

I’ve heard friends, family, even ex colleagues say that they are going to an appointment/kid activity and will just move the computer mouse an hour each side of it. Very easy to get away with . Virtually no one will ‘police’ it.

I do things the old fashioned way, I can’t work from home and have never been able to so do 10-6 in an office (lab) 30 miles away 4 to 5 days a week. No running off by 3pm, no WFH. Have to use wraparound childcare, always have, no choice.
It can be infuriating how WFH often allows for a much more laidback kind of life.

Think you are thinking of the 50’s rather than than the 80’s/90’s. I went out to work (nhs) and so did the majority of women I knew. Many dads were pretty hands on did plenty of childcare.

Agree. My manager rarely appears before 9.30 and goes most days at 14.30:for the school run. He squeezes in meetings the rest of the time so he’s almost always unavailable. Mine are grown now but I was never allowed that kind of behaviour back then. I had to use childminders, breakfast clubs and after school clubs. Winds me the fuck up but no one seems to question any of it.

contractual obligation

Exactly - if you are supposed to work from X time to Y time and you don't, you are not abiding by your contract. It's not for you to decide whether you've done enough work or not, for the day. So many entitled people who sing one song at the interview stage, then leave their supposed work ethics at the door once hired.

pick up on a wfh day I have to go at 4pm.

We can’t afford to move closer to work.

I would also say there is no point me busting a gut as none of the people above me will retire. They’re happy coasting along on massive salaries. They try and push RTO but they get free parking at the office, no young kids and live in big houses near the office.

It’s not fair to judge when often (at least in my experience) you came of age in a completely different world.

I should say I come back to work after I’ve sorted my kids by about 7 🙈

NHS do give generous sick pay, but they also monitor you when you are off sick. I have twice had to have a few weeks off sick due to serious medical issue and surgery while working in NHS. Human Resources and my line manager were in regular contact and I was required to see Occupational health on return. You are certainly not left to your own devices, they want you back at work asap.

I do breakfast and after school but it still mean on office days I don’t get there until 945 and pick up on a wfh day I have to go at 4pm.

You would dislike me!

Holding women back.

I started my working life in the 1970s and watched as conditions and workplaces improved to enable women to work and have families.
In the 70s most women I worked with left work when they had a baby. Not because they didn't want to work but because there was no such thing as childcare or part time work.
The employer started to allow part time work and opened a nursery and hey ho they retained lots of skilled women instead of having to recruit and retrain.
When I had my DC they also allowed part year contracts. I worked part time for five years then full time for term time. It was a logistical nightmare as a manager with so many working patterns but it was a great and flexible job. There was never any WFH but there was flexi time which was monitored. I would start work early and leave early but there was a rule that you had to be present between certain times.

There comes a point though where flexibility is abused and everyone loses out.

Do you have flexi time in your organisation? People finishing at 3 or picking up their kids is common in mine, but people start at 7 to enable it.

I am currently working a contract where it seems that no one is available as they all work from home. One woman has a message saying that she no longer answers telephone calls or teams as her child may be sleeping and she needs to keep the noise down so please Only email - I emailed her 3 days ago and she still hasn't replied; no one seems to be answering mobile phones as whenever I ring someone it goes onto voice mail, one Dept Head finally answered after 3 calls to tell me she was currently at Bluewater, Christmas shopping and that she'd call me back and then never did. Another guy sent me an email saying 'I'm so busy which is why I am working from home this week, do you mind contacting Tracey.' Tracey is the woman (see second sentence) not taking calls.

I've been hired to investigate enquiries & complaints... Oh the irony!

Post Covid, the workplace has certainly slid. Incidentally, I asked one of the other temps if there was any Christmas Party and she said that as far as she was aware nothing had been organised.

People shouldn't be bothered about colleagues using hybrid working/ working from home for dog care, child care and general skiving on its own, BUT if that results in a lack of availability and productivity, then there is a problem.

Any decent workplace should have checks and balances in place to deal with this. You are either doing your job are you aren't.

I know many colleagues who can be ' present' on campus, but do sweet bugger all. Presenteeism is a red herring, it means nothing without productivity and engagement.

Good job it wasn't irony then. There are loads of free courses online to brush up on your reading comprehension and basic understanding if you're finding it's a problem for you in other areas.

People should either a. care for their own kids & not work whilst they are doing this or, b. pay someone to care for their own kids whilst they are working. My DH works from home and he works solidly 8.45- 5.30 and we don't really see him except if he pops down to make a cuppa. He doesn't have a lunch break unless he has 45 mins between meetings for a brisk walk. He works very hard from home and doesn't take the piss. He isn't doing the sch run or going to appointments except urgent doctors once in a blue moon.

Letting people work from home has to be one of the worst and most stupid decisions ever. Licence to skive for far too many

He might be gaming though or scrolling reels. Of course he isn't going to pop out to hoover the living room!

I think the problem is on both sides, so on the one side people take more and more liberties. And show less and less commitment, doing things in a perfunctory fashion.

And on the other side, the demands are becoming more and more ridiculous, powered by grandiose words lacking an substance. With unachievable deadlines and unrealistic expectation of workload, with pushback just ignored. Exceptional performance is rarely rewarded and the threat of redundancy is always round the corner. You look at the miserable lives of senior leadership and any ambition evapourates.

I think there needs to be a reset. We have the wrong types of people at the top. We need there to be realistic commitments that are kept to on both sides, a genuine sense of community and consequences for both if there are commitments are met.

As it is, it sometimes seems just a race to see who can get one over on the other.

It's both actually. The fact that the private sector has recovered pre Covid productivity levels while the public sector has not is not entirely due to lack of investment in "excavators".

Over the years I tried out more childcare solutions than I care to think about. When my mum could no longer help I formed an arrangement with a couple of my kids friends parents to swap pick up days ( i.e I would leave work early on a Tuesday so I’d get 3 or 4 kids instead of 2 and take them back to mine until 5.30 ish. Kids loved it, and I’d get other days reciprocated .
My colleague acts like it’s the most impossible burden if he has to come to an in person meeting or event on one of his pick up days, and his wife ends up swapping her days at work. I just want to say, for Gods sake, this happens at least once a month, have some gumption!

That's a' you' problem then isn't it?

Instead of being jealous and sniping at people WFH, get yourself a job that allows it if it infuriates you, otherwise I'd suggest minding your own business?

Meh. I'm one of those people. Since I went part time progression has totally stopped, as have pay rises. I know there's no room for progression now and yearly pay rises don't keep pace with inflation. I often pick my kids up from school. I'm not paying 25quid for after school club each day when I can collect them myself.
If I need to do extra work later I can do, but generally I can squeeze it into the rest of the working day. I try to slot meetings earlier in the day, and if I can't I ask DH to pick up instead. Loads of people in my company operate like this and the company ticks by just fine. Probably lots of happier children as a result too.

I bet you are a joy to work with. Don’t judge others until you have walked a mile in their shoes.

The wellness-obsessed workplace has become an ersatz social services. It's ridiculous. It's hopefully just a phase that will lose its momentum, like the hideous wokery that seems to have finally died a death.