To think people are over looking the benefits of going to work

[Poptart4]

I keep hearing about how great working from home is. No commute, saving money, more family time etc.

But I think people are over looking the benefit's of actually going to work.

• Getting out of the house, personally I dont think its healthy to spend all (most) of your time within the same 4 walls.
• The social aspect of working. Alot of people make friends or at least acquaintances through work.
• I know alot of people who met their partner through work. And alot who just had fun casual hook ups with co-workers. Either way there will be less chances at romance because you will have less social interaction.
• As a mother I find going out to work gives me a life outside of being mammy. It gives me a little independence for myself. If I was working from home all of the time I would never be away from the children. Never get a break.
• No after work drinks, office xmas parties etc.
• I've also read some threads on here about couples fighting because one or both of them is working from home and there getting on each others nerves. Couples need time apart.

I really think once the novelty of working from home wears off alot of people are going to miss the hustle and bustle of office life. And alot of people are going to end up depressed. Especially for people who live alone. The lack of social interaction will impact them the most.

@Breadandroses1

Yeah there's loads of evidence that open plan is horrible for creativity as well and the best mix is individual spaces- sort of pods where you can work quietly- mixed with more collective areas and social spaces. That really suits me, I know.

Introverts have been ignored for too long.

But I wouldn't suggest everything goes the opposite way. Variety and choice is key, not one extreme or the other.

It will be great if more flexibility is a legacy of Covid.

I’m pretty sure that will happen. It certainly is where I work.

If they work from home or in local co-working hubs, they can be home by 6 and have an evening to enjoy and meet new friends that way

You are assuming that they have established friendships already.

I'm not sure that this thread is representative of the entire workforce. There are a LOT of people on here who are introverts and who detest sharing office space with other people. In RL I suspect it is more likely to be 50/50 introverts/extroverts.

I also think it depends how socially aware and mature (emotionally, not age) your work colleagues are. I work with someone, who I guess, could be described as an extreme introvert. We all know she doesn't want to chat to other people at work so we don't talk to her unnecessarily.

I'm not sure that this thread is representative of the entire workforce. There are a LOT of people on here who are introverts and who detest sharing office space with other people. In RL I suspect it is more likely to be 50/50 introverts/extroverts.

Probably, but I know in my team there's 20 people give or take and not one person wants to go back to the office and are happy enough wfh. We were all given the opportunity to volunteer to go back at the end of the month and everyone said no (they'll get the numbers from other teams). That's 20 people with a pretty even gender split and a mix of ages etc.

Now in at least a few cases Covid anxiety will have probably been a factor, but we're all content working from home at the moment. Only a few you'd classify as genuine introverts.

Interesting annabel85. I might just do a poll of my team at work and come back to this thread next week. Off the top of my head I can only think of one person in our team of sixteen who would categorically want to stay WFH all the time.

@Ginfordinner

Interesting annabel85. I might just do a poll of my team at work and come back to this thread next week. Off the top of my head I can only think of one person in our team of sixteen who would categorically want to stay WFH all the time.

To be fair it was quite an out of the blue "who wants to go back into the office at the end of the month?" announcement. Everyone said no. We all expect to go back at some stage but we can only currently operate at 30% in office.

I think they've filled the numbers up with volunteers and by requesting people who've been unproductive (on other teams) to go back.

There might be many benefits to going to work but there are LOADS of benefits to wfh. Lack of hideous office politics being one of them.

No after work drinks, office xmas parties etc....
This is a disadvantage??

I think after work drinks probably only happened in city centres where staff used public transport to get to work, not from work places on trading estates with a workforce who mostly drove to work.

There's quite a few hidden issue swith wfh, like being at your laptop or computer more often, at least in the office you get a break walking to meetings. Yes you can try to replicate this at home but I've found that I'm in more b2b meetings than ever before. So there isn't that chance to step away.

Also I didnt realise how much exercise I did on my commute and back and walking to meetings or to the coffee shop. Not easy to replace all of that and sure you can say go for a walk outside but I hate going out for a walk with no purpose its crap I don't enjoy it and I'm just doing it to make sure I move more.

Extroverts will miss it, introverts definitely won't! MN is largely composed of introverts

@Ginfordinner

I think after work drinks probably only happened in city centres where staff used public transport to get to work, not from work places on trading estates with a workforce who mostly drove to work.

Yeah, I worked on a trading estate years ago and the only time we ever socialised was the Christmas night out.

Working in the city centre in a large office there's always people going out on a Friday for any excuse (a birthday, a leaving do, a promotion, pay day etc) which is great if that's what you want to do. I've always hated Christmas nights out though. The endless planning and discussion around them and they're always a complete anti climax (if you're lucky and haven't made a show of yourself). I didn't bother going last year and sat up and watched the election night instead (rock and roll).

I feel for youngsters fine for us married with kids and local friends but in my twenties in new City my friends work friends drinks after work met dh there so depends on life stage.

I am very antisocial and am loving working from home :)

Yeah there's loads of evidence that open plan is horrible for creativity

We were told that open plan promotes collegiality. Nobody was fooled. The real reason is that open-plan fits more people in less space.

@Jennygentle

Agree. I’m a teacher and was teaching ‘live’ via Zoom for hours a day. My dining room became me classroom and I bloody hated it. I ended up back on antidepressants. Can’t wait to get into school next week.

That’s a very different situation Jenny. Of course you want to go back because you particularly like being around people (or children anyway) and interacting with them a lot or you wouldn’t have wanted to be a teacher. Face to face communication with a large group of children is really core to that front line job.

Covid has shown a lot of us that you can separate the office/ commute element from the work perfectly well. Work is an activity not a place.

There's another issue that's been bothering me as well:

We know that women have done heaps more childcare and labour during lockdown even where both partners have been working from home.

We also know that women are going to be slower to return to the office because of childcare issues, linked mainly to a bunch of social norms around whose job is more 'important' and who takes lead responsibility for the children.

It's completely inevitable that if women return to the office more slowly than men they will end up taking on more domestic responsibility than male partners, even if they are working FT from home. I feel it myself- thinking I should have done something about dinner even though I've been in back to back meetings all day.

I don't think there will be an equitable return to the office, which means an increased double shift for women (maybe you can pick the kids up at 3, but if you usually finish at 5, when do you do that work? Later? After homework and dinner? While the partner who has been at work gets an evening to themselves?) AND means poorer career prospects, because as a PP said, you'd better be visible if you want to be seen as committed.

Is this the way it should be? No, of course not.

But it is the way it will be. Pre existing inequality will be magnified and entrenched. Don't buy the 'new normal'. New normal is much much worse for women.

@MsTSwift

I feel for youngsters fine for us married with kids and local friends but in my twenties in new City my friends work friends drinks after work met dh there so depends on life stage.

Not necessarily. I live in a big city and several friends (mid twenties and single) are freelance so worked from home even before this. I’m single and live alone and love WFH. It’s perfectly possible to still meet up with friends and colleagues when you wfh, it doesn’t mean you stop going out whatsoever!

I guess but you and your friends sound confident and resourceful and have chosen that lifestyle- when I was new in a city at 24 my job was my life really and dh younger colleagues are quite doleful about not being in the office. I agree with you though now! Love wfh!

'Yeah there's loads of evidence that open plan is horrible for creativity as well and the best mix is individual spaces- sort of pods where you can work quietly- mixed with more collective areas and social spaces. That really suits me, I know'

Our firm were in the process of a complete refurb when Covid hit. Open plan or 4 desk offices but all had shared desks and lockers. (because loads of people already worked from home a lot) and lots of small 1 or 2 people pods, with different configurations, where you could go for privacy and/or meetings. Each coffee area has is like a little cafe. Community / Social areas on each floor, with awesome views. Very chilled.

The saddest thing is I got to sit on the new floor 4 times before Covid hit.

It’s perfectly possible to still meet up with friends and colleagues when you wfh, it doesn’t mean you stop going out whatsoever!

You have completely missed the point because you already have friends where you live. What about people who move from their home town? What about people who have lost touch with people they went to school or university with? What about people who work for organisations several hundreds of miles away or even in another country?

Striking up a friendship with a work collegaue who you have only met online isn't the same as physically working with them. I have a great relationship with my workmates because I have physically worked with them for many years. Our new employees who none of us have ever met have admitted that they are struggling.

You have completely missed the point because you already have friends where you live. What about people who move from their home town? What about people who have lost touch with people they went to school or university with? What about people who work for organisations several hundreds of miles away or even in another country?

I don’t live in my home town or have contact with anyone I went to school or uni with. I still managed to make face to face friends over lockdown by going out for walks and talking to people. Yes, I have got the advantage of already knowing people where I live now, but I also know a couple of people who moved here just as lockdown started, and made friends through Facebook groups for people new to the city, and with their housemates. So I stand by my point that wfh doesn’t mean you’re stuck inside all day everyday. But as I said in a previous post I think people should be given a choice, I don’t think everyone should be forced back to the office or forced to wfh forever more.

@maddiemookins16mum

You’ve overlooked that most of MN hate their work colleagues and don’t consider them anything like friends.

Whereas in RL most of us have smashing work colleagues that become very close pals, come to our weddings, know our partners/children, we even go out and socialise.

YES! I'm always confused by the MN snobbishness around work colleagues as friends and wonder if it actually reflects on the person themselves as in all the places I've worked I've always got on well with most people. Yes some are just acquaintances who you have a laugh with at work but probably won't keep in touch with after you leave, but others can become your closest friends.

I don't understand the hierarchy of who it's ok to be friends with and who not - to my mind work colleagues are people you often have a lot in common with - as well as work itself as a common bond, you can often be of similar ages and live in the same local area. If you have a professional job you will be likely to have the same level of education, and lots of jobs will draw people of similar interests drawn together too. Conversely for a lot of people workplaces are the only opportunity they have to mix with people from completely different backgrounds, ages and life experiences from them rather than the homogenous 'we all grew up in x city' or 'our kids all go to y school.'

I think that can be a lot more valuable than, for example, being friends with people who you went to school or university with but might have completely grown apart in the last twenty years, or being friends with someone just because they happen to have given birth at a similar time to you.

@AldiAisleofCrap is one of the smug "I have family and friends to socialise with"
Well good for you! I have family and friends, but like lots of people in graduate roles had to move away to be close to my workplace so I can't just pop over to see my mum whenever I want.

I understand why WFH is great for some people and awful for others, and agree a mix of both would usually be the best scenario.

YES! I'm always confused by the MN snobbishness around work colleagues as friends and wonder if it actually reflects on the person themselves as in all the places I've worked I've always got on well with most people. Yes some are just acquaintances who you have a laugh with at work but probably won't keep in touch with after you leave, but others can become your closest friends.

Yes. Exactly this ^^ in my case as well.

I don't understand the hierarchy of who it's ok to be friends with and who not

Neither do I. I agree there is a lot of smuggery about already having a local support network on this thread and on school gate mums (it usually is mums) threads.

These are probably people who have never moved more than a couple of streets away from their families and are still friends with people they grew up with and went to school with.

I also don't understand people who want to put a cap on the number of friends they have.

Me too. It comes across as quite nasty the sneering about a hapless individual who is committing that dreadful sin of trying to find friends. Someone once even quoted Seinfeld as in “No vacancies” regarding making new friends.

I don’t understand why it’s loser-ish to make a friend at work or at the school gate. Surely then it’s just as loser-ish to make a friend actually at school or university? Where in fact is it approved to socially interact? Beats me.

Yes! Totally agree. It makes perfect sense that you'd have most in common with work colleagues, especially in a professional environment. In my company of 100 people, there are at least 10 I see regularly outside work. I know a handful will be lifelong friends. I have similar from a previous workplace.

It also means that you aren't confined to having friends who are all the same age. Much more interesting.

The only place where this didn't happen was a horribly toxic culture and I was happy to leave after 6 months.