WFH - What are your employer's plans going forward?

[Burntbiscotti]

Was on yet another empty train at rush hour this evening which has inspired my question. Apologies if this has been posted before, but I thought it would be good to have a thread specifically to see what everyone's employers are doing about "going back" to the office.

I should be returning in September and personally I'm really excited, although I totally get why some people aren't. I WFH part of the week anyway (before Covid), so I see the variety as a good thing. It seems that September seems to be the general goal for many of my friends' companies too.

I wonder how many out there will end up going half and half, or straight back to the office full time. It will be interesting to know!

We’re moving from majority full time office working to majority working part time in the office and part time at home. I think I will do three days at home when I return from mat leave.

@TheAquaticDuchess Is that permanent? Sounds like a really nice setup!

We will never return to pre-Covid - which was pretty much office based with occasional WfH for some, only a tiny number will return this calendar year and going forward things will be much more home based.

Lots of employers seem to be hoping September will be some kind of "old normal" utopia when covid will magically no longer be an issue and everyone can continue like it never happened. I remain to be convinced that Sept is going to be quite so rosy, but who the hell knows what things will be like!

They have got all the customer facing sales people back as quickly as possible, but are treading very lightly when it comes to us back office staff. We aren't expecting to have to go in until October on some sort of rota, and before that will only be people who want/need to be back. I'm definitely hoping to WFH more, but really miss sitting with my team and just general chit chat.

I don't work in a conventional office environment, but I'd be surprised that in the past there wasn't upset if some colleagues were allowed to work from home and others not, as seemed the case in some workplaces. I'm sure that now more people have got a taste for it, they will contest this.

At the moment we have a completely free choice no timeliness for change.
If the office starts to head towards max capacity with new guidelines then they will look at team rotas etc but at the moment it's like a ghost town.
I haven't been back yet coz I don't see the point if it's empty but I do think we need to rebuild the community and network outside of our own teams more.
At the moment I can't envisage ever working full time in the office again. I used to do odd days from home but now I'm a complete convert.

We’ve been asked to complete a survey and I said I’m quite happy WFH so hopefully can continue to do so. I’d be happy to WFH permanently even after Covid

*timeline

The lease for our office (London) ended last month and I don't think the management is in any hurry to find us a new one! We've rented a small amount of space nearby for the handful of people who said they'd prefer to go in, but I think it will be some way into 2021 before we get our own premises again. Even then I think it will be much smaller and the majority of the time people will be WFH. That would have been unthinkable at the start of the year.

My line manager seems adamant that we won’t be back till after Christmas. We only have about maximum 100 in our building with desks practically cramped together, so they wouldn’t be able to fit a lot of us in with the social distancing and extra measures. Plus, it’s probably saving them a lot of money on electricity etc with the building closed

@Burntbiscotti it looks like it! I think they’ve realise that we’re just as / more productive at home and that most of our jobs can be done remotely (with a big saving on office space if there is a smaller percentage of the workforce in the office every day).

I’m thrilled about it because I have a long commute, and now that I’m expecting a baby it will make the world of difference to have three days per week where I don’t have to make that journey.

I was also thinking about office rents and how companies might think about downsizing if it becomes a more permanent fixture. Its

Oops posted to early and cross posted with @toodlepipsqueaks re office rents.

It's such an interesting time!

Too*

We've been told anyone who can WFH (approx 2k staff) will be doing so for the next 9 months, unless they're circumstances make it impossible, in which case they can work from office. Moving forwards, there's a piece of work going on to look at downsizing our office space and moving the majority of people to permanent WFH.

This suits me down to the ground. I WFH two days a week pre Covid. I'm saving £200 a month and 2 hours a day by not commuting. However I know some people are finding it really hard, particularly those with young children, difficult relationships or live alone and feel isolated.

Never going back properly, work has saved loads of money. I’m going in one day every other week.

Fixed desks are being ripped out and “hot desking hubs” fitted instead. Desks will be available by the hour to book.

Some people have chosen to go back to my office full time, mainly those who were struggling to wfh either due to their role or their personal circumstances.

And more people are starting to go in for the occasional day here and there now.

But my employer (large private sector) has said they’re not anticipating a mass return to the office until at least January. And not that we’ll definitely be back in January, just that they can’t really plan any further ahead than that at the moment.

My manager is anticipating that long term we’ll probably do a combination of working in the office and wfh

I don’t miss my commute, and on days like today I’m glad I don’t have to commute on hot trains to spend the day in a boiling, sweaty office. But I miss seeing people (i live alone), I miss actually being with my team rather than having to call them on skype.

I'm not sure about my work yet as I'm on maternity leave and out of the loop, but my husband's boss is bringing everyone back into the office next week. This is despite our city being put back under lockdown restrictions. I'm sure it'll be fine, but I don't think it would hurt for him to have given it a bit longer to see how things pan out, especially as they're all doing their jobs just as effectively from home.

Largish central London firm and the office is open, you can pre-book a desk if you want to go in, but they are advising they'd rather you drive, walk or cycle in, which cuts out most people. There's no real talk of opening up again properly and they've just started sending people more furniture and equipment home! We have two neighbouring buildings and I think they'll try to lose one of them. Like others have said, I think they'll move to hotdesking and predominantly work from home if you want to.

My frustration is a big part of my job is training and it's not going as well online so I want to be back a bit, in nice big airy training rooms one day a week at least.

Mine are considering a staggered return to office working to start in September but have said it's more likely that we'll continue wfh most days until January. I don't care either way. Like both ways of working.

Central London in an old listed building (aka cramped) so we're looking at 2021 :(

We are going back on rotas. Many already wfh permanently and now the office staff will be 50:50 based on their roles or wfh.
We were outgrowing the office and in feb were getting quotes for renovating storage areas into additional office desk space so it has timed it quite well to be able to reduce office head count and not need to extend.

I think my company is looking to go WFH as much as possible. I’ve WFH for years as part of a small scale homeworking team, I think it was started as a test really and a backup for situations like this.
It’s worked really well for my company so I think they’re looking to let people be flexible, so people can work part office, part home, fully home or fully office.
My husband and I both work for the same company. He’s hoping to stay at hike for the rest of the year or until the autumn at least and then do 2 days in the office, 3 days at home.
Having us both homeworking has been fantastic for our family.

Work for a big bank with central London offices. Not required back until Jan, but can go in if we need to....