SERIOUSLY??? People may quit if forced to work from home, Rishi Sunak warns ?

[R2221]

No Mr Sunak. Working from home saves me 2 FUCKING HOURS of daily commute + rush hour stress + travel costs.

I work from home now. I am more productive, less stressed and happier.

"Work isn’t your social life it’s a job , pays the bills. If you rely on working outside the home for social interactions than you have bigger issues in your life."

Well, maybe plenty of people do have bigger issues like not having friends on tap every minute of the day. It's pretty hard to go out every night during the week after a certain age so yes, for many single people, our main socialising during the week tends to be at work.

Dh would like a balance between wfh and in the office.
I'm currently a student but when I return to work will be actively pursuing a job which can't be done from home. Home is my private personal space, I hate it being invaded by video chats and work discussions.

A lot of the issue is people are suddenly WFH for the first time but they aren't normal times. We've been in lockdown for most of the last year. The kids have been out of school for most of that time. Most things have been shut

Yes exactly but nobody ever listens when you point this out. "Oh my DH can't work with two kids in the house and in a tiny bedroom".

No, but the kids are back at school and the co-working hub down the road will be open again soon (I think some of them already are). Some are more expensive than others but if you have an expensive commute you may well save money and still get to meet people and drink nice coffee but get to and from work in 10 minutes rather than 90.

"That’s an excuse you could still get up and go for a 30 min walk before work if you really wanted to."

Nope. I need somewhere to go TO. Many people are the same.

"Zoom/ Teams works just fine for me."

Eye contact is impossible. Nobody can see where you're looking. Nobody can look at you. You even appear in different places to different people. It's really not the same.
I've worked in two place since the pandemic and neither of them have social chats on zoom/teams whereas in the office we chatted all the time, not just social/personal, but also the kind of work info you just don't get when away from the office.

"Home is my private personal space"

This. My work has no business being in my home.

I just worked part time for variety, I already had a pension, there wasn't any variety in wfh so I left, it's not always all about the money. I certainly didn't want to spend half my week stuck in a spare room.

@poppycat10

A lot of the issue is people are suddenly WFH for the first time but they aren't normal times. We've been in lockdown for most of the last year. The kids have been out of school for most of that time. Most things have been shut

Yes exactly but nobody ever listens when you point this out. "Oh my DH can't work with two kids in the house and in a tiny bedroom".

No, but the kids are back at school and the co-working hub down the road will be open again soon (I think some of them already are). Some are more expensive than others but if you have an expensive commute you may well save money and still get to meet people and drink nice coffee but get to and from work in 10 minutes rather than 90.

There's several other examples. The one thing I liked about office work was going to the pub on a Friday afternoon/evening straight from the office. Whereas today, as every Friday throughout winter, i've logged off for the week on a Friday afternoon just to sit at home all evening and into Saturday. That's what's isolating - the lockdowns.

Its been said on so many of these threads about it being a bad thing if work is what you rely on for social interaction - but for most people, the bulk of their awake hours are at work.

Unless you live in a busy household, or are out every night after work until late, then you will obviously have the bulk of your social interactions during the working day.

@Margoskaftan maybe people would have more social interactions outside work if they didn't have to spend all their waking hours in the office and on the trains.

Confusing your workplace with your social life is not exactly what your employers signed you up for

It is entirely possible to work with and get along with your workmates and be productive. This sneery argument is always trotted out by people who dislike their office colleagues. I detect a hint of jealousy here. Obviously, these people already have a large circle of friends and have no interest in meeting new people and making new friends, but it must be utterly soul destroying and lonely for school leavers and graduates to start their working career just working from home.

Work isn’t your social life it’s a job, pays the bills

How joyless. Do you really go to work determined not to engage with your colleagues?

Both DH and I are older and have friends that we have known for years. Funnily enough they are friends that we have made through work. A couple of them are even godparents to our daughter.

For so many people, WFH is ripping away much of what makes them enjoy their job - i.e. face to face interaction with real people.

Definitely agree with this. So, let the people who dislike engaging with their colleagues WFH, and allow those who have a good relationship with their workmates work in an office. And describing people who like working with other people in an office as being needy is sneery and uncalled for.

I do wonder whether we will see, in the future, a trend for women to keep WFH to manage the school run/be flexible for kids off sick while men go to the office to 'concentrate', for which read network, and advance their careers that way...

That’s a worrying thought.

It is entirely possible to work with and get along with your workmates and be productive. This sneery argument is always trotted out by people who dislike their office colleagues. I detect a hint of jealousy here.

quite the opposite actually.
most of us do get along. But most of us are also aware that the friendship only goes so far as the next promotion, the competition over holidays, bonuses, pay rise and so on...

You can get on wonderfully with your colleagues. The day you become their manager, the friendship doesn't stretch as far as it used to.

"But most of us are also aware that the friendship only goes so far as the next promotion, the competition over holidays, bonuses, pay rise and so on..."

Sure, but friendships outside of work also have their problems and limitations.

We have a few new starters/ first jobbers ..

They are having a ball. Instead of being stuck in an overly expensive houseshare in central London or nearby, they have decided to house share a few hours away. They are the least keen on coming to the office!

One of them is staying in his parents town, with most of his mates. I am not getting the impression the lockdown is fully respected, but having the opportunity to work for a bigger company whilst staying local to his home nearly feels like a holiday apparently.

It's such a weird idea to think that wfh is synonym of being an antisocial hermit with no life.

I hate working from home all the time. I can't wait to be 50/50 home and office working. Then if I still hate wfh I'll move to 100% in the office. I hate work invading my home so much! My DH would be happy staying wfh most the time.

[quote Moomin12345]@Margoskaftan maybe people would have more social interactions outside work if they didn't have to spend all their waking hours in the office and on the trains.[/quote]
Not really because they'd still be working wouldn't they?

"It's such a weird idea to think that wfh is synonym of being an antisocial hermit with no life."

If you live on your own and follow lockdown rules it is though.

@Gwenhwyfar

"Home is my private personal space"

This. My work has no business being in my home.

That was never the choice of many of us.

It's quite rare to have the luxury to leave your work at 5pm in the office and not having to do anything evenings and weekends.

It's not just office workers, it's teachers, any workers with paperwork to catch up with, retail staff having to sort the rosters.

I genuinely don't know anyone who didn't work from home after hours, like it or not.

But most of us are also aware that the friendship only goes so far as the next promotion, the competition over holidays, bonuses, pay rise and so on...

It's not like that where I work. A lot of us are older and part time, and have no interest in managing other people. We haven't had a pay rise for years. We don't get bonuses. Our children are older so we don't need to stick to school holidays, so there is no issue with clashing annual leave. I think that is why our boss calls us the dream team because there is no competition, no big egos, no bitchiness or anyone trying to undermine anyone else.

I know it sounds a bit utopian, but this is why I love my job. I love the work and I really like everyone I work with. And given what I have read on this thread and many others I realise that I am in the minority and am extremely lucky. The only downside is that the pay isn't great, but everything else makes up for it.

@Gwenhwyfar

"It's such a weird idea to think that wfh is synonym of being an antisocial hermit with no life."

If you live on your own and follow lockdown rules it is though.

but you say it yourself... the issue is the lockdown.

That's not real life.

I am not considering myself antisocial because I have been banned from meeting friends and family, or from doing anything. It's not my choice!

I still would be banned from all of it even if I was going to work in the office.

Rampant - I've had everything at work from people who've hated me and bullied me to good friends. Only a small percentage of the people I've interacted with have become enduring friends, but that's life. Apart from the few nasty ones, all my colleagues have contributed something to my life and to my understanding of the world. That's not something I can afford to lose.

"but you say it yourself... the issue is the lockdown."

Lockdown is making it worse, but even if not in lockdown I would not be going out meeting friends every night of the week with work the next day so would be isolated for much of the week.

I’m sick of people going on about how important it is to get back to ‘office banter’ and ‘culture’ and ‘needing to see people’s body language’ and ‘water cooler networking’.

If that's how they feel, what's it to you? Other people don't exist to cater to your worldview.

Bollocks. I just want to do my job and get paid. I don’t want to deal with you extroverts’ mindless chatter and messing around while waiting for meetings to start and (not) making polite conversation

If you're this unpleasant in real life, I'm quite sure that your colleagues - 'extrovert' or otherwise - would be extremely relieved never to have to deal with you either. Best you shut yourself up at home.

"I genuinely don't know anyone who didn't work from home after hours, like it or not."

Well I never have. I'm not a manager or a professional so there's no justification for it.
Retail staff doing rotas at home? Maybe managers, not normal retail staff.

Did the OP ever come back?!

@R2221

No Mr Sunak. Working from home saves me 2 FUCKING HOURS of daily commute + rush hour stress + travel costs.

I work from home now. I am more productive, less stressed and happier.

They are looking at this from the perspective of younger workers (under 30s) who are based in cities.

To be fair my company has received similar feedback from staff aged under 30 who live in London and Manchester and their biggest concerns are lack of privacy (many live in hmo or in small flats / houses with partners who also wfh), and inability to learn new skills. The learning aspect is really important and is something we believe workers over 30 didn’t even consider when the survey was sent out, as many are so used to younger analysts doing their data crunching for them. But the fact is if they’re all working from home then the older workers (who are generally managers) will need to become more self-sufficient.