AIBU to think WFH will create new 'class' divide?

[Sallygoround631]

I've been thinking about this. Have done it myself for 15 years so the concept isn't new to me, but I am self employed, (paid per project not per hour) which is the only experience I have of it. I'm not wealthy.

Been reading a few articles/forums discussing this and I wondered if a future of WFH would create some level of resentment or division between those who do it and those who can't.

Those who 'can't' being many minimum wage jobs, etc.

I've seen people happily reporting have many more free hours per day to spend with family, breakfast in sunshine, etc. Whilst I think this is a positive thing in itself, I imagine those who will never have a hope in hell to WFH might feel depressed when comparing their situation? Is this more class based than many would admit?

(I'd prefer this did not morph into a willy waving post about how lucky and well off of you/me/we are)

Not everyone wants to work from home and some very high paid jobs you can't do from home. Personally I like to have the option to wfh but I think just working from home can make you very isolated and blurs the line between work and home life. My husband is a teacher and bar lockdown can't work from home, however he has very long holidays to make up for it. He likes being out the house working, it's the career he chose. He isn't bitter he can't work from home and is far from min wage!

WHSmith has cut 1500 jobs mainly in their travel sites of airports and train stations.
The high street is dead on its feet so no retail jobs there for anyone to apply for. So Where are these 1500 workers going to shift to.
And WHSmith won’t be the only one cutting jobs.

When the home office is 33 degrees, I’m not sure anyone wfh is feeling too smug.

I think more and more organisations will want their people to work from home. There will be regular face to face meetings for team building etc... This won't suit everyone from those that have not got the space to those that hate it. Gradually things will change and people will buy or rent properties with this in mind. This could lead to local economy improvement as people use local cafes etc....

People will spend less money overall as the random stuff people bought on the way to work will drop off.
This will have significant impact on economy which I believe is reliant on 60% consumer spending. So we will have to do something radical if we are to survive. Not sure what.

People who can't work from home might not be bothered but it will depend on their job. A job you hate is a job you hate whether you work from home or not.

I can see practical benefits of working from home but I don't like it. I find it very isolating and connectivity is not good enough. For me the ideal world be couple days in office and rest at home.

Yes, looking for problems that don't exist.
Not able to work from home (generally) -
Judges, trial lawyers, doctors, police, fire service, engineers on site, teachers, head teachers, bank managers.
So many professions...
Some lower paid jobs working from home - data entry, customer service, call centre, admin.

Those jobs won't shift. Most people I know are lovingly stroking all the money they're saving, this pandemic has changed the way people do things.

Some of it has been for the better, I've got friends who rarely went to any of our beaches before, that money would have been spent in soft play or shopping over a weekend etc. They've realised they can do without.

My brother in law is saving 1500 a month working from home, he's stuffed the lot into his savings. It won't be frittered.

I myself used to be in town at least 3 days a week, buying bits and pieces as I went through town or meeting up for lunch. I've lost interest in it. I'm quite happy to save instead and make the most of things that are free....... Its a worrying time and I'm doing my best to get back to normal or ill be one of the ones contributing to the fact there won't be much to go back to.

Yes, looking for problems that don't exist.

I will presume you aren't familiar with reasonable, mature and respectful discussion then?

@WhatWouldYouDoWhatWouldJesusDo I agree that mindsets can change. I for one always bought my lunch "out" but actually being forced to stop & see the difference it makes means I will not go back to doing this everyday. Plus because I'm increasing me wfh capacity (1 day to 2.5) I have more time to cook & have leftovers. Regarding the money saved, some has been saved & the rest spent on home improvements.

I’m not sure why you had to liken it to ‘class’ and make your OP such a philosophical question.

You could have simply said ‘do you think there will be animosity between those that wfh and those that can’t?’

And the answer would be yes, some people would be jealous of those that wfh because on the whole it is better, cheaper and more convenient.
However it does sometimes mean you are isolated and it’s harder to keep the work/life balance.

This is such a weird question. It's like office workers being jealous and resentful that someone working on a farm is outdoors all day. Or a ballet dancer being resentful that some people can go to work in jeans.

If your work is fundamentally unsuited to a certain type of environment then that's that.

I now await my aggressive response from the OP

I think the OP may be right that some will resent the opportunities others had had but it isn't anything to do with class and working from home isn't always better than working in an office. I was in a low paid job working from home using my own outdated equipment and trying to look after a 12 month old. There was nothing ideal about it.

It’s a respectful debate unless you disagree with the OP 😂😂

People will spend less money overall as the random stuff people bought on the way to work will drop off.
This will have significant impact on economy which I believe is reliant on 60% consumer spending. So we will have to do something radical if we are to survive. Not sure what

See I don’t think this is true. Coffee shops, sandwich outlets and all the other “food on the go“ type places didn’t always exist, they were certainly few and far between when I first started working (I’m 43 so not exactly ancient I hope!)

Enterprising people started these businesses because as long commutes, longer working hours and shorter lunches/working through lunch became the norm, they recognised that there was a market for these things. As that changes they will too so instead of hordes of coffee outlets and sandwich places located in busy city centres we might see more bakeries, fruit & veg shops, family friendly restaurants etc opening up in towns and villages if that’s where people are now mostly located.

There is the potential that a shift to wfh results in more independent local businesses and busier high streets because these commuter towns are no longer ghost towns from 7am til 7pm. People will spend money provided they have it. They’ll just spend it on different things.

Well this country seems to thrive on resentment these days.
The problem with WFH as I see it is that many people think they are just as productive but in fact they are not. In this case employers won’t allow it once CoronaPhobia subsides.
I read that about 80% of office workers are back at their desks in France / Italy but only 35% here - due largely to the ridiculous levels of unjustified fear stirred up by Johnson and Co.
Problem is the Government has given everybody so much bullshit over the past few months people don’t know what to believe.

If you can work from home, then someone far cheaper living in the Far East can do your job - be careful what you wish for!

My husband hates working from home. And a lot of young people do. In my 20s in London renting a single room in a shared house I would have really really hated it.
I think it only works for a certain group of people and I would hate to see companies forcing young poorly paid people into it (especially if it’s micromanaged by technology and not accompanied by autonomy - if heard of remote working systems requiring you to notify of toilet breaks!!!)

instead of hordes of coffee outlets and sandwich places located in busy city centres we might see more bakeries, fruit & veg shops, family friendly restaurants etc opening up in towns and villages if that’s where people are now mostly located.

Exactly. I do the books/accounts for our village bakery who also sell hot drinks, snacks, pies, etc. Despite Covid, social distancing, queueing to get in and now masks, their sales for this July were 20% up on last July. Our village is generally noticeably busier during the day with people working from home/furloughed who used to work in nearby towns.

I suspect that quite a few of those working from home might soon find themselves unemployed, as some employers will find that they were all not actually needed. Many of those with jobs that can’t WFH are jobs that are desperately needed in society. Doctor’s, nurses, plumbers, teachers, those driving the garbage truck..I think those jobs will be more safe in the future. Influencers wanting to eat out for free suddenly weren’t that important.

What you all have to remember is that if you can sit home and work, why wouldn’t your boss farm out your jobs to other countries.

I mean why pay Sarah to use her laptop all day every day when Sara, who lives in India, can do the same for 10k a year, if that...........just a thought

Absolutely not class based. I imagine (though don't know for certain) that office-based jobs are easier to do from home than, for example, being a cleaner or a barrister or a concert pianist or a nurse. I really don't think it's a class thing, though.

@Noextremes2017

Well this country seems to thrive on resentment these days. The problem with WFH as I see it is that many people think they are just as productive but in fact they are not. In this case employers won’t allow it once CoronaPhobia subsides. I read that about 80% of office workers are back at their desks in France / Italy but only 35% here - due largely to the ridiculous levels of unjustified fear stirred up by Johnson and Co. Problem is the Government has given everybody so much bullshit over the past few months people don’t know what to believe.

Well said.

Johnson and Co need to realise that there is a huge swathe of voters who work in the arts, and who are completely fucked now, thanks to their fear-generating crap.

I’m in two minds. On one hand, if working from home is a key life goal (for me it was - I suffer from severe travel sickness), then you need to find yourself a career that allows that. I love teaching, but that is out of the question due to travel requirements. Same with a career at an university. So i specialized in in-house science overviews for big multinationals. Not my dream career, but it allows me to travel very little.
On the other hand, many people seem to hate working from home, and enjoy being in the office. So maybe the divide is more who is allowed in (all the people working in labs for example),and who not?

@user1497207191 I know a number of small businesses owners who have had the same experience.

My sister works in a small family owned shop and her boss has taken on another part time employee because they’re so busy.

Our local fruit n veg guy operates out of a tiny unit on a small parade of shops and says if this becomes the norm he will look to take a larger unit and will likely need to employ someone as he just can’t cope on his own. As it is he’s opening two hours longer daily Monday - Saturday! I’m told the butcher three units up is saying the same.

There’s a small independent sandwich place around the corner from my office and by chance I met the owner recently. He’d been frantic with worry in March but says they’ve never been busier. They sell through JustEat now and can barely keep up with demand and the orders are from people wfh, not businesses for the most part. He took all his staff back off furlough and has been able to offer more hours to those who wanted them.

People are still spending money but they’re spend it locally, in their communities and thats keeping local independents going and creating job opportunities.

Change isn’t always bad even if it can be a bit scary while it’s happening.

@GoodDogBellaBoo

I suspect that quite a few of those working from home might soon find themselves unemployed, as some employers will find that they were all not actually needed. Many of those with jobs that can’t WFH are jobs that are desperately needed in society. Doctor’s, nurses, plumbers, teachers, those driving the garbage truck..I think those jobs will be more safe in the future. Influencers wanting to eat out for free suddenly weren’t that important.

Actually what has happened is many companies have realised they don’t need offices, and BJ is scared about that; because if the likes of HSBC and Barclays suddenly decide to do away with their expensive London HQs and instead keep to smaller regional offices as they do in other countries then all the jobs you mentioned plus many more would go.

Also Doctors, Nurses, plumbers, teachers, and even binmen do work from home. You just don’t know because you don’t know these professions and have also confused remote working from wfh.

I WFH
It’s all you describe
It’s also hell because without all being together most tasks take significantly longer, I miss my team, my life is set around office location, where I’m not... and therefore I’m actually working 30% more just to stand still... before you factor in childcare situation.
At times like these I’m grateful to have a role regardless of where it is based