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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

230 replies

Dontmakemegoback2office · 12/09/2020 10:30

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.

OP posts:
user1471565182 · 15/09/2020 13:45

People dont need offices anymore- people are in dire need of housing. Obvious solution there. And whilst we're at it we can seize those properties held by Russian billionaires empty in London, just like they did to their own country throughout the 90s.

user1471565182 · 15/09/2020 13:47

Also a lot of these blocks could be given over to local small businesses to open in a sort of multi strorey market with cheap rents.

LemmysAceCard · 15/09/2020 14:07

I love working from home and i wish it would continue. But i realise that it is not like this for everyone.

Those that want to go back should be able to and those that want to WFH should be encouraged to.

I think it will be a 50/50 divide between those to go into the office and those that dont so smaller offices could be a way forward.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 15/09/2020 14:14

I'm presuming that those who want to continue working from home have a separate office with a proper 'office set up' and no interruptions. I get why you might be happy in that case, but what about those of us who don't, what do you suggest we do?

everythingisginandroses · 15/09/2020 14:20

@PinkSparklyPussyCat I mostly work on the kitchen table - I'm lucky not to have small DC at home and I get the peace and quiet I need for the most part. I'm sorry WFH isn't working for you, the ball is really in your employer's court though - mine has been really good in trying to accommodate everyone's needs. They have opened some temporary office space to accommodate the small number of staff who want to return, until such time as they have refurbished our main offices, but I appreciate not every employer has the means or inclination to do this. Are you in a union at all?

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 15/09/2020 14:30

@everythingisginandroses we are going back into the office on a 5 day in and 5 day at home rota and I'm loving being back so it was more of a hypothetical question for those who seem to think we should all love working from home.

It will never work for me being at home permanently and it's not fair on DH either. We have a one bed maisonette with a tiny kitchen and a lounge diner so I have the dining room table and he spends his time either in the garden or the bedroom so as not to disturb me. That's obviously not a long term solution for him! I've had no work life balance either as my screens are permanently on the dining table and I feel I can't switch off, it's always there.

TrulyOutrageousJem · 15/09/2020 14:56

I've been following these threads for the past few weeks now and it's been great to have a greater understanding of how other people are finding wfh.

I personally, have found it incredibly hard. Our team has been cut due to either furlough or redundancies but our workload has still been high. I'm thankful to still have a job in a creative field but have found not being around likeminded people has been hard. I like the buzz of the city centre and the routine that comes with it. When things have been really intense with deadlines it has felt like I live at work rather than working from home.

I work in my bedroom as it is the only place in the house I can work and when my days have been long I have rolled out of bed and onto my computer and ended the day by rolling back into my bed. This has been really unhealthy and I'm sure not the way wfh was intended to be.

I have really wonderful colleagues but I now only work with the key ones on my team. We have a new stream of graduates every year and I have loved getting to know them all but this year we haven't taken any on as it would be impossible in our field to manage.

I'm actually happy for people where it has worked for people but from somebody who loves being in a busy and happy office let it be known, we miss you all.

EasilyDeleted · 15/09/2020 15:48

My local library has comfy chairs, computers, desks where you can plug in, great wifi, as well as private meeting rooms you can book. Perhaps local facilities such as this could be expanded if there was a demand.

My local library may well have some of those things but as it's only open 10-4 on three days of the week, one of which is Saturday then it's not much use as a workplace. Yes demand might increase but it's not going to fund the longer opening hours.

JaJaDingDong · 15/09/2020 15:57

*I work in my bedroom as it is the only place in the house I can work and when my days have been long I have rolled out of bed and onto my computer and ended the day by rolling back into my bed. This has been really unhealthy and I'm sure not the way wfh was intended to be

My work/life balance is worse now I'm wfh than it ever was when I was working in the office. There's no delineation between work and home any more, and home suffers because of it.
I'm not getting enough exercise - I don't even need to walk down the drive to the car, or from the carpark to the office.

I don't need to walk to the toilet - it's in the next room.
I don't walk to the cafeteria to buy lunch or coffee, in fact I usually work through lunchtime as I forget what the time is.
I don't have that nice time in the morning when I can mentally plan my day on the drive in, or in the evening when I use the drive to wind down.
People seem to think it's OK now to call me early evening, when they wouldn't have dreamed of it before - I assume because they've forgotten the time too.

daisychain01 · 16/09/2020 17:31

I don't have that nice time in the morning when I can mentally plan my day on the drive in, or in the evening when I use the drive to wind down.

I miss that too - I use the hour to go outside and exercise instead, it's a different way of grabbing the headspace back.

People seem to think it's OK now to call me early evening, when they wouldn't have dreamed of it before - I assume because they've forgotten the time too

How come they are calling you - can you switch off your work device after 530pm? Boundaries are being massively overstepped because of the wfh illusion that people should be on-call even though they aren't paid to be. Take back control!

NothingIsWrong · 16/09/2020 19:13

I'm sick of people telling me to work in a cafe or a library. I do highly confidential work using multiple monitors. How the hell am I supposed to work in a cafe?

I'm anxious, lonely and demotivated and I've asked and asked to work in an office and been refused. I cry more days than not. How is this supposed to be better for me?

KatherineJaneway · 16/09/2020 21:03

@NothingIsWrong

Is your office open at all?

NothingIsWrong · 16/09/2020 21:07

Yes. I asked to work 2 days in the office and 3 from home to try and relieve the pressure on desks. The response was that if I can work from home for 3 days I can do it for 5 so no return for me.

JaJaDingDong · 16/09/2020 21:10

How come they are calling you - can you switch off your work device after 530pm?

Yes I can, and often do. But because I'm in a room with no evidence of passing time, I find i miss a lunch break, and my finish time, which should be 4pm.

There seems to be more of a "look at me, I'm still working" culture now than there ever was when we worked in the office.

Prig · 16/09/2020 21:51

The original post is so absolutely spot on.

KatherineJaneway · 16/09/2020 22:00

@NothingIsWrong

Yes. I asked to work 2 days in the office and 3 from home to try and relieve the pressure on desks. The response was that if I can work from home for 3 days I can do it for 5 so no return for me.
@NothingIsWrong

That's really awful. Who did that decision come from?

NothingIsWrong · 16/09/2020 22:06

From our HR. They do not want people in at all. Either I go in full time or not at all, and I can be assigned a desk anywhere they feel like, I have to clear my locker and desk where I normally am, I won't be with any of my team as they seem to be randomly assigning desks, we can't use the lifts or kitchens. Stupid thing is I've only ever worked 3 days in the office and 2 from home.

I'm distraught at this. I don't know how to make them listen that they are making me ill. I coped while I had to, but I can't run in crisis mode any more

EveryDayIsADuvetDay · 16/09/2020 22:15

Put your make up on?
Sugar is no sodding oil painting - and that;s with TV make up on presumably.
Sexist twat.

daisychain01 · 16/09/2020 22:18

He's a unbelievable misogynist.

And looks rather like Mrs Tiggywinkle last time I checked

daisychain01 · 16/09/2020 22:20

@NothingIsWrong

From our HR. They do not want people in at all. Either I go in full time or not at all, and I can be assigned a desk anywhere they feel like, I have to clear my locker and desk where I normally am, I won't be with any of my team as they seem to be randomly assigning desks, we can't use the lifts or kitchens. Stupid thing is I've only ever worked 3 days in the office and 2 from home.

I'm distraught at this. I don't know how to make them listen that they are making me ill. I coped while I had to, but I can't run in crisis mode any more

Are you sure the diktat is from HR though? They are normally the order takers not the order givers.

It could be an order from Management because they've spat their dummy out that they no longer have an empire to laud over

runningpram · 16/09/2020 22:50

To be honest after having gone into London and seen how deserted it is - with lots of family owned shops and pubs closed up, I'm kind of with him.
Yes - things have changed and I can't think that the old five day a week culture will be back any time soon and good riddance. But I do think we need to all pull together a little bit to minimise the shock to the economy. I don't think a day or two in the office a week is really that much of a challenge

lioncitygirl · 16/09/2020 23:02

I can’t wait to go back in.

NothingIsWrong · 17/09/2020 07:36

@daisychain01 my boss and his boss were happy for me to go back two days and supported me and submitted the risk assessment to HR. They said no.

OpenlyGayExOlympicFencer · 17/09/2020 08:08

@runningpram

To be honest after having gone into London and seen how deserted it is - with lots of family owned shops and pubs closed up, I'm kind of with him. Yes - things have changed and I can't think that the old five day a week culture will be back any time soon and good riddance. But I do think we need to all pull together a little bit to minimise the shock to the economy. I don't think a day or two in the office a week is really that much of a challenge
This is just not going to be an attractive proposition to people who are able to work at home and would have to use public transport to get into work (and there are people who will put up with a very non-ideal wfh setup in order to avoid having to commute as well). To say nothing of the potential economic impact of an increase in cases caused by travelling into work. Plus it's not like one day a week where people used to do four or five isn't going to wipe out a good chunk of that sector anyway. A lot of those businesses are not going to survive even if everyone who can starts to attend the workplace part time.

I have sympathy with people whose jobs and livelihoods relied on people commuting into central workplaces, but I also don't see that genie going back in the bottle. Doubt this level of wfh will continue in the long run, but it's equally clear that there's going to be a significant reduction in the number of people commuting for work. The poster upthread who said that this way of working was only a pretty recent development and not some automatic necessity that couldn't possibly be questioned was correct. Hopefully what happens is that demand goes up elsewhere instead, so people who would previously have had a drink after work go to their local instead.

JaJaDingDong · 17/09/2020 17:19

I was in London bc- the city - Threadneedle St - yesterday. It's a lot busier than it was 3 weeks ago, although still quiet compared to "normal".

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