Some people have just gave up?

[lovioli]

On our daily teams meeting many colleagues are declaring how they never want to return to the office . They are very adamant they want to continue to work from home and are even talking about selling their cars

Why are so many people embracing this insular life ? Giving up their independence of having a car ? So they can be chained to the house working off a laptop.

Or maybe people are enjoying better sleep, more time to do non-work things, being able to concentrate without being interrupted (admittedly not if you have young kids!)? I don't see anything resigned or negative about wanting to WFH full time.

As it happens, I would want to go in at least 2 days a week, but I don't think even that's happening this year.

Because some people like being at home. I am one of them. Lockdown has been good for me and my family.
We've realised what is important to us. Driving cars to places, going to the theatre or cinema, eating out and spending money on food you can prepare yourself etc are not things we miss. We've even realised that there is huge big free gym out there - it's called walking.
And I love the empty roads, it's nice to be able to cross them.

I don’t even have a car - don’t see why that’s your main focus - in normal times I have a great life - my independence is not taken away because I don’t drive everywhere 😂😂

Husband and I don’t ever want to go back to the office either - when this is over we will be able to go abroad for a month or so at a time and work there - can go back to Ireland to our families and stay as long as we want instead of Just weekend visits

See our actual friends more often rather than just work colleagues

If more people working from home has the effect of reducing rush hour traffic and pollution, then that's good for the planet.

I get an extra 2 hours a day with my DS rather than in the car. I get so much more work done and so much less stress

It will be nice to get out the house more post lockdown though

I’ll never see my friends during the week if we all wfh. We all live in completely different parts of London or commute in and meeting in the city after work is the only realistic option for us to see each other during the week.

Plus I have a fair fee friends from work so not best pleased at the prospect of never seeing them either!

Being in a office to me has lots of negative aspects....

Awful overhead lighting
1 hour commute for a 20 car journey (out with office hours).
Multiple distractions (phones, people walking past etc)
Generally nasty communal kitchen facilities for lunch

I could go on but I’m sure you get the idea. I fully expected lots of people to embrace working from home. No commute time, save money on petrol, more time for walks/children, ability to cook lunch in my own completely clean kitchen....

My job has always been home based. It's 1.5 hours to the office so monthly team meetings meant leaving home before 7.30am and not getting home until 7.30pm. I'd hate to do that every day.

I can start dinner, shove a wash into the machine and get a supermarket delivery whenever I want.

I'd find it hard to go back to an office based job.

I'd be thrilled if I could work at home everyday and didn't need a car.

I not sure what personality type I am.

"Giving up their independence of having a car?"

"I am just surprised so many people want to sell their cars and are settling for this life."

Sounds like you're quite attached to you car, OP. Many people just aren't - it depends on your individual needs and preferences. If 'driving' just means sitting in slow-moving congestion until you get to work, struggling to find parking once you're there, and then the dread of the return journey; the car symbolises drudgery, not independence. They might not need it for shopping any more, that's delivered. They might be switching their shopping to neighbourhood shops.

They're not 'settling'. They're making the choice that suits them.

@Heyahun

I don’t even have a car - don’t see why that’s your main focus - in normal times I have a great life - my independence is not taken away because I don’t drive everywhere 😂😂

Husband and I don’t ever want to go back to the office either - when this is over we will be able to go abroad for a month or so at a time and work there - can go back to Ireland to our families and stay as long as we want instead of Just weekend visits

See our actual friends more often rather than just work colleagues

You can’t just go and work from overseas without discussions with your employers. There can be significant tax implications (plus visa considerations).

Absolutely love working from home, but selling the car is just crazy. I love my car

It’s cheap not having a car and buying office suits and people prefer to get up at 8.45 😂

I don't want to return to the office either. I actually couldn't think if anything worse after working from home for a year. I wont be going as far as selling my car though!

@JaneNorman I can. My employer couldn’t care less where I am physically as long as my wifi works.

It's too isolating for me to WFH full time. If there's an option to do say 2 at home and 3 in the office I would love that. But given I work for a call centre I suspect we will all be back in!

My house is way nicer than my shitty office.
I can have it as warm or cool as I like, listen to the radio, wear what I like.
I can go for a nice walk near my house at lunchtime. My office is on a pollution filled ring road with nowhere to walk to.
I can stay in bed much later.
I can take DS to school and still be at my desk by 9am, so he doesn't have to go to breakfast club any more.
No commute time means more time to make a decent meal in the evening.
What's not to like!

My husband is dreading going back to an office. He can work just as well from home and doesn't have to commute 2-3 hours each way. I imagine lots of people love not commuting.

I would like more quantifiable information... OP, how big is your team, how many are saying they will not return to the office, how many are saying they will be selling their cars. Even a percentage will do, rather than anecdotal evidence...

DH is like this, but it’s not a case of having given up. It’s a case of realising that he can have it all. For the past ten years he has got up at 6am, left the house at 6.40, done a 1hr20 train commute into an office. He rarely managed to leave on time c as meeting always over an, or someone caught him on his way out. He was always calling to say he had missed his train, and often the one after that. On a good day, he walked through the door at 19.15. Often it was after 8. He was tired, the kids were often asleep and we had not evening.

Fast forward to now. He gets up at 7 and either had breakfast with the kids or goes for a run. He spends time with us all until 9.15 when he disappears into his home office to work, but then joins us again for lunch. He always had dinner with us and often plays with the kids or puts them to bed. At worst, he does a little work in the evening, but he is present, enjoying his family and not constantly exhausted. We now evenings, and he is fresh at the weekends.

Why would he want to go back to the office? Yes, he does miss the social side, and long term, he will do 1-2 days there, but ultimately, home working enables him to be a dad. Until now, the only way he could be more present would have been to take a far poorer paid job.

A lot of businesses are looking at downscaling their office space. DH's firm are, so he will likely be WFH most of the time and they will probably keep the desk rota they had before this lockdown, but obviously once SD isn't required they will be able to have more people in and actually sitting next to each other!

We may look at our car situation at some point as I don't need mine every week day, but when DH was commuting he used his every week day and used to clock up the miles, so we needed 2 cars.

One of my friends is saving 1k a month household income on travel.
Saving 5 hours (2.5 each) on commuting time. And saving money on wraparound childcare.
I see why people want to retain some of that!

One issue with more remote working though will be the resulting impact on other services eg public transport,

My son has embraced working from home, he says he thinks he has become the person he was always meant to be . However I can't see him giving up his car as he will have to go to places sometimes in connection with work and see people. What is funny is that before the pandemic he was travelling all over the world, working in different countries, as well as here. Now he is doing something else, at home, and likes it! People are strange - even those closest sometimes :-).

I wouldn't take much notice, people will change their minds when 'normality' returns.

In the meantime I do think it is good that people can embrace this type of life, being content with own company, because we never know what the future will bring. I quite like it but I no longer go to work anyway so doesn't really apply - I would have hated to work from home, I think.

It's funny to think of it as "giving up". Yes, giving up so many of the headaches of working in an office, giving up the commute, giving up leaving the comfort of home when you can do your job just as well from home.

I personally wouldn't sell my car, but that's because we need our car to do many things other than commuting to and from work, but if you only use it for that, why not? You save the upkeep and insurance fees, and you can always buy another, if your circumstances change.