Who is looking at increased wfh long term?

[jorgeous]

Hello all,

The plan at both mine & DHs company was to go in on a rota basis from September. This is still going to happen but far less frequently than we anticipated eg 4 days a month in the office. Plus it's completely voluntary. Companies are making noises about this becoming the norm, reducing HQ space & competitors are acting similar & some have made the switch.
There are lots of benefits to wfh although I do like the social aspect of the office. However because we are not allowed meetings of more than 2 people, gyms, canteens, coffee stations etc are all closed very few are coming back so there is little social aspect.
If this is the norm we really need to rethink our home environment & have a proper office for both of us.
I feel a little sad tbh, anyone else in the same boat?

I have a long commute by default - the company I work for closed my local office. I have been 2/3 in the office 2/3 at home for over 5 years. But I’m between 2 offices so usually only see my direct reports 1-2 days a week.

I think that being at home all the time and never ever seeing colleagues is awful. It is also really tough for younger and less experienced people/ those who don’t have suitable workspace at home. Otoh it has changed the male-dominated snidery that I used to get when I wasn’t in the office for face to face meetings at the drop of a hat/ how can you possibly be an effective manager remotely etc. I think in the long term people will have more choice of jobs outside their locality and this is good.

I think a lot of the ‘economic’ stuff is fear London will just become a bit downtrodden like a lot of other cities rather than being the centre of everything. This I imagine has a particularly frightening impact on the property portfolios of Tory MPs and their mates.

Sorry to answer the original question we are wfh till next year completely, long term I imagine I’ll end up where I was before but with possibly less time at office 2.

I'm working from home now and there's no plan back until 2021. However, I think this will be for the short term for only the coronavirus. With all the restriction in place, it's not actually the social environment many sees the office as. But we do benefit from face to face contact for collaboration. And I'm in an industry that works incredibly well from home and a lot of my industry is actually totally remote first. I think whatever it is, it won't be as big a shift as we are feeling now. Things will go back to normal, but only when the threat of coronavirus is gone.

@jorgeous I didn’t say it wouldn’t be a big shift, I said it wouldn’t be quite as big as people were expecting. I think a lot of office based people will end up with a 50/50 model.
And get saving any money you’re saving from the commute because the collapse of commercial property will decimate pension funds!

My employer reopened the office a couple of months ago for the people who can’t do their job effectively from home, either due to the nature of the job or their personal circumstances. There’s social distancing, one way systems, temperature checks etc. But they don’t plan on having everyone back until at least January 2021. My team will probably permanently do a mixture of wfh and office based.

I really miss seeing people in the office but I don’t miss commuting. I get an extra 2 hours of my day back, and I’m saving money on the train fare and buying lunch and other crap.

I do think permanent wfh will be hard on young people in house shares or still living with parents, where there’s several adults all trying to use the same space.

Dh’s office is closed until January but they are looking at having a booking system after that for meetings. Overall he’ll be at home long term. He’s not overly social but I do worry about the impact on his mental health not leaving the house! We have a “study” in our house but it had never been used as such and was a toy room. Mid April we had a big clear out and put a desk in there so he has a space he can shut the door to.

I think a lot of the ‘economic’ stuff is fear London will just become a bit downtrodden like a lot of other cities rather than being the centre of everything. This I imagine has a particularly frightening impact on the property portfolios of Tory MPs and their mates.

If this thread is a sample than could be extrapolated it could be quite damaging to transport, property, construction, hospitality. etc & have huge knock on effects particularly because it's been so swift.

Things will go back to normal, but only when the threat of coronavirus is gone.

I guess it's the not knowing when that will be the case & if people's behaviour will have changed by then. If I spent 3 hours on a commute & didn't have to do it for a yr I'm not sure how keen I would be to reverse that.

Thankfully we have been in for a few days a week the last month or so, I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to work from home but I wouldnt do it out of choice again. Hopefully we will be ramping back up to full time in the office, people have been given a choice but most have opted to return, at least for a chunk of the week. The positive is that many of the suppliers we work with have been so hard to get hold of working from home, or have been late to send stuff as they don't have the same IT functionality from home, that we are looking to bring a lot back in house. We have been patient, and when things were new and before offices were told they could reopen obviously there was a tonne of leeway even though it cost us- but we can't continue. They're proudly stating that they are allowing their staff to wfh as long as they want, which is great from a morale perspective, but if others feel as we do which is likely, it will cost jobs unfortunately. I have been fortunate enough that I have a spare room I could make into a working space, and close the door (literally) at the end of the day; for those who have been working in small living spaces I feel they've done amazingly.

[quote jorgeous]@BrightYellowDaffodil That's one of the reasons I started the thread because the press is so negative. Plus I'm not convinced life would go back to normal in terms of associated spending because we still need to social distance. [/quote]
Also I think lockdown and wfh has made people (me definitely!) realise how much frivolous spending they were doing during the working week, from buying coffee and popping into the shops at lunch time and invariably buying nice but unnecessary things. So even if we were all ordered back to the office next week I wouldn't be spending a fraction of what I used to in terms of associated spending.

@Hollyhead how big did you think people were expecting? I don't think the majority of people thought that
no one would ever return to the office ever again?

And 50/50 for the majority of firms is a fairly big shift surely?

My office is starting to return from September. Each team in together for a week on a rota, so a week at the office then a few weeks at home etc. We partially worked from home before so we won't be going back full time anyway. Sort of looking forward to it as I miss chatting and the buzz of work.

But I'm also wondering why the government is pushing for people to go back to offices before the impact of opening schools back up has been assessed. I say wondering but actually I know full well it's to line the pockets of their rich mates that own the commercial properties

I'm going to be working from home 2 days a week. It's basically so me and the other manager aren't in at the same time (the theory is it would be difficult for the company if we both got sick at the same time so this way if one of us gets ill, they won't be able to pass it to the other one).

Unfortunately I won't really make any saving on travel as my.office is very close to the children's school (although I think DH will drop them on the days I'm WFH, depending on his shift pattern, but I'll still pick them up). However, I do like WFH (I'll enjoy it more when the kids are at school) and think 3 days in the office is a good balance.

@CeibaTree I think there would be a element of this definitely.

Same here. Until 2021.

I think people need to remember that not all offices are huge open plan purpose built buildings - some like ours are converted 2 bed houses in the city centre.

There are just a dozen or so of us at my company, mostly part time and lots of WFH pre-lockdown. We've reopened our offices and with me, DD and DH all WFH I've been in a couple of times for the peace and quiet.

Those big city centre office buildings are often a key part of big pension portfolios, so don't be too hasty in calling for their downfall as that could have a big impact on your own pension value.

I don't understand why working from home is ruining the economy. I can now support my local high street and actually have time to go out for dinner if I want to rather than living on the train.

WFH has lead to us spending more £££ online & more in the supermarket weekly shop.

Just because we aren’t buying coffee and a shit sandwich doesn’t mean we’re ruining the economy.

Also we’re going out for more drives and enjoying bigger days out at the weekend to get out of the house. So while I’m not buying sandwiches from M&S - I am often buying bigger meals on a weekend as part of a day out spending more on fuel and spending more on the weekly shop.

It’s all swings and roundabouts

I really hope you’re right - but fear you may not be and we have undergone a paradigm shift in the way we work. And employers such as my own have realised the HUGE amount they can save by jettisoning expensive showpiece offices

Aridane have they moved or do you think they plan to?

I work in creative industry and showpiece office in prime location has always been part of what they offer. Costs a lot and I wonder how many will downsize and maintain half from home. Or just keep the space and allow more flexibility.

That is a good point about pensions. I was stupid and when younger put a bit of money in a property fund which is now frozen in my pension. Thank goodness I'm not making current contributions to that one.

I just heard more encouragement on R4 to return in September. It’s still down to each business to do what’s best for them though, which might be more flexibility.

I'm on mat leave so I'm a bit out of the loop on what the plan is - I think people are starting to trickle back in but they need to do on rota (every other desk etc). I feel so awful for the canteen staff etc whose jobs have just vanished. Everything has changed since I've been away and I feel really sad thinking that I won't be back in the office in the way I'd imagined - I cycle to work so I even enjoyed the commute.

What I'd love to know - of employers are saying their workforce should now WFH, are they also making sure their staff have correct equipment set up at home to do so? Is there a legal obligation for them to do this as they would in the office? My home set up was fine for 1 day a week but even then my back was killing me as I don't have the big ergonomic chair I do at work, and my eyes hurt from squinting at the tiny laptop screen...

No. I work in a school so we are all back now. DH is a teacher, so he’s back too next week.

It is great tbh. Our team worked ok at a distance, but we had lots of little niggles and misunderstandings that caused stress. Much better to talk face to face (or mask to mask - we are in France where mask-wearing is obligatory in indoor workplaces).

I need to get back into work after a long period out, and being perfectly frank a sharp increase in firms being accepting of home working is absolutely ideal for me because it’s the travel time that really screws me in terms of my ability to actually work. From a purely selfish point of view, this change is brilliant. Plus more of what I’ll earn will stay in my pocket where I need it instead of being spent on travelling to work.

I work on reception for an NHS Trust HQ in central London, so I've been working all the way through this. I've been driving/cycling in and avoiding public transport.

It's not just Pret...the City is full of small independent food places/bars who are all dying on their arses at the moment. Especially when the Eat Out scheme ends and the weather gets too cold to sit outside.

And how do you start a new job? Training? Part of my job is switchboard operator and trying to get anyone to answer their phone now that they're not in the office is almost impossible.