Alan Sugar says put a suit on, put a dress on, put your makeup on

[Dontmakemegoback2office]

Do your hair and get back into work..
All from the comfort of his own home. Mind blown.

www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/nick-ferrari/lord-sugar-says-public-must-put-on-a-suit-put-on-a-dress-and-get-back-to-work/

Lord Alan is of course just worried about all these office blocks that he owns and rents out through Amshold and Amsprop in places like Mayfair being empty and the losses he will now incur due to the fact that we have found a better way to live and work.

The world is changing. Either adapt or disappear.

P.s. we are working Alan, just not in your offices. Because we can do it well from home.

@AndNoneForGretchenWieners

Alan Sugar can piss off. I quite liked him before (i met him at the HoL and he was really lovely to chat to) but he has completely gone down in my estimation now.

Why? He's said something you disagree with. It's not a big deal. I've been working in the office full time. I would hate to work from home.

My friend started a job in April, she hasn't even met her colleagues in person yet. Laptop was couriered to her and training was done from home. She hates it and they've just confirmed yesterday that it will be 2021 before anyone is back in the office. Civil service.

Hes an idea Al, why dont people do what they want in their lives and not devote their existence to stroking the balls of overich pricks.

A lot of people hate working from home. Not everybody lives in a big house with a separate office, some live in house shares with no space for a desk. But Mumsnet certainly represents a certain demographic.

It's hard to feel sad for property owners re. office space.

It's a worry about pension portfolios and property.

It's a worry about small businesses and city centres.

But Alan Sugar sounded like an arse.

Plus rapid office return = spike in cases.

Here another mad idea, those who miss socialising- go out and socialise without the rest of us having to pretend to love spending more time in the drunken company of people we already hate for 50 hours a week.

*The world is changing. Either adapt or disappear.

P.s. we are working Alan, just not in your offices. Because we can do it well from home*

Hear hear, OP

It's about control. People like him want you where they can see you.
No thanks.

If they can get you to do things you don't like, like commuting, they can get you to do other things you don't like (like accepting unsafe work conditions, working unpaid extra time, etc.)

I can sympathise with people who don't have a dedicated workspace at home (if you can, make room for one, even in the cupboard under the stairs, it's worth it).
However the home office I share with my DH definitely beats the open plan office I shared with tons of noisy colleagues.
And the 1 minute commute to fire on the VPN definitely beats the hour I'd waste driving on dangerous roads in all weather. It's a no brainer.

As for putting a suit on, etc., I dress at home like I would for an office day, so fuck him and his gratuitous assumptions.

And as for talking with colleagues, it takes more effort (less spontaneous), but surely we all have phones (and/or Zoom, Slack, Skype, etc.) and can make sure we keep in touch (I do!), away from management's earshot as an added bonus (bet they hate that!)

The balance of power has changed in the workplace. That's a good thing, which employers will have to embrace, whether they like it or not.

Blunderbuss to the foot, nice one Alan sugar🙄

zara because he implied that civil servants in particular are to be guinea pigs for a return to an environment which is less safe than the one they are currently in, just for the benefit of landlords and the economy. In the next breath, he said how wonderful the furlough scheme and business loans were - which are administered by the same civil servants that he is so dismissive about. It's not that I have changed my mind because he has said something i disagree with, it is because he has indicated that he doesn't give a shiny shite about the wellbeing of people who can do their jobs perfectly well from settings other than Whitehall. Whether you hate WFH or not is irrelevant - if people want to go back to the office then that is fine and up to them, but why try to force people who feel uncomfortable with it if there is no reason other than ideology?

Nah.

Can’t see more than 6 friends at home then it’s not safe enough to get a bus to the office either. Or go to Pret on my lunch break. Can’t have it both ways.

I agree with him. My employers are encouraging us to get back to the office because working as a team, talking and seeing colleagues and being able to collaborate on work is so important. Efficiency is better and mental health too, given how isolating working at home is. My employers own the building. There is no incentive in terms of rent for them to have us there. It probably saves them money having us working from home! We must go back to work to help the economy recover,

To people like him we are just cash cows, he wants us back in the milking shed, back to what we ought to be doing ie making a profit for the rich and Powerful

yes we need to help the economy recover but let's also remember that previously the economy worked mostly for the benefit of the rich and Powerful
now is an opportunity to change things so that the economy works for the benefit of everyone

@user1471565182

Here another mad idea, those who miss socialising- go out and socialise without the rest of us having to pretend to love spending more time in the drunken company of people we already hate for 50 hours a week.

Oh come on. Just because other people like to have face to face interaction with their colleagues and the odd drink after work doesn’t make them the devil incarnate. Some people prefer working from home. Fab. Some people don’t. Some people find they’re more efficient at home, some people work better in an office environment. The key here is choice and flexibility. I have a dedicated office space at home, DH has a separate one. I still hate it. I work far better in the office. My colleagues (friends) are also keen to get back. Unfortunately our company has said no one will be back until at least jan and even then it’ll be on a rota basis.

That's not my experience @WanderingMilly - in my company we've completely transitioned to remote working and everyone is as productive as ever. Admittedly we're a technology company so people have had the infrastructure and mindset to adapt, but I've actually never worked better or more effectively.
The government and Sir Alan are out of step with what is actually happening in business and a lot of the big companies.

I hate that DH is wfh, he is using the spare room, luckily he retires soon, or else he would be in the caravan which could be used as an office as there is heating in there, the spare room is already being used like a warehouse for Covid /Brexit shortages and now there is a desk plonked in there, I had thought that the room could be used as a dressing room but that seems a distant dream now. We didn't buy our house to have an office in it or a warehouse come to that but such is life.

@Funkypolar

Nah.

Can’t see more than 6 friends at home then it’s not safe enough to get a bus to the office either. Or go to Pret on my lunch break. Can’t have it both ways.

I understand your point, but still we need to prioritise the economy over socialising, transmission will occur whenever circumstances allow and we can only afford to have a certain amount of transmission occurring before things get out of control so it makes sense to prioritise the fundamentals, we need to have a functioning economy more than we need people to have social lives. I'm not saying we should allow ourselves to be thrown under the bus but I think we should accept that there is a need to prioritise some activities over others

Yeah he can fuck off.

I love WFH and my employer is not renewing leases on offices they own. They are happy for us to WFH long term and just have a central hub office that people can use if they need to hold a regional meeting in person etc.

My office is in a green field site nowhere near any shops/cafes etc so the only losers to me WFH are the petrol giants and they have had their day. The gain to the environment is a major plus and is far more important.

Didnt say anything like that did I Kaktus. Those that want to socialise-go and socialise. Leave the rest os us alone. The rest of us arnt here to provide your entertainment.

Alan sugar is out step, he's like some sort of pearly king dinosaur and does not belong in the modern world

I wonder if there'll be a socially distanced series of the apprentice?

where they all shout even louder to make sure they're heard above the competing egos
and the women all have even more ridiculous eyebrows to ensure that everyone spots the angry faces.

@user1471565182

Didnt say anything like that did I Kaktus. Those that want to socialise-go and socialise. Leave the rest os us alone. The rest of us arnt here to provide your entertainment.

Sounds like you’re exactly the sort of person I wouldn’t want as entertainment to be fair. Luckily my colleagues seem to be fairly like minded. It’s not so much about socialising... it’s about face to face interactions with each other. Our industry is one where it works better to be able to discuss ideas in person. Plus we like each other.

And likewise... let those who prefer being holed up at home do so and reopen offices for those of us who like working in offices.

The school and uni leaver will be used to it - they are working on line in school as well. Look hard plenty of online networking going on and localised networking - its just different.

Many salary slaves discovering what entrepreneurs and self employed known for yrs - offices are just for social guff for the most part