To hope this completely changes the way society works? (working from home/non-essential travel)

[MoonBabysMagicalKalimba]

Disclaimer: Obviously this does not apply to those professions for which WFH will never be an option such as healthcare, retail, tourism & hospitality, and teaching/childcare

In the last few weeks, hundreds of organisations have had to devise and implement full WFH procedures. Many of these organisations had previously told employees that WFH was not possible or permissible, yet when the need arises, it clearly is.

If companies were to continue to allow this going forward, when this mess is all over, this could drastically change how we all work. No more ridiculous traffic in the mornings and evenings, no more hundreds and thousands of Londoners cramming themselves onto tubes and trains from 7-9am and 4-6pm simply to sit in offices all day. We are already seeing a huge reduction in pollution. The majority of the commuter traffic would be taken up by those aforementioned professions who physically need to go in to work, many of which work shifts anyway so we wouldn’t have these bottlenecks of ridiculous congestion morning and evening.

We also need to take a good, hard look at the hundreds of planes that fly around the world every week, of which probably a very decent proportion of passengers are business men and women travelling to other countries for meetings, interviews and conferences that they could most likely very easily attend via video link. Obviously this will not be the case for all business trips and some will be crucial to attend in person, but I think we could lose a decent chunk of them.

These changes would also drastically improve workers mental health and work/home life balance, I’m already seeing it with some colleagues who by losing their daily commute are having an extra 1-2 hours in bed and feeling the benefits to their health. There’d be more time to exercise, and catch up on home chores and admin during lunch breaks. This would also enable parents to drop off/pick their children up from school more often. Obviously this would be when things are more “normal” and children are back in nursery/school and not at home!

I’m not saying everyone with a desk/office job should WFH full time, as there will be those who prefer to go into the office. But a balance could definitely be met. Some could WFH FT, some go into the office FT, and the majority do a combination of both on a rota system. Even these small changes could have a huge impact on the environment and our health.

If this shit situation has taught us anything, it’s that there is absolutely no need for thousands of office workers to travel to and from work, creating or contributing to pollution and congestion, simply to sit at desks behind a screen all day.

Thoughts?

I agree.

Fully agree - but I have been 99% WFH for the last 7+ years

agree, so much time is wasted commuting and so much pollution unnecessary

Absolutely, hopefully employers will realise that it’s actually not a detrimental as they imagined and offer WFH where possible as standard.

Totally agree.

I work from home a lot, but what you aren't considering is the businesses and employers that rely on the commuter and working public. How do they adapt?

The trains, bus etc staff, drivers, assistants, ticket sellers
The sandwich shops and vans
The newsagents, cafes and retailers at stations
Businesses involved in ancillary services like Oyster card manufacturers and ticket machine/barrier repairs, uniform suppliers, training providers
Even down to things like workwear clothing businesses, dry cleaners, fuel station staff.

I'm not saying change is a bad thing, but its not as simple as it sounds because of the knock-on effects.

Yes. Or at least I hope so.

That people get that education needs humans in front of humans.

I totally agree.

6 years ago I set up my own business and was told on more than one occasion I would suffer by working fully from home, not having premises etc. This hasn't proved to be the case for me at all.

We'll need to - there's no way we can still afford big infrastructure projects like extra runways, motorways or railway network now, the alternative is to reduce demand.

I agree I do think more people can work from home . In my office currently closed and I'm furloughed but there are many that wfh I'm not one of them.
Just before the lockdown wc 16th March when Boris said wfh if possible I expected my office to follow this but it was the opposite as they were in for meetings regarding the situation.
I noticed the traffic was a hell of a lot quieter though where my commute to work is very congested.

I think more flexibility should be applied for childcare too so if you need to do school run then do the hours at home .

My mental health has been fucked by this and it's only been a week. I need a reason to get up and out and into the world. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Some people need physical human interaction to keep engaged with life. Lots of people struggling with MH already.

Work is known to be beneficial for a number of reasons. Mental health. Physical activity, my daily commute involves 9000 steps which I have to do regardless.

For all those who would be happy to WFH, there would be others who would find it isolating and lead to ill health.

Also agree with the point re the impact on businesses etc. The transport system would be enormously reduced I imagine.

Maybe that's selfish though.

I think that would be sad though, we will end up being so insular no one ever really interacts with people face to face. Some jobs can work fully from home, others are 'making do' for now, like mine. There is work to do, but we can't do everything that needs to be done, and it isn't sustainable. I think more flexibility is a good thing though.

I totally agree.

I’ve worked from home full time in tech sector since 2009 and I also think that the swift mass enablement of home working in response to cv should be really beneficial for everyone - and the environment - as we move beyond the current situation.

My boss has always encouraged work from home for office staff as it allows a huge saving in rental costs. Works for me, for all the reasons op outlines.

I think things need to change drastically to avoid climate crisis and now is the ideal opportunity to do it. I know that means job losses which is horrible, but the alternative is worse.

As an option, rather than a rule though

It would be good if WFH becomes at least an option.
My husband has worked from home for the past two weeks. He says he’s ended up doing around an extra four hours work a week as he hasn’t had to commute on public transport as he used to.
I’m more productive working from home, but then my job is more flexible anyway and I’ve often worked at home at least a couple of days a week.

I would say that less people will want tow work from home in the future. They will value the social interaction of work at a location above the convenience of working from home.

Yes, I agree - however this also may mean a lot of companies realising they don't need an office in the UK at all, and their work could be off shored to someone much cheaper elsewhere in the world.

I totally agree. Dh already worked from home for about half the week and it makes our life so.much easier. He can collect dd from school and have dinner ready. He usually finds time to peg out a load of washing or run the vacuum round. We all benefit from it.
I am a teacher so it isn't really an option for me long-term.
The reduction is pollution is essential if we are to combat global warming. Also I hope employers and employees will realise that if someone has e.g. a cold they can wfh instead of spreading their germs all round the office and public transport.

DH is hopeful it might mean all office staff having their own work laptops rather than a few to share, with docking stations in the actual office. Would actually make their jobs a lot easier... Sometimes when visiting other offices they need to find spare computers no one is using to do their work. (Can't be done on a standard laptop)

It's interesting as I also thought this might hopefully cut the need for so many face to face meetings esp involving travel etc but I think there is room for both. A lot of people I know used to WFH part of the week but enjoy the interaction with work colleagues on the days they were "in".
You might hope that if we all WFH then we would have more time for leisure activities/meet friends for drinks etc but a lot of places would rely on lunchtime trade from offices, or after work drinks. They might not be viable businesses for the "occasional meet up with friends"
I also wondered whether big companies, if realising that majority of staff can WFH might not feel the need to spend a fortune on renting out enormous premises in prime locations.....but would we be then left with lots of empty buildings...?

Our org had already started working on 70% working in office 30% wfh where possible anyway, they are totally in to dynamic working where it is possible to do (some not so due to confidentiality issues, security issues etc). I only generally go in 3 days a week normally anyway as I enjoy the office also, wfh full time would be a bit much for me-maybe it is a wrong mindset and that may change or progress, but at the mo that is how I feel. I like the best of both worlds and that works well at the mo (when not in lockdown)

I would like to see a rise of dispersed co-working spaces also.

I.e. local hubs providing desk space and facilities on an as-need basis, within walking distance of homes.

This would suit the more extrovert, and also provide a locus for activities such as meetings/team working days that need staff present.

I would say that less people will want tow work from home in the future. They will value the social interaction of work at a location above the convenience of working from home.

My social interaction with the people I love and care about (other than the arbitrary collection of people I share an employment status with) is far more affected by my commute and life stresses than by anything else.

I can work from home 7.30-3.30 no problem and be with my friends easily after work for a few drinks (online). I'd love to make that a way of life. As it is, I spend 37.5h a week cooped up with people I didn't choose, and another 10-15h travelling and getting over the exhaustion of those 37.5h.

We'd need another study. We currently have one parent in the spare room/study and the other doing child duty but if they are watching TV they can use the dining table. But it's really uncomfortable!

Couldn't agree more. My employer is very resistant to homeworking although some staff (like my wretched boss) have more leeway than others. I hope it will remove some of the barriers so that staff could cooperatively mix being in the office for that contact, with working at home, avoiding the commute etc. Plus we hotdesk which is crap, and another reason to lighten up on this. I fear at the root of it is that some bosses don't trust their staff...