Working from home

[alwaysfiltered]

I'm after a little perspective from the outside.

We are an office of 18; 12 of us could do our jobs from home. Most people were chomping at the bit to come back in so when we reopened I said (I'm CEO) the option was entirely theirs.

17 people came back FT; 2 split work between WFH and the office and one is WFH full time.

Following today's announcement I called a meeting and asked the people who technically can WFH to do that. 3 are happy to full time, the rest have said they find they are more productive at home and as a group got quite upset. A few have approached me independently saying they emphatically don't want to WFH due to anxiety. I have asked them to email me any concerns they have.

What do I do? I don't want to break any guidelines and the office is as Covid safe as we can make it but really it's never going to be bulletproof is it. The three that are happy are now going to WFH but I'm quite lost what to do from here.

It may be relevant to note the team is all under 35 in a creative industry, they openly say they enjoy the social aspect of work and motivate each other

My office has opening on the basis that numbers are reduced to about 25% of normal capacity and that in itself isn't an issue.

BUT

Some desks are out of use which means we would be hot desking when we do go in (but using our own keyboard and mouse) which seems ridiculous to me.

I wouldn't want to sit at someone else's desk at the best of times.

If they’re all friends and live locally you say then how about you support each person to meet 1-2 others for a coffee 1-2 times a week? Either their manager or closest collaborators. I think that would make a huge impact on anxiety and isolation while still being in the rules.