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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think I’ll never be going back to the office again?

152 replies

BirdieFriendReturns · 28/05/2020 10:58

I’m in the civil service and we’ve been told we aren’t going back this year? You CAN go into the office if you can’t work from home but we are meant to be WFH.

I keep reading on here that people are being told they are never going to back to the office.

Is this the end of offices then?

OP posts:
cheeseismydownfall · 28/05/2020 14:00

I work for a small company (around 12 permanent staff) and we have already decided that we won't be going back in the same way again. We've already terminated the lease on around 50% of our office space.

For us, I think the future will be WFH as the default, with a smaller office space as a base when we need to come together or host client meetings.

We are in a small business centre and I know we are not the only company to have already made the decision to maintain WFH irrespective of the lockdown.

Overall I think it is a good thing and we are all happy. It will be even better when the kids are back at school and I can work in peace!

Hopeislost · 28/05/2020 14:06

Our office (like many) has hot desking, so with the new guidelines, we will only have space for a quarter of our staff. A suggestion has been made that each department could have an allocated day each week where they come in, but many public transport users are reluctant to travel.

user1635482648 · 28/05/2020 14:07

WFH as an employee is not running a business.

gumball37 · 28/05/2020 14:09

@BirdieFriendReturns

It also seems a bit mad that if shops, hairdressers and schools are open, office working will still be banned. 🤷🏻‍♀️
But offices are like petri dishes. Everyone packed together for 40 hours a week. Not like the other businesses where it's short bursts of contact.

I wfh all the time now because I moved last summer 2 hrs away from my company... But when I was working there once one person got sick it spread like wildfire.

TommyShelby · 28/05/2020 14:11

Civil service here too - we’ve been told to plan for at least 6 months wfh but they are estimating at least 24 months!

peachgreen · 28/05/2020 14:18

Yes, we've been told we'll be WFH until at least the end of September and after that they will be looking at new ways of working. I suspect we'll always have an office but we'll hot desk and most people will WFH. Not sure how I feel about it as I love my colleagues and my office but my work/life balance is definitely better WFH.

Original poster
BirdieFriendReturns · 28/05/2020 14:20

2 years WFH???

Wow.

OP posts:
dicksplash · 28/05/2020 14:26

My husband is back end NHS and they have started talking about working from home on a part time basis. I work in a school but can do my job from home. I suspect I will be required back at some point but I'm hoping to work from home as long as I can.

Livpool · 28/05/2020 14:27

My team have been told we are officially classed as flexible but can wfh or office-based. We are phase 3 to go back and phase 1 haven't gone back yet so not holding my breath.

My DS starts school in September so I would actually be happy to wfh permanently

Livpool · 28/05/2020 14:29

My DH is Civil Service and going in 1 day a week and wfh the rest of the week

Echobelly · 28/05/2020 14:39

I don't expect to return to my office this year - we actually have a lot of space that's underused and own our offices, so spacing out might not be an issue, but the problem is that they are in central London and not accessible without public transport except for a few people who could walk or cycle.

I work for a built environment organisation, so we are talking a lot about the future of offices! I think, in the near term at least, we may see people moving offices out to local hubs that are more easily reached. Any office more than 4 or 5 storeys tall will be in real trouble, as lifts are a bit of a no-no at the moment

DH and I were talking about it, and as he says, a lot of the work we are both doing from home via 'meetings' would be much better covered with everyone in one room for half a day than lots of separate calls, so the office does have a purpose.

I would like to go back to the office, and I guess when we know more about how to manage things, probably some time next year, I'll be back

AnnaNimmity · 28/05/2020 14:41

most of my colleagues don't want to go back. we'll be looking at working differently going forwards.

It's worked well for us - people have avoided the commute and saved money. I think we have to learn from this experience.

TitsInAbsentia · 28/05/2020 14:42

@manitobajane Thu 28-May-20 13:55:44
If people are WFH long term does that affect house insurance? Mine says I can't run a business from home.

It means you can't set up and run your business from home, but you're fine if you are en employee. If you've had to abandon premises and continue at home then you'd need to change your policy.

Dk20 · 28/05/2020 14:45

I work in finance.
We sit in rows of 3 and before lockdown only 1 person could sit in each row to have the correct social distancing.
So it will be a long long time before everyone will be allowed to go back.

The company are going to make provisions to bring back those who are really struggling with WFH when allowed, after that they arent in a rush for anyone to go back to the office.

Even with the strict social distancing and cleaning etc in place, Covid-19 still go around the office in early March.

pennylane83 · 28/05/2020 14:46

I think with the rush to get eveyone working from home that important things such as GDPR ect have taken a bit of a backseat but when things are back up and running normally workplaces will realise that having everyone working from home just isn't feasible (on the odd occassion yes but not all day everyday). I bet no-one has considered whether they have the appropriate business insurance to work from home (yes, you need to check what your own home contents covers etc as you may need to take out an additional policy) and has anyone actually had a workspace health and safety check in the home to ensure they are sat at an ergonomic desk with the appropraite chair and equipment and have privacy and lockable spaces for data sensitive information etc. Has everyone been provided with a work laptop/computer or expected to use your own and if so, is your antivirus up to spec etc. Are you using a usb stick. The minefield of issues goes on and on ....

CornishPorsche · 28/05/2020 14:48

Civil Service here - not been told any such thing. I'm on the group looking at returning to the office, and we've identified ways to do it but with 4/5 people at a time rather than the 14 we could normally have (out of the 32 of us - bloody hot desking).

RicStar · 28/05/2020 14:55

I think things will get back to normal at some point, may be not soon. It's really hard to onboard colleagues remotely / get to know a team / train and develop- not impossible but much harder than in an office. Then there are young folk in house shares without good spaces to work, and patchy internet, and so on. I think some greater flexibility might last but I expect the bums on seats mentality will slowly build again.

AnnaBanana333 · 28/05/2020 14:58

I work in construction. Several clients have already cancelled proposed office builds because they can see the market for office space is going to be severely reduced in the future.

WhatWouldDominicDo · 28/05/2020 14:59

@SorryImNotCreative

I’m in the private sector working for a large company - around 3,000 staff, majority office based.

We’ve been told that we won’t be going back for the foreseeable future, and it looks like we’ll have more options to work remotely regularly once we do go back into the office.

I think a lot of businesses will definitely downsize their office space, but I don’t think this is the end of offices completely!

I work for a building society, and we've been told similar. I can see us shedding some of our admin buildings over the next 12 -24 months, although there are a lot of customer facing, and other support functions who need a team presence in the office every day.
starfishmummy · 28/05/2020 15:14

DH is also Civil Service and has been told they won't be back for at least another 6 months. Part of me is glad because he has a long commute by public transport, but even though we have a spare room for him to work from it is not ideal for him to be here due to the confidential nature of his work.

AgentCooper · 28/05/2020 15:44

But offices are like petri dishes. Everyone packed together for 40 hours a week. Not like the other businesses where it's short bursts of contact

True, but it does feel like overkill to be thinking like this for the long term. Like we never see anyone outside family and social circle in order to never, ever get sick? Feels a bit Brave New World...

It’s a bit sad to think of all the friendships and romantic relationships that would never have happened without meeting people at work...

blackandredball · 28/05/2020 15:45

We're looking to return only those teams where onsite working is more productive and easier to manage, so our call centre. We've kept a skeleton postal staff but looking to digitise more and as much outgoing post as possible.

I work closely with our IT developers and I think remote working has increased productivity for them, collaboration has been easier using Teams rather than a combo of Teams and face to face. In the office is was akin to herding cats at times.

Whilst I miss the spontaneous office banter, there is nothing about my work that is improved by being in the office.

Original poster
BirdieFriendReturns · 28/05/2020 16:52

I wonder if anybody would notice if I moved to Australia for a few months and worked from home there?!

OP posts:
DontTouchTheMoustache · 28/05/2020 17:12

I love wfh, I can be far more productive (when ds isnt here especially) and as an introvert find that a lot of my social anxiety is eased off. I dont spend 2 hours per day sat in traffic and have time to exercise and get bits done around the house. I get more sleep and save a fortune on petrol, lunches, snacks and childcare.
For me there are no negatives but I know some people feel differently. I would be more than happy to be permanently wfh

user1635482648 · 28/05/2020 17:16

True, but it does feel like overkill to be thinking like this for the long term.

Presumably though you're saying that because you're one of the people for whom office environments were a positive thing, rather than being amongst the cohort who were made ill and miserable by having to work that way for no logical reason?

Why should we all spring straight back to a model that only ever worked well for some people and was never the sunlit uplands some posters would have us believe, instead of building a new model that is better for more people rather than one that exclusively meets the needs of the noisier, pushier bunch to the detriment of others?