To relish the prospect of wfh forever?

[yippityboomdeboom]

Pre-pandemic my department all worked from home 2 days a week and from the office for the other 3. It now appears they are going to downsize the office and we will likely work from home permanently, coming in only if we have a large meeting to attend.

AIBU to be thrilled at this prospect?? The thought of never having to deal with going into the office again has me salivating. No commute, no awkward chit chat at the water cooler, no eating lunch from a Tupperware, no getting dressed when you don't feel like it, no worrying who can hear you shitting in the toilets(!!). Always being home for parcel deliveries, to keep the dog company, when the kids are sick and need to stay home. BRING IT ON. Who's with me?

Me! similar where I work and I cannot wait!

I'm with you but.
OK the "but" is that I retired a few years ago and I miss the banter, the spontaneous "lets go to the pub after work"
I think there are pros and cons of working in n office vs working from home.

I think it will be a revolution of sorts - I cannot wait.

YANBU. I'm so jealous. Hoping that we will be allowed a couple of days a week at home long term but I'm not holding my breath.

God, I miss the canteen so much.

Wtf is with having to make my own breakfast and lunch?

@Paul72

I'm with you but. OK the "but" is that I retired a few years ago and I miss the banter, the spontaneous "lets go to the pub after work" I think there are pros and cons of working in n office vs working from home.

Aye but you can have banter with people talking over Skype/Microsoft teams etc, if you've retired it's not the same as you'll be having no contact at all!

And I have nursery pick ups to do (and a car to drive home), spontaneous pub trips are already a pipe dream

I've WFH for years and much prefer it to wasting time and money going into an office. And it is much easier when you need to order something and don't have to worry about when the delivery arrives.

Surely it depends what your set-up is? We are 5 people in a 3bed house. We do not have a separate office at home. I cannot work effectively at the dining table as 3 small children running around. So I work perched on our bed like a teenager revising.

It's bloody awful, frankly!

YABU. I'm really missing the office and the exercise I got on the commute, happy to wfh 2, 3 or even 4 days but I'd like a reason to leave the house please.

I'm hanging on at home for as long as I can 🤞
I'm saving over two hours a day that I used to spend driving, I'm saving money and can now wake up at a reasonable hour.

I’m loving it! I returned to work from maternity leave, straight into a lockdown//wfh scenario and am really enjoying it. I’ll enjoy it much more when the baby is at childcare and I can have a bit more time to myself.

I’m part time over 4 days with 2 a week from the office

I’m very sociable and in my 20’s loved being in an office and had a busy social life with work colleagues now I’m pushing 40 the team is tiny, people have moved on socially and love not commuting, getting the washing done and really want a dog so if I was home FT I wouldn’t care

Looks like my husband will be permanently wfh too from now on, and he loves it. He says he’s much more productive without the office distractions.

I think it’d be different if we had small children.

@JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff

Surely it depends what your set-up is? We are 5 people in a 3bed house. We do not have a separate office at home. I cannot work effectively at the dining table as 3 small children running around. So I work perched on our bed like a teenager revising.

It's bloody awful, frankly!

You are right about the space, we have a separate study as I knew I'd be working from home a bit when we chose the house which is massively fortunate now!

Don't forget that when things finally return to normal though the kids won't be running round they'll be at school! Can't wait for my husband to return to the office so I don't have to do shifts in the study

YANBU - I genuinely would love it. So much more peace and quiet. I'm crossing everything that they think us WFH forever would be a huge costs savings and give it the go ahead.

No more crunchy noises at the desk
No more fish/curry/egg smells from the lunch kitchen
No more ogling at what I'm having for lunch
No more tip tap nail talons on the keyboard
No more passive aggressive opening and shutting of the window

@Campurp

I’m loving it! I returned to work from maternity leave, straight into a lockdown//wfh scenario and am really enjoying it. I’ll enjoy it much more when the baby is at childcare and I can have a bit more time to myself.

Exactly the same for me. Except my baby's just finished her first full week at nursery and let me tell you, having childcare while you work is WONDERFUL. Hope you get it sorted soon

Fuck no hate it....hate being in my own home every friggin day its like groundhog. Hate how much more food we eat and just not getting out. Enjoyed nipping to town on lunch to buy a pressie. Seeing colleagues and getting a break from my god dam kids. You appreciate them so much more when they arent under your flippin feet every second. I have not worked FT for years and maybe thats the difference.

No more getting judged when I can't make it till 12 to eat my lunch
No more freezing to death because they refuse to turn the heating on till mid October

Jesus no! I absolutely hate working from home. Too many people, laptop on my knee or on kitchen table, everything on Zoom, no human interaction, no quick conversations to resolve things, no spontaneity, no banter....its massively affecting my mental health and my productivity. I HATE it and cant wait to get back.

Yes me. I am on mat leave. I cried with relief the day I finished up because I wouldn’t need to spend time in our toxic office being subtly bullied on a daily basis and I could have a break from it all.

I was dreading going back but now everyone is WFH I’ve heard there’s a chance they will give up the huge city centre office and let everyone wfh permanently.

I actually want to go back now!

No more sitting with a bunch of what are essentially complete strangers having to tell them about your life every day.

No more anxiety about phoning in sick knowing as soon as the phone goes down you’ll be bitched about for skiving.

No more being shouted at or called out over a minor issue because the boss is in a terrible mood.

No more getting dirty looks for taking your lunch hour or daring to go outside for a walk.

No more negotiating a vile shared toilet.

No more office queen bee strutting about in her best outfit every day while I sit there in Uggs and leggings feeling like I can’t do my job because my face (and body) doesn’t fit.

So many benefits for me. I’ll be able to actually get on with doing my job and might finally be judged on my work rather than my appearance and the people I am friends with.

We've been told that we'll be working from home into next year at least. I really hope it's made permanent, it's my dream. I love it for all the reasons already stated. I've never had my social needs met at work so that aspect doesn't bother me at all.

It doesn't even make sense to drag people into an office to sit at desks for an arbitrary set of hours, harrumphing about their timekeeping if they arrive at 9.03am.

Humans are bonkers.

WFH full time (with DH doing the same) is driving me slowly insane. I appreciate the financial saving and the time saving but I miss the social interaction of being in the office (communicating via Teams just isn’t the same) and I miss the natural rhythm and structure of the day when I work from elsewhere. I hope we go back to a split 2/3 days at home 2/3 days not. But I don’t think we’re going anywhere for a while.

Wow, some of you work in horrible offices! I actually like the vast majority of my colleagues!