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?

I've wfh mostly since 2007 and love it. It is the banter that I miss, but do accounts for a couple of small businesses and used to work for a huge international company, the banter and gossip there was News of the World standard lol.

I’d like a better balance. I’d still want to do two days a week in the office. We’re at a critical point in our calendar (academics) and scheduled Zoom calls are taking the place of quick ‘hey, what do you think about this...’ chats. Everything just feels a lot slower and kore turgid.

I have worked from home for 10 years nearly and it has many advantages. Just sometimes adult lonely. On good terms with the post lady and the local Hermes courier though!

DH is loving it, especially as we had a baby at the end of Jan. DS2 likes DH a lot more than DS1 did as a baby as he was out of the house from around 7.30-6.30 every day.

He is hoping for wfh permanently with maybe 1 or 2 days in the office per week. I'd love it too as it means we could buy somewhere a bit cheaper and therefore bigger if we weren't so dependent on being next to the train station.

I did used to think a couple of days a week in the office was the right balance but I've found I don't miss it at all. Granted I'm an introvert, don't miss the social interaction, and actually find it easier to message/give someone a quick call remotely than walking up to them in the office and starting a chat. I think going in once every few weeks for a meeting would be enough for me

I’ve been working from home for five years and I’m desperate to be back in an office again. I miss people, I miss having colleagues to chat to, I miss feeling part of something. I have a great boss and lovely colleagues, and we chat on the phone and by email, but it’s not the same.

Sadly I work in the arts, which has been decimated by the pandemic, so I’m afraid job opportunities are going to be thin on the ground for a long time yet.

No way. But then I love my colleagues and we have so much fun. I miss them. I will be home until Xmas probably longer, I think people who are at home all the time become really dull..

@SiaPR

No way. But then I love my colleagues and we have so much fun. I miss them. I will be home until Xmas probably longer, I think people who are at home all the time become really dull..

Not a problem for me. I'm already really dull

We are thinking of downsizing the office too - most of the staff don't want to come in full time anymore. I'm a bit torn as I really like the office. Getting out of the house. I think I've enjoyed being at home because the dcs are here, but if I was on my own, I'd find it really lonely.

Haha, me too! That’s why going to work is such a positive!

I’m London based and the main thing I’ve noticed is not missing the rat race and the money we are saving by two of us (me and husband) not commuting. Have been told we will be at home until Christmas but I’ll be going on maternity in November anyway!

Exactly the same thing is happening at my office. They resisted WFH for years and now realise it's great. They are ditching our big expensive office, getting a little hub where we can book a desk if we fancy going in but otherwise we're WFH permanently. Tbh it will make my life a lot easier in terms of just popping over the road to pick up the kids from nursery / school rather than sprinting out of the office, onto a bus and praying its not late. I can go for a 5k run on my lunch break, chop vegetables for dinner while I'm stuck on hold, play whatever music I want. I wonder if I'll get fed up with it. I do like my team a lot and I'll miss seeing them. There are some people I'm fond of in my office who I'll possibly never see again! Actually maybe at a Christmas party.

I've exclusively WFH for about 5 years (currently I'm part-time - 2 days per week) and now I have DH WFH, probably pretty much permenantly. He's delighted - no more commute, able to do jobs (repairing our fence on Friday!) during the day (he has a role where as long as the work gets done, there is no culture of presenteeism). I like him being at home in some ways, but I do feel a bit like one of those woman whose husbands retire and they complain they get under their feet! My study is now my DH's, so I work on kitchen table with the DCs. It will be better when they are back at school I suppose, and soon we'll be able to go out for lunches etc.

In our industry, they are planning to open up offices again - we have a great number of young graduates who need face to face mentoring, and also single people living alone. I wouldnt have wanted to leave university and go straight into working from home; it"s hard to make friends over Teams and you're losing a lot of the 'richness' you get from going out to an office.

We have a work WhatsApp and chat the usual shit on there all day which helps.

I know when our office reopens I'll want to go in once or twice a week for the variety, but only because I get cabin fever staying in one place for too long, not because I particularly love my colleagues. They're ok, but mostly pretty boring. I can't believe the PP that thinks people get dull staying at home - what the hell is interesting about office life?!

WFH only works if you’ve got space to do it in though. I’m lucky - I have - but I’d still far rather be in the office.

For people who live in shared houses where five people are trying to work on one broadband connection, compulsory WFH would be pretty shit. Or lodgers - a few years ago I’d have been stuck sitting on my bed dialling into meetings on my phone because the broadband was so crap.

I have predominantly wfh for nearly 15 years. I love it. I couldn't go back to an office. I think that it works well for me because my work is fairly self-directed, I can do the school run, pop out for class assembly, go on school trips for the whole day and no one cares. We are encouraged to take advantage of the flexibility. Some of my colleagues I have never met but we still get on really well. In terms of socialising I do that with local friends who I have met through hobbies, school etc. I might pop out for coffee once children in school, then come back and work. The downside is that because my work is flexible I do sometimes need to work evenings and weekends to get the job done, dh sometimes moans about this but I couldn't run the house, look after the dc and earn what I do without some compromise.

I will say though that wfh is far harder in lockdown with the whole family here, so don't just base your experience on that.

No, sounds like my idea of hell. I like seperating work and home, seeing colleagues, the routine. Only a 5 minute walk as a commute though.

I feel mixed, I don’t miss the commutes and early starts, stress of rushing home for school pick ups. But I miss the social side of work. I think two or three days at home a week would be ideal for me.

What jobs do you all do, if I could be nosy? I'd give my left tit to WFH. Dreading going back.

I'm WFH and I love it (work for a bank).

Prior to Covid I was knackered and stressed. Slept badly, always making lists of work things in the middle of the night etc...all that has gone now. I am sleeping much better, no anxiety, or worrying about whats waiting for me in the office the next day.

My routine is pretty much the same in that I get up early, shower, do my make-up and get dressed. Except as there is no commute, I can do odd bits in the morning and on lunch break like throw washing in, prep veg for dinner. I seem to be on top of everything much more.

I'll be WFH till earliest September. Although it has been heavily hinted early 2021. I am really hoping I can be permanent WFH. Like others, I just need my laptop and phone.

WFH is amazing but sadly I don’t think most employers will allow it long term. Which is ridiculous as people clearly prefer it.

I usually work from home 2 days a week. If my son goes back into full time childcare I would be happy to go back to that or even 3/4 days, but I would like to travel to work 1/2 days a week, if only to force me to make an effort with my appearance!

Some admin is already outsourced to countries it is cheaper, if fully working from home becomes a thing for companies, it will change their landscape more than people realise I think.

I love WFH. Would happily never go to the office ever again.