just been told I have to go back to the office

[Sarah510]

and I don't want to!!!!! Have been wfh since lockdown and I love it. The freedom of it, and just not having to spend 2+hours commuting. I really thought I would be allowed to keep wfh as my job is not customer facing - I can do everything on teams, and a lot of it is with people in the far east so most is virtual anyway. But my team leader is the leader of another team as well, and she said to me today that she has put me on the rota for coming back to the office. I tried to say that I was happy to help out at busy times but that my priority had to be my own job, and that that wasn't people facing, and that it was going to be difficult to have these team meetings in a large office setting. She was unmovable though. I feel it's unfair. I mean, I'm not on that team, I'm a separate team, just me, the TL and a part-time person who is shielding so will not be coming back. I know people will slate me on here, but I really thought that things would change after lockdown. Team Leader is very anti wfh - she had denied requests even before Covid. She seems to be oldfashioned - like she always made a point of checking if I was in at 9am and telling me off if I was 5 mins late kind of thing. Never mind that I've been working weekends, late nights, early mornings since wfh, she just seems to want everyone back in the office under her watchful eye even though everyone is saying productivity is way up since we have been wfh.

Feeling miserable :( I guess I can 'see how it goes' and maybe put in a formal request to wfh. I tried to say to her that it was matter of being flexible but she's just not - she said no.

The people saying all WFHrs need to go back to work: not happening here! My organisation is still asking us to work from home and in future. And ripping out desks to create hot desking hubs where you book a desk by the hour. We might go in one or two days a week.

So we are never going back to how it was as they’ve realised how much money they can save. Plus the car parking situation has improved. The council are looking at implementing congestion charging so that will have a knock on effect.

Somebody on Mumsnet ordering me back to work has no influence in real life.

we have a Teams team meeting every day and we call each other just to chat when we're not busy

We do that as well. I'm very lucky that I work with some lovely people that I would count as friends as well as colleagues, and sometimes call each other for a gossip, but some of us live in areas with poor internet signal, and I just don't think you get the same nuances online. Also, the image shifts to however is talking, so you can't just catch someone's eye for example, and the body language element is missing.

Another instance is when you need an answer to something immediately, calling across the office gets a quicker response than waiting for someone to answer on Teams chat.

It's not my experience Gin, and it takes fewer than 10 seconds for someone to answer a Teams call. But we're all different! I don't think forcing a whole team into the office at the same time is the answer, but companies definitly need to consider team building if WFH is standard.

WFH is working very well for my department, but there is a missing element that is difficult to define. The camaraderie, the banter, the brainstorming just isn't the same on Teams.

I agree with this. And also, importantly from a work point of view, you miss out on "work things that it's useful for you to know about so not essential, so no one thinks to tell you". I'm starting to see instances where tasks are taking longer and/or incorrect decisions are being made because individuals are not privy to the same information/contact they would be in the office. This might be as simple as - if you're in a physical meeting you will notice if Joe is not there, but if you're on Teams, and there is a lot of people you might not realise Joe never joined, or his network failed part way through.

The amount of further job losses if everyone carried on wfh would be massive. Personally for the collective good and the economy I think we should start transitioning people back to the office.

I’m lucky as we worked mainly from home before lockdown and our offices are remaining closed until at least December.

That said, if I needed any of my team to go hold a face to face meeting, I’d expect them to do so without a fuss. I suspect your organisation wants to regain a sense of normalcy.

@confused38473

The amount of further job losses if everyone carried on wfh would be massive. Personally for the collective good and the economy I think we should start transitioning people back to the office.

For the collective good isn't most people's problem. Less chance of negative impact of covid is and personal work home life balance. Given that, I don't think a transition back is best for the collective good.

But my point of real concern is that forcing people back to the office when it is not absolutely necessary will (a) help trigger a second wave

Yes, this is a massive worry. I worked primarily from home years before covid, so fortunately the issue doesn't arise for me, but we need to be reducing social contact and keeping people apart where possible. There are clearly some roles that do need to be done within the physical work setting, obviously, so this isn't about them. However for those employers who aren't seeing a drop in productivity with home working, but just prefer it due to innate conservatism or are foolishly attempting to return to an inaccessible normality, they're placing the rest of the population at more risk for no good reason. Even the argument about needing to save jobs at the likes of Pret etc doesn't consider whether this sort of behaviour is going to risk causing further hard lockdown.

“The amount of further job losses if everyone carried on wfh would be massive. Personally for the collective good and the economy I think we should start transitioning people back to the office”

Entirely depends on the sector 😂

You sound so sure. The thing that annoys me the most is that everyone suddenly became an “expert” in the economy and epidemiology. Leave it to the actual experts ;)

Now there’s a divide between those who go to work and those who work from home.

As if the country wasn’t divided enough

I was furloughed but am now back at work 2 days a week but can't WFH so either want my job or I don't, I do so I've just got on with it. My DP like the OP has WFH for 4 months and is adamant he doesn't want to go back, fine if they say yes but otherwise we can't afford for him not to work. Sorry but sometimes if you want a job you have to do as your employer asks, it's not like a friendship where they have to give and take

I will preface this by saying I can’t do my job from home, and it will never be an option. So i don’t really have an axe to grind.

I think there is an issue with 100% wfh- it’s fine if you have been working there a while and built up professional relationships already. But I think over time those will start to dwindle as people move on
And colleagues see less of each other. I think starting in a new job where you only meet colleagues over zoom or teams would be hard. Training would certainly be more of a challenge, I’d have thought.

In my job, I find a lot of goodwill comes from those professional relationships, the informal chats etc. Things get picked up/assistance given or solutions found that don’t happen over email or online meetings. You get to know colleagues and I generally find people will do a bit extra for those they have a good working relationship with. Will they do the same for a person they see once a week in a zoom call?

I do think most people need to do some time in the office. There will be some things that can be 100% from home, I suppose.

The other thing I’d say is that if your employer requires you into the office and you’ve asked them to reconsider but they feel for operational reasons they want you in, then you need to go in- or vote with your feet and resign.

There may be a good reason you don’t know about/understand?

@Highlandshortbread I'm talking about cafes, shops, transport. It doesn't take a genius or an economic expert to know if people aren't there to use them they will close and more people will lose their jobs.

I suppose this is a personal one for me as my DH was having a lovely time wfh until he was made redundant.

if they now force me back, i would have to quit. The world has changed, and management need to understand this.

The problem with this @WhatWillSantaBring (and I'm not saying I disagree with you) that there is always someone ready to step into your shoes. It may mean management may have to step up with training someone who doesn't have the experience that you (general) may have, but I will not forget what my boss said in the not too distant past. 'Everyone thinks they're indispensable but no one is. Everyone claims they have a niche job, they don't. I won't pay people to sit on their arse at home when I want (note he said want not need) them here, it's their choice'. He's young and on the whole ok-ish (I was surprised by this statement) but he wants everyone there in the office to 'show committment'. His words. I don't think he's alone in his thinking unfortunately.

It going to be an employers market for a long time.

I wouldn't be pissing anyone off at the moment unless I was inherently wealthy that my job was just for something to do.

So on that note I would go in and then gently ask for more WFH so it was a mix of WFH and office.

Your employers choice and it took you far to long to come up with the "I'm at risk of COVID" line, it's not your primary worry is it?

Don't like it, resign and find something else.

solomummy my DD has a degree. Unfortunately when the father of her child deserted her she had no choice but to do a job that would work round childcare. There's not a lot of work for graphic designers in our part of the world and not having any resources to move to more affluent areas she decided carework was the answer. I'm severely disabled so help for childminding till school age limited. dont ever criticize someones aptitude as a mum without knowing them or their circumstances. I bought up my 2 DD single handed with no family at all. I'm proud of both their achievements.

And remember solomummy that my DD looks after others family members because they can't/won't. A much more worthy job than sitting behind a screen.

@confused38473 True! I see your point

FWIW spending more in supermarkets, petrol (going out in the evenings & bigger days out at the weekend), more online shopping, more takeaways, more energy usage, spending more on the house etc it does add to the economy.

Not everyone who is WFH will negativity impact the economy. And it’s unfair to say they do.

I’m sorry that your DH lost his job that’s really awful. x

We’re doing a mix to ensure people socially distance & maintain mental wellbeing (I’m recovering from a breakdown)

Love the number of posts on MN during working hours saying wfh is more productive. What time is it? Better get logged in quick

@ClareBlue

Love the number of posts on MN during working hours saying wfh is more productive. What time is it? Better get logged in quick

Obviously everyone's working hours are the same.

@ClareBlue

Love the number of posts on MN during working hours saying wfh is more productive. What time is it? Better get logged in quick

It's called a quick break just like grabbing a cuppa.

We are encouraged to take a break and have a stretch, walk around etc.

I think that threads like these don’t reflect a balanced attitude from work from homers.

After all, anyone who has a job should be grateful they still have one! And if the office is setup for social distancing then there isn’t an issue.

But please do remember that not all offices are purpose built. Some are flats and some are houses. My last job was in a wonky end of terrace. 2 up 2 down. With narrow hallways. And that was an NHS building!

SD in there would have been a nightmare! I’m assuming they’re all WFH or in on a rota basis.

@ClareBlue Awwww you sound so narrow minded.

Be thankful you have a job to commute to...many would love to have these problems