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.

Now I've gotten mroe used to it, I love it! I start work at 9am but me and my partner get up at 7am every day, cook breakfast together, do a stretch workout and also spend half an hour or so on a hobby activity (he plays the guitar, I read etc...choice is yours!) and then in the evening we have more leisure time too and are less tired from commuting. I actually think I work much harder at work and am more productive also as I can have many more back to back meetings via Zoom than I would have in ordinary office life/visitng clients' offices.

Lockdown I find difficult, not WFH. Lockdown is what is limiting what I can do/people I can see and making things insular

I wish my husband would sell his car, instead it’s been used once a week since the beginning of March at most. When/if he goes back to the office it’ll only be once or twice a week at most

Going into the office to meet people, work on things as a team, do active stuff - fine.

Going into the office to sit at a computer all day - daft. It's a waste of time and energy. All those cars in rush hour puffing out carbon when people could be home instead with a cat on their lap.

I do think we need to keep workplaces going for people who prefer them, and for young people. Starting out in a job while working from home must be really tough, you need to learn from being around people.

I for one hope the spare commercial property freed up by needing fewer offices can be converted to residential and used to ease the housing crisis.

People used to accept commuting as a necessary evil because they needed a job, but now they’ve realised they can still have the job without commuting

I wonder how well it will work for a company and recruitment if most staff are home based - how that works for people who want an office based job with all its ups and downs, people who need the office environment to learn from others, to have spontaneous chats etc, that an office can make happen etc.

I'd agree with you in a way op but it's dependant on situation. For me I'm a 5 minute drive from my office and I come home in a much better mood with things to talk about as I've been out all day. I also live in a smallish 3 bed semi and DP is wfh full time so it's just too much.

A combination of the both is best I think.

I don’t feel chained to the house but I did feel chained to the office.
The commute was vile. Smelly. Dirty. Waste of time.

I’m much happier working from home and can do so very well. I’m less stressed. My IBS is improved. I definitely want to continue wfh.

I still see friends (one at a time) for walks and look forward to the time when we can return to having meals out. I don’t think I lose anything wfh but gain loads. My life feels more my own again.

@elizabethdraper so does your employer not mind you looking after your children whilst working?

My company have issued a policy saying that we are not allowed so I am still paying £50 nursery fees daily

I think a balance would be ideal. I'd do 3:2 in favour of the office. I like my office, I like my colleagues. My short commute is a nice switch off from work to home. I can go to M&S at lunchtime.

I'm dealing with a really complicated and shitty situation as a manager at the moment and it's a million times harder to do remotely. Difficult conversations are so much easier in real life.

Also totally agree that if you're partnered up, in a nice house with an already established career, it is a very different proposition for a first jobber with ambition. We've recruited several people who haven't yet met their team members.

I'm on an industry consultancy webinar about all this tomorrow so will give my views.

[quote deroo23]@elizabethdraper so does your employer not mind you looking after your children whilst working?

My company have issued a policy saying that we are not allowed so I am still paying £50 nursery fees daily [/quote]
So what do people do with older dc with no school

It's changed DH's life working from home. He's so much happier, less tired, sees more of me and the kids, our relationship is better and we have more sex. He spends most of the day on video calls so isn't particularly isolated from his colleagues and the IT generally works well. We have lunch as a family too, and he gets to exercise before and / or after work. It's a huge improvement for us. We were at a bit of a low ebb this time last year.
If he has to go back to the office eventually, he's really hoping it won't be compulsory for more than a couple of days a week.

I'm a bit lacking in motivation, but it's the uncertainty for me rather than the WFH. I don't miss office life as such, but I miss a bit of company. I don't have a great social life as I have young kids, so my life was a bit lacking here even before the pandemic started and just being around people is sort of missing from my life now.

We got rid of the second car - I hate driving and wasn't driving it due to WFH I will get another when I'm back in the office. My work have said it's unlikely to be full time again now though, but this was on the cards before the pandemic hit.

Really baffled why people are selling houses and relocating 100's of miles from work. How can you be totally sure we won't revert back to needing to be in the office again?