‘Work from home if at all possible’ yet managers are already planning to get us back in.

[Beenjuice]

Our team provides an email and phone service to customers who buy our products. We cleared out the office the day that boris announced lockdown, took all our gear home and apart from the little loss of service the day of the swap over have worked hard to keep the email responses dealt with and incoming phone calls answered.
We all thought we were doing as best a job as we possibly can - we know there’s been a small dip in the number of enquiries answered per day than usual but that’s due to the extra communication issues that working apart from one another brings.
Today we were given the heads up that it’s looking likely we’ll be back in the office from May 11th albeit spread apart. Apparently the dip in numbers of enquiries being sent has been noted by the powers that be above.
So what was the point of the last 4 weeks at home? A group of about 15 of us having to use the same office kitchen, loos, door handles, stair rails and other places.
So what’s changed? Why does the rule ‘work from home if you can’ no longer apply to us? And how can it be justified if we’ve just spent the past 4 weeks working from home! Our customers haven’t seen a drop in service just the number game from the people above.
AIBU?

Lockdown measures cannot continue forever. It just can't . It can be justified because your team hasn't been able to perform and upper management has decided that since your team can'not work efficiently from home so you have to be in the office

It sounds reasonable to me.

By May 11th we'll be almost at the end of this three week period and it's extremely likely that there will be some easing of the restrictions. I don't think you'll be the only people back in the office that week.

I do think it might be worth asking whether it would be possible for not all of you to be in the office - alternating office and working from home days, for instance, to make the social distancing easier in the space you have.

Wealth before health. Our team have busted a gut to make it work and because the ‘numbers’ have been affected then we have to expose ourselves to a higher risk.

Sounds to me like your management should be working on improving those communication issues.

I've wfh for 25 years, physical proximity to colleagues is really not essential for good communication.

My employer has made it clear that they are in no rush to get people back in the office, they now have nearly 70000 working from home, from their perspective everyone working from home is better than people off sick.

We all have to be exposed to the virus eventually.

The point of lockdown was to slow the spread, not stop it. Unless you are in a vulnerable category and should be shielding, you absolutely should expect that at some point you will get the virus. The goal is simply to ensure that there is enough medical provision available for all those who will need treatment at any one time.

The statement "work from home if possible" let's businesses get away with a lot of things and I think this is one of them. If it's affecting your team's performance, I think they have just cause to reopen the office.

We all have to be exposed to the virus eventually.

This is Tory propaganda BS and the reason why we're on track to be one of the worst affected countries.

OP should willingly trot off to work like a lemming instead of the company dealing with a slight loss of productivity? I don't think so and I wouldn't want to buy from any company that did that to their staff.

It depends. How was it phrased? Our work is making plans for how we transition back to working, and are asking questions about what people need etc. It doesn’t mean they’re going to rush us in; just means they want to be able to plan.

You office might be the same - if the lockdown is extended, then they’ll possibly say to continue working from home. They might just not want to get to the end of lockdown and then start planning on how to get everyone back in?

If you want to continue working from home then put a business case together. Would make more sense to alternate home and office so everyone doesn't all come down with it. Even socially distanced you can still spread it.

@Killerofmen that slight loss has a tendacy to become an avalanche of loss bankrupting a company.

Is it worth discussing with 'the powers that be' half the team in the office at a time - 1 week in - 1 week out or something similar.

Sell it to them on the basis that if someone in the team is infected, they still have half the workforce fit and healthy, whereas if you are all in then it is likely that you will all be ill and then they will be snookered.

that slight loss has a tendacy to become an avalanche of loss bankrupting a company.

There could be more of an avalanche if they go back and the distancing and hygiene measures (which themselves may impair efficiency) are inadequate and several of the staff get CV.

It is putting money first. You and your colleagues are dispensable.

"We all have to be exposed to the virus eventually.

The point of lockdown was to slow the spread, not stop it. Unless you are in a vulnerable category and should be shielding, you absolutely should expect that at some point you will get the virus. The goal is simply to ensure that there is enough medical provision available for all those who will need treatment at any one time".

Bull. Why? If social distancing, masks, gloves, wfh are all used there is no need for everyone to necessarily get it.

Our company has a decent sized customer service dept who are all working from home. We are meeting our SLAs easily and we have no intention of getting people back into the office for a good while.

Could you investigate IT solutions that could improve your efficiency while working from home and present them as an alternative solution that solves their problem and yours?

@ErolTheDragon...Not really. There are plenty of people out of work. OP can be replaced. The company as a whole not so much depending on how big the company is. OP's team is not doing what they need to do so this is their consequence for that

@ErrolTheDragon I don’t think you can make sweeping statements - communication hasn’t been an issue for you. However communication is a huge issue for a lot of industries who are having to learn new ways of working. I have found things are just not as efficient - some meetings are fine over the phone but some really need the people on the room.

We are missing out on a lot of informal information sharing. I learned more in the coffee shop across the road, or in the kitchen than I ever did in a meeting. Much more room for miscommunications now, and things are slightly more formal and fractious.

Working from home simply doesn’t suit every personality and every situation.

I wish people would stay working at home, my daily commute takes 10 mins at 5pm, used to take 50 mins

@Bobleywobley Because social distancing and useage of PPE is not sustainable for the long term. This virus is not going away. Its out. Its here and it will never go away

Most companies are planning to return staff at this stage.

My employers are looking to return people in stages, starting with those who have no access to work from home, then those who prefer to be in the office, and so on. Social distancing will be observed. Those who travel by public transport won't be returning imminently, likewise anyone with children or caring responsibilities, and of course anyone in the vulnerable category will be returning last.
Unless you're a permanent homeworker, this working from home is just a temporary arrangement and can't continue indefinitely, for any of us.

There are health and safety implications in allowing people to continue to WFH.
If you're a permanent homeworker your employer will have assessed your workstation, ensured you have a proper desk and chair.
Many people in my organisation are working sat on their bed using a laptop. As an emergency measure that's fine but it can't continue indefinitely.

So people go back and about 4 weeks after people return, we get a second peak of deaths.
This will kill people.

@jojobar Then this is large firms who have been told to do this by government. My small company has no plans.

I guess the idea is get people back to work who are furloughed, then those who volunteer to go back, then everyone else.
In about 6 weeks as deaths rise again a second lock down. We will be told this second peak was inevitable. It was not.

We will be told the only choice was all these people dying, or locking down for 2 years. That is also a lie. Treatment options are being developed all the time, a vaccine should be available by the end of the year.
People who are working from home should continue to.
But it is about money before lives.