to think it's not India that people should be worried about, it's cheaper parts of the UK

[chomalungma]

If you have a high paying job in the South East - because that's what the pay levels are down there because of living costs etc - and your job can be done at home, then your job can be done in other parts of the UK for someone who will do it just as well but for less money.

There may be occasional commuting on the train - but I am sure that could be incorporated into a reasonable package.

The cost of living is much cheaper in many places in the UK compared to the South East.

@Kaiserin

And skilled professionals like to live in warm, sunny places. The concept of "sun belt" is hardly new. The South East will remain a popular place to live (London... not so sure)

I don’t.

@chomalungma I'm saying in this country it is up to each individual organisation to ensure their workers comply with GDPR and other legislation to ensure that their organisation's data isn't compromised regardless of where their workers are working.

[quote RedRumTheHorse]@chomalungma I'm saying in this country it is up to each individual organisation to ensure their workers comply with GDPR and other legislation to ensure that their organisation's data isn't compromised regardless of where their workers are working.[/quote]
Obviously.

And I am saying that I suspect there are many companies who aren't complying with GDPR and taking enough precautions because WFH was forced on many companies at short notice.

Personally I think we have taken enough precautions - because I take GDPR very seriously, but I am concerned about confidentiality especially when people are WFH.

@CarlaH

I'm an old person so working not an issue.

I live in the south east because of the weather. Oop North can be very beautiful with cheaper housing but you only have to see the vitriol on here when some hapless Londoner says how nice the summer has been and they are forcefully reminded that elsewhere in the country the weather/summer hasn't been all that.

I prefer the weather down here, Spring is three weeks earlier and winter starts around mid-November, compared to the NW. I’m not going to elaborate on The Rain.

It's already happening. Piece on news a couple of days ago saying how Highlands estate agents have been deluged with calls about properties.

whoops

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-53917743

Makes sense that people are considering relocating within the UK. For £345k you can buy a brand new 5 bed house in Inverness.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-84139300.html

Plane to London takes 90 minutes, or overnight sleeper train. Entirely possible if you're only travelling once or twice a month. I think we'll just see prices even out across the UK and the south-east bubble where prices are just nuts to those of us who live elsewhere might be a thing of the past.

The other reason two families of friends of mine have moved to Scotland is university fees.

See - if we hadn't had Brexit, then I could be doing my job from France - and occasionally flying into the UK for a catch up.

Now that's more complicated

@SockYarn

It's already happening. Piece on news a couple of days ago saying how Highlands estate agents have been deluged with calls about properties.

Yeah and just you wait until Highlanders start complaining about all the "rich Londoners" coming in and pushing their property prices up. It'll happen. Except that people from all over the UK have been doing this for years, pushing prices up in London.

How much company data, personal data etc is either being left on paper in a house, or has been downloaded on to personal devices with poor anti virus protection because offices don't have the correct IT in place?

Pretty much exactly the same amount as people take home from the office.

If you really work in IT and data protection you must know this and also know that multi site teams and home working have dominated the industry for a couple of decades. I'm surprised you find it all so shocking.

DH and I can't work from home, but we could work anywhere (NHS clinical staff). We're settled in London zone 2, we discuss moving out every few years but can never bring ourselves to just for bigger housing.

I'm a Londoner, DH has lived here over half his life now. My friends & family are here and there's a real sense if community where we live.

I really hope there isn't a mass exodus of office workers. It could be awful if lots of professionals leave.

It would be nice if some of our younger colleagues could afford to buy locally though.

People from cities have always dreamed of 'getting away from it all' and buying a 'croft' in the Highlands and Islands. They usually last one winter. When they realise it can snow in June, they need their heating on in July, the first big wind of the winter is in August, it never gets light in winter (and midsummer madness is a real thing in the summer), the nearest John Lewis is hours away, and internet shopping sucks when they will only deliver to an address in Aberdeen. Oh, and anything more serious than appendicitis and they have to fly you to Aberdeen. Not so attractive if you aren't made of stern stuff.

If you really work in IT and data protection you must know this and also know that multi site teams and home working have dominated the industry for a couple of decades. I'm surprised you find it all so shocking

What do you think I find shocking?

This is not about 'working in IT'. This is about people who have suddenly been asked to work from home in any organisation, have often had to use home devices instead of work ones, have taken home personal files, who may not have encrypted devices etc

Basically - any organisation that has suddenly had to have a lot of employees work from home and have had to adapt their IT systems accordingly.

@CountFosco

People from cities have always dreamed of 'getting away from it all' and buying a 'croft' in the Highlands and Islands. They usually last one winter. When they realise it can snow in June, they need their heating on in July, the first big wind of the winter is in August, it never gets light in winter (and midsummer madness is a real thing in the summer), the nearest John Lewis is hours away, and internet shopping sucks when they will only deliver to an address in Aberdeen. Oh, and anything more serious than appendicitis and they have to fly you to Aberdeen. Not so attractive if you aren't made of stern stuff.

Exactly. I prefer living somewhere with hospitals, personally.

@CrazyToast

It doesnt really matter where your replacement is based. You still lose your job.

Or you move to the cheaper areas. After all huge numbers of people have been forced to move to london for decent jobs havn't they? Just reversing that stupid trend to spread people out more evenly throughout the country again. A win win (except for London but they've had the benefit for the last couple of decades so it's time for re-balancing).

Or you move to the cheaper areas. After all huge numbers of people have been forced to move to london for decent jobs havn't they? Just reversing that stupid trend to spread people out more evenly throughout the country again. A win win (except for London but they've had the benefit for the last couple of decades so it's time for re-balancing).

It's a major win for Londoners if it relieves pressure on housing.

ICO on data protection and WFH

ico.org.uk/for-organisations/working-from-home/

Follow your organisation’s policies, procedures and guidance
Only use approved technology for handling personal data
Consider confidentiality when holding conversations or using a screen
Take care with print outs
Don’t mix your organisation’s data with your own personal data
Lock it away where possible

Be extra vigilant about opening web links and attachments in emails or other messages
Communicate securely
Keep software up to date

All good tips - but who knows how many organisations are following that and who knows how many workers at home are doing that?

@C8H10N4O2

And BYOD policies

ico.org.uk/for-organisations/working-from-home/bring-your-own-device-what-should-we-consider/

How many small organisations have properly considered this?

They all have data. Who knows how it's being treated at the moment in people's houses.

@SockYarn

Makes sense that people are considering relocating within the UK. For £345k you can buy a brand new 5 bed house in Inverness.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-84139300.html

Plane to London takes 90 minutes, or overnight sleeper train. Entirely possible if you're only travelling once or twice a month. I think we'll just see prices even out across the UK and the south-east bubble where prices are just nuts to those of us who live elsewhere might be a thing of the past.

I think people living in London and the South East would mainly love that. We're the ones suffering the awful burden of stupidly unaffordable house prices.

SockYarn

The problem with a lot of the highlands is that the internets not so great. I’m in the north east of Scotland and the internet is good but I think that because of the oil industry. Though I know it’s ok in Inverness.

Here In Aberdeen and the shire we have just got all new super fast cityfibar laid throughout the city , and good 4G through the air.

Chicchicchicchiaclana

The sleeper from Scotland is great, you get into Euston at 7.30am and you can get it back again at 9pm back up to Scotland . I use to use every month to come down to see my mother when she was still with us.

I'm not sure most people I know who earn 80k plus already wfh a fair amount of the time.

Plus I think most big jobs will just switch for 3-4 days in the office to 1-3 a wk.

DH and I have already discussed moving to a cheaper area. He's in a specialist technical role that has been historically London-centric. Very doubtful there will be many candidates in rural Wales or such like with his skills/experience. My job is NHS so I could potentially work anywhere.

I think people living in cheaper areas probably need to be more concerned with the future of WFH rather than the population of the South East.