To feel sad that the world of work as we knew it has gone forever?

[Youngatheart00]

My work confirmed today we are moving to 100% remote working and will only get together a few times a year for team meetings. I find this so sad. I loved my working life - I know realise so much of that was down to the people. Now all I do all day is stare at screens and give myself a migraine.

They are justifying it by saying ‘most people’ want this despite me never seeing any such survey. It’s a blatant cost cutting exercise.

Anyone else fed up and lonely?

@MarshaBradyo it’s insurance / financial services

That sounds shit

Start looking for another job when COVID settles down

Full time wfh is by no means universal...

I agree with you op. I’ve had enough this week. I started a new job in June and have only briefly met my manager so far. It is utterly depressing having no one to speak to all day is so boring! I miss everything about actually going to work. I’m sick of being at home.

I would love it tbh, but we will definitely be back in most of the time. My work is doing a consultation on WFH vs office but in reality only a small percentage will end up WFH substantially.
In our case it is motivated by cost-they want to turn more office space over to students.

I don’t miss the commute and find Teams just as good as seeing people in the office.

I was previously part WFH and part office based. I really miss the social side of seeing colleagues around. Zoom is so procedural, we always get together for one specific thing. It's so dry.

The point about ‘living at work’ is well made. I don’t live in a huge house and even though I work in a spare room and can quite literally shut the door on it at the end of the day, it’s always there. That feeling of walking out of the door, especially on a Friday evening, was almost euphoric after a good, productive week at work especially if there was a team drink afterwards too. Now, it’s moving from one room to the next and feeling very flat and tearful.

I was wondering how it'll impact on relationships. A few of my colleagues have met their partners at work and loads of DH's have.

I completely get it. I miss my team and the impromptu drinks. I don’t get the same Friday feeling anymore.

I’m super demotivated and procrastinate which is a vicious cycle, and because I know I’m under performing I’m super anxious.

I can’t wait to get back in a few days a week.

I really miss my office. I've been there 9 years and have lots of genuine friends. I do sport with people I work with, socialise etc. We share issues and help each other out. It's not the same online. I also work in a fascinating place in a really nice part of London, which we all miss being able to visit.

I do much less activity, have much worse fitness and am bored sick of where I live. It's certainly not where I would have chosen to live if I'd known I was going to be stuck here. One of the main reasons I chose it was for its excellent transport links to central London. I live alone so can go weeks without seeing anyone I know.

We will go back to the office later in the summer, but how we work will change and there will be much more home working. The camaraderie of the office will never quite be the same.

ludothedog

Not sure your age makes a difference really, no one alive now has seen such radical changes occuring in the workplace as in the last year. Goes for swathes of society, shops, travel etc. It's really not in the usual cycle of peaks and troughs.

Can you find a like minded colleague or two and work at each other’s houses now and then? That way you still get some of the interaction.

I was wfh pre Covid and I love it so I never bothered to do that, but I know a couple of people who did. Or meet up for lunch sometimes, once things are open again. We have done that a few times in our team.

YANBU. I feel the same. I hope I can go back 50-50 eventually. I am fed up, lonely, stressed, headachy and lacking boundaries.

I understand where you're coming from and I've been in the office throughout Covid. Sick of the place! But still totally get why you're upset about a permanent lack of interaction with real live people.

YABU. I don't want to go back to sitting in an office sharing everybody else's coughs and sneezes, sitting in a car for hours. I think there is room for both but I object to having to go in because others "prefer" it.

@Youngatheart00

The point about ‘living at work’ is well made. I don’t live in a huge house and even though I work in a spare room and can quite literally shut the door on it at the end of the day, it’s always there. That feeling of walking out of the door, especially on a Friday evening, was almost euphoric after a good, productive week at work especially if there was a team drink afterwards too. Now, it’s moving from one room to the next and feeling very flat and tearful.

I think companies will be hoping individuals pick up the cost of local office space.

It’s different for everyone so I’m guessing there may be a shift around workplaces once things settle down. Wfh has transformed my life for the better and saved me money-going forward I’d always look for jobs that allow remote working, so I’m sure there will be people moving both ways depending on what suits them best.

It's not what you signed up for or what you want. I like the idea of wfh when it suits me but not every day forever.

Look for another job. You've got a valid reason.

Yanbu. Staying home might be fine for those who are happily partnered up with children, in a nice house and nice place. It's pretty rubbish for single people. I would have hated it. I don't love it now, but it's ok in the short term. But I find myself wanting to ask colleagues opinions, which previously would have been really quick, now it involves e mailing hoping they're not too busy etc

It will cause a lot of mental health problems because of isolation and lack of real interaction with colleagues. Bad idea.

I got a job that was WFH pre-covid too and absolutely love it. It's improved my quality of life so much. Sitting with the back door open in the summer, having the cats around, having access to my own kitchen for lunch... But I always worked for small organisations and the social aspect was not big anyway. Some days I had to commute and hour and a half just to sit in front of a computer in a windowless office on my own for most of the day and then commute back on an even more packed train. Never again!

Hopefully in the future there will be more flexibility on this though so people can choose what works best for them, as we're all different.

It’s really sad that they’ve made that decision for everyone rather than going for a more flexible way of working. Surely they would have still been able to save money whilst appreciating that most people benefit from some face to face time every month.

Sheesh, aren't people even allowed to be sad about something any more without being slagged off for 'drama'?

YANBU to feel sad about that, I would be too. We will certainly be going back p/t when we can, but not 100% off. As it happens, given my workplace was always quite flexible there was only ever 2-3 days a week my whole team was in the office anyway, so it may not feel that different in that respect. I'm not massively social at work, as in most of my work is quiet and solo, but it must be hard for some other roles.

The social change will be fascinating in London - it's occurred to me that Wednesdays might become the big night out night because it will inevitably be the day most people are in the office, so when all work drinks will happen.

YANBU. We weren’t made to sit home and stare at screens alone, day after day.
Yes you can go out with people after work etc but that’s so much extra effort - at work it happened naturally , quick chats while getting breakfast etc