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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think that office life/daily commuting may change forever

68 replies

scotlandg · 05/07/2020 14:25

Basically just wondered if ppl think they will become more home based or will be expected to go in daily. My husband is London based but has been able to do his from home since lockdown. He previously did one day a week at home. I am just wondering if ppl think home working will stay or all drop away in time? Thank you

OP posts:

cologne4711 · 05/07/2020 14:28

I think it will continue - and I also sincerely hope that it continues. Better for the environment - London commuters tend to use trains but most other commuters drive. It saves time and money. I know some people don't like not having the split between home and work - but local co-working places are always an option to deal with that and it's cheaper to rent a desk than pay travel costs.

My only concern with being home all the time is the loss of exercise. I used to work from home nearly all the time anyway but DH had a 25 minute walk to the station and then all the incidental walking around in London and that has fallen away. It takes quite a lot of willpower to force yourself to replace that exercise.

People say our jobs will just be outsourced somewhere cheaper but we will be somewhere cheaper. It might be that in time salaries fall to reflect the fact that people are not in London, but that doesn't matter if you are saving £4K plus out of taxed income.

I think remote working is a win win and those who want to go into the office can.

Chilver · 05/07/2020 14:29

My company has launched a homeworking trial with practically no-one predicted to be back full time in an office again (national company). Predominantly 3 days from home, 2 days in an office (when they re-open). Also, meetings will no longer be held in person only online. So, I say that working life as we knew it will change.

PickAChew · 05/07/2020 14:31

Probably not, as many office managers still don't trust their staff to be fully productive without direct supervision. Many people still aren't able to carry out their work in full, from home, either.

AlCalavicci · 05/07/2020 14:32

As part of my job I will have to go to each of my sites regularly but before lock down I had to go to each one ( four sites ) everyday which to be frank was a PITA , since lock down I have been to each site once a week and one day working from home which has made me much more productive as before I could spend around 3 hours a day just travailing.

I am hoping that when things get back to normal ( or at least as close as they are going to get to normal for a while ) that I can reach a happy medium .

crumpet · 05/07/2020 14:33

So much office space is going to become available as companies companies realise that they can do without it and also make a massive cost saving

Sparklesocks · 05/07/2020 14:36

I think a bit of a hybrid model of remote and office working might become the norm. It’s been proven that many office roles can be done from home, but there are certain meetings which don’t quite work as well over zoom (in my industry creative brainstorming sessions and workshops have been harder to do virtually, but budget meetings or check ins have worked well).

Our company directors have spoken about finding a new model. There’s also been a lot of feedback from people who enjoy the flexibility of working at home - picking your own hours for example. And not having to ‘show’ you are working by having bums in seats in the office.

Another question I had - if things do change, would that mean commuting to London wouldn’t be such a vital thing for finding a property? My DP and I have been living in the suburbs and travelling into London by train for the last decade. That means anywhere we’ve lived has had to be close to a station as an essential requirement. But if we only went in the office twice a week at most, would that mean it’s no longer essential? Not such a big deal to travel a few miles to get to a station if it’s only a few times a week compared to every day. That would open up much more housing choices and maybe mean being close to a station didn’t have as big a price impact as it does currently. All speculation I know, but I’m interested to see how it pans out.

MaverickDanger · 05/07/2020 14:37

We have already been told to expect to go to a 3/4 day wfh set up and are not renewing the leases on a number of our larger city centre offices.

Some colleagues are quids in, as they get paid a London-weighted salary, but are now relocating to cheaper parts of the country (still on the same salary) and will only travel once a week.

picklemewalnuts · 05/07/2020 14:42

I think so. I think there will be a shift in traffic patterns, and city centre properties.

Crunchymum · 05/07/2020 14:46

We have had our worst ever Q2 (global real estate software co.). Numerous redundancies have already been undertaken in all arms of the business.

I suspect next money saving exercise will be to reduce our office space. We have 3 central London offices, 2 in Manchester. I don't think the decision will be driven by how well WFH has been (it's been fine) but more by how much money they free up.

Original poster

scotlandg · 05/07/2020 14:54

Thank you for your replies, I am hoping it can continue as he is finally being able to see our children on a daily basis, rather than just weekly, so the children are much happier. I hope ppl are right

OP posts:

mindutopia · 05/07/2020 15:02

In some fields, yes, definitely. I am London based. I normally do 3 days a week in the office and 1 at home (I work compressed hours because my days are so long). Going forward, I only plan to go into the office every 2 weeks for 3 days, so half the time I used to. I can arrange to do a lot more from home. Partly this is because my commute is so long (it's 3 hours door to door, so yes, I spend 6 hours commuting each of my 3 work days, and I go up and back each of those days because I like to at least be home to put dc to bed at night). I'll be home a lot more going forward. But there is a lot of support for flexible working in my field and no one is in the office 5 days a week.

namechangenumber204 · 05/07/2020 15:07

God I hope so - I have got at least 2 hours a day of my life back. I would be happy to go in one day a week. And the money I've saved - unbelievable! Money that I can spend in local shops instead of lining the pockets of pret large chains.

Swiftier · 05/07/2020 15:09

I think some organisations will return to normal but many won’t. My employer had already said things will be much for flexible in the future with much more home working although people can work in the office if they want to. They are also looking at more flexible hours/options for condensed hours etc. All of my friends who work in office based roles have been told similar. We’re in London.

Longingtolearn · 05/07/2020 15:12

Not for my specific company no

Homeworking as meant a massive drop in trust, despite productivity being the same and higher at some points theyve really cracked down on breaks.

They want to know where you are, what you're doing at all times and have actually made it policy we have to ASK before we go to the toilet.

Its just not on tbh

Lilybet1980 · 05/07/2020 15:17

Is no one worried about the social impact of wfh? I’ll go insane if I only see DH and DCs most days long term. Nearly everyone I know met their OH at work. How will anyone get together without work socials?!

Lilybet1980 · 05/07/2020 15:21

I’m lucky to be in the financial position where I don’t need to work. I currently work in a high pressured, fairly stressful city job that I really enjoy, but a big reason for that is working with other people (both colleagues and clients). I also love leading a team. None of those things are quite the same remotely so if we permanently move to wfh for the majority of the time I will probably seriously consider whether I want to carry on. It may push me to do something more worthwhile though, charity sector for example.

Saltandvinegarchips · 05/07/2020 15:24

I hope it won't become the norm for most.
I love working from home, been doing it for years, but it's awful for people living in cramped or shared housing.

Younger people starting out in their careers will also miss out on the social and networking aspects of out of home working. Likewise older returnees going back to work after time out raising a family, or illness, or redundancy, or retraining.

Permanent WFH is great if you're settled in your career and live in a spacious (and quiet) home. Not so good for everybody else.

Doingtheboxerbeat · 05/07/2020 15:26

In regards to bosses not trusting staff, I have a friend who is currently working from home in a call centre role and he has come into his own. He has form for calling in sick due to partying all night and he regularly gets fired from jobs because of it and he always owes them a ton of holiday pay as he has used more than he accrues.
He still parties but, how hard is it to drag yourself to the living room with a hangover? He has not called in sick or annoyed any of his colleagues once since March!!! He is loving the current situation and wants it to be permanent so he is working especially hard, even going above and beyond . I can see a number of people who may be doing exactly this.

IwishIhadaMargarita · 05/07/2020 15:28

@Lilybet1980

I have met only one short lived boyfriend at work. All others have been from elsewhere so I don’t think employees love life’s are really high on the agenda for most companies.

wendz86 · 05/07/2020 15:29

Our company did a survey and most people said they wanted to do between 2-3 days a week at home. We were allowed before but people didn't do it regularly.

CluelessBaker · 05/07/2020 15:30

It’s definitely going to continue in my firm. Senior management are saying they don’t anticipate people doing more than a day or two in the office per week from now on.

3YearT1dyUp3 · 05/07/2020 15:32

Since lockdown I've been WFH

We have been advised that when we are contacted to return to the office, that some people will work in the office & some WFH on a rota. I assume that this is to help decrease the number of people physically in the office & social distancing.

Some of my team are not based locally, so it will suit them, to not always be in the office

Some of the communication has decreased during WFH

I am going to claim the WFH rebate once I am back in the office.

Alsohuman · 05/07/2020 15:33

I think it will become the norm, especially when companies cotton on that they’ll be able to close or downsize their offices and stop paying London weighting.

KeepingPlain · 05/07/2020 15:35

@Longingtolearn

That's crazy.

My managers have thankfully not been like that, they've been really good about the whole thing and I'm hoping it continues for ages. Probably won't be forever but would be nice if it was. Get more done at home to be honest.

notheragain4 · 05/07/2020 15:36

I'm hoping so. I'm making a somewhat risky move moving further out from the city I work by about 30 mins, to a town that has a train line to London which I am hoping will open up my own career prospects if able to mostly WFH with some London working, and I'm hoping it could be a good investment as it's a cheap town but has a direct train to London in about an hour so if WFH increases but the city needs accessing from time to time it could become a popular area for those looking for well priced houses.

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