Not sure if I want to work from home full time - would you?

[GymGirl23]

I work in a big office environment and most of us in my department have proved during the lockdown that we can work just as well from home if not better in some cases.

Heard today that we will be offered the opportunity to choose if we want to work from home full time, we'll be sent a memo about it soon. A lot of us aren't sure as it was fine when we thought it was for a certain amount of time before resuming our usual routine of commuting, looking around the shops at lunchtime, quick chats at the coffee machine and just having proper social contact. We've all worked together for years so have become good friends in the process. We also work effectively together as a team in person rather than on Zoom.

I spend 2 hours commuting each day but I actually find it relaxing as I read or listen to music. At the moment I'm working an extra 2 hours instead of commuting and working the other hours fully whereas in the office we tend to work 50 minutes out of each hour. I would miss the social contact and general banter. I think the novelty has worn off even though we do have a proper home office set up. There won't be an option to work 1 or 2 days from home and the other days in the office btw, it's basically home or office! Also I'm not getting paid for the extra 2 hours which I don't mind (and they haven't offered either) but if I was to work from home full time should I negotiate extra pay going forward as it's an extra 10 hours per week? What would you do? Really need advice on advantages and disadvantages! The one advantage is during the winter months not having to deal with cancelled trains due to a bit of snow and ice! DH works from home part of the week and kids are teenagers so not really distracting like small kids for context...

I wouldn't like to go to full time wfh. We are a small team and part of the support and learning across thecteam is listening to others and learning from their discussions. I would like us all to do say 2 days in 3 days out with the same two days in for all so we can interact- the office us large enough to do that

Initially I didn't like working from home - was really lazy about it over Christmas, but now work have set me up with home office, it's fine.
I was thinking I'd maybe work one day a week from the office (out of three) - that quickly went down to once a fortnight, and now I'm thinking once a month.

Mind you, when things are back to normal, I have a friend nearby with a training suite that's not used everyday, if I wanted, I could work from there half a day a week, just to get some social interaction.

If you don't mind me asking; those of you who can work from home full time what job do you actually do? Don't feel you have to answer btw! I work as a translator for a legal firm so technically I don't really need to be in the office apart from a few times a year... Just curious!

I have WFH full time for over a year now and I wouldn't do it by choice. Sadly our office was closed so we have to.

I didn't always get on with all my colleagues but I miss their company.

And I miss leaving the house every morning and experiencing life outside the village, beautiful and peaceful though it is.

Depends on your other social life

I think this is a good point ^
I don't rely on my colleagues for 'chit chat' or 'having a laugh'.

In our family everyone is involved in things outside work - we have meetings and events going on throughout the week in the evenings and at weekends. There are lots of people to interact with, throughout each week.
Also, I know my colleagues well - so if I want to ask 'a daft question' or have a rant or whatever, I feel 100% comfortable with e-mails / texts whatever - I don't think you'd have that if you always wfh, and don't know your colleagues well.

Yes.

No commute = 10 more hours of free time every week.

I would definitely choose wfh permanently if I can. Our organisation has said it will be for the foreseeable future and may be permanent for some but no definite decisions have been made yet. I love having no commute and actually seeing my kids properly during the week. I feel like I really needed this wake up call to realise the importance of a work/life balance and I really don't want things to go back to how they were.

I retired fairly recently but, when I was working, I did so at home 3-4 days with the other days in the office. One of the companies I worked at had local hubs you could work in so a very short journey from home but with all the support facilities. I hated commuting (c1.5hrs each way) and the delays and discomfort that often entailed.

I sometimes did work over my standard hours at home for specific project deadlines but often did so in the office also then had the commute so WFH was better as I was already home. And I didn't make that a habit and/or took the extra hours as time off in lieu of pay whenever possible. After all I wasn't being paid extra salary for the extra time worked nor got extra pension contributions etc.

On the days I was in the office I'd catch up with friends and other team members and get any IT issues sorted out.

When WFH I'd often use my "commute" time to do chores, go for a run/the gym/have a stroll/food shop, prepare dinner, etc or just sleep in a little longer. I also fitted in local dental or doctor visits so usually more time efficient.

Lunchtime in the garden if the weather was nice. In horrible weather I loved not having to trudge into the office.

Also not commuting in every day saved money on my work travel. My productivity went up and I was generally more relaxed/less tired.

The work I was doing varied over the years, from Secretarial/Admin to Project Management and WFH just made my life easier - especially as I tended to avoid the train delays "due to overrunning engineering works".

Only thing I'd say is to ensure your WFH setup is good, eg: good lighting, comfortable desk and seating, good internet/tech and to properly "sign off" on emails and phone at the end of the day otherwise you'd be at the beck and call of others not as organised as you!

@gymgirl23 I work in a support function in insurance.

That's the penultimate dream.

I would be happy too but I am an antisocial introvert

I don't know if I'll get a choice.
I imagine I'll be told I must WFH.
I imagine my boss will stay away, too, we can manage with telecons although there's a bunch of inconveniences to this.
If I were allowed back in office,
I don't want to wear a mask all day at work.
I don't want to be masked every time I pop to the loo.
I don't want to be forced to always drive to work.
WFH is bad for me but SD at work would be no better... so I'll probably stay at home, at least save on commuting costs.

I don't rely on my colleagues for 'chit chat' or 'having a laugh‘

Nor do I. But my social life is based around Central London, where I work. Not out in Zone 4 where I live.

I can't work from home forever. Once schools go back, I'll have to be back.

Dh could work from home 4 days a week, and he's looking into making this permanent. We both like the extra time he has, as he can do more stuff in the time he would normally be commuting.

I àm an accountant in industry. I can work from anywhere I can get power and an internet connection. I have found that during this time I have had better connection with people than I did when working in the office.

I work from home permanently, and have done for years. I have enough social interaction in my own life plus really good social interaction with my team mates (we all work remotely). I will never go back to working in an office.

I would ideally like a mix of work from home and office work as long as school resumed! If it was a more permanent thing I’d look to get a proper office somewhere in the house.

I personally would love to wfh full time. I could visit relatives and work remotely if there was a quiet space. It gives more flexibility, less wasted time/money on train (you are still paying half season ticket). Also easier to fit in visits to GP, shopping etc.

I guess it would depend on future career - can they guarantee you will have equal chance of promotion? Would that be important to you?

If you wished, you could arrange it so that you occasionally had dinner/lunch with work colleagues by travelling in For the social visit and making the time up later.

I have done it for a decade. I can’t imagine going back to an office. It would be awful.

I enjoy wfh but I need a lot of space for screens and books. Current setup on the dining room table is not good for the rest of the family. We'd have to rethink, and spend a bit of money to make it work long term.

I’ve done two days wfh and three in office for years now and it was a nice balance. My commute is 2.5 hours a day and the money saved on that has been good.

I miss the office chat and feel like I need that interaction but as DH pointed out last night, this situation is extreme wfh. After lockdown I can meet friends for coffee/lunch which would make wfh more bearable.

Regionally teams have the options of team/f2f support events, Christmas parties etc. Plus other social events like regional weekends away to coastal locations, theatres, spas etc.

This actually made me shudder.

I've wfh for five years so covid has made no difference to me. Work is an unpleasant necessity, nothing more. Socialising with colleagues is tragic.

I am a specialized programmer. Conversations to understand the task at hand, total focus to perform often multi-week task, and then conversation to report results. Even when I was in an office, I rarely spoke to anyone. It’s essential I be in the zone to work.