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.

@expectopelargonium

I think he's got it a bit arse-about-face, hasn't he? Surely there will be just as many people keen to continue working from home, but whose employer insists that they go back to the office.

It’s more about keeping the space so the option is open.

You can lease a space and not insist everyone come in ft but if you stop leasing one then there’s no choice and people may vote with their feet.

It's very polarised: some people much prefer working from home others in the office. Entirely depends on life circumstances.

I say this on every thread but working from home in a pandemic is not the same as working remotely in normal times. At the moment it's office or home. Usually there are lots of options. Just because you are in a cramped bedroom now doesn't mean you have to work in your cramped bedroom after lockdown ends. There are cafes, libraries, co-working hubs.

Not all will work for everyone if eg you have to make lots of calls or need two (or multiple screens).

But can we please stop this nonsense that the only options are "office" and "cramped bedroom".

Most sensible employers will allow a variety of working patterns to play to the strengths of their staff. The stupid ones won't, and will lose people to their competitors.

For me I'd happily go into the office twice a month and WFH rest of the time.

I save so much on travel costs and time too. Plus all the extras I used to buy and lunch out etc. No brainer for me.

Good for you. I absolutely HATE working from home full time and cannot wait to get back.

I hadn’t saddled myself with a shit commute before, it was never compulsory, so my work life balance has deteriorated since WFH.

I would look to leave if my organisation went fully remote long term. Thankfully they know this would be folly and we’ll all eventually be returning on a flexible but probably half/half basis.

Rishi is actually right for once.

Also - if offices can be turned into housing, maybe we can stop all the horrible green field housing estates being built. Some low rise offices are being converted into townhouses where I live - so it's not just flats that can be created.

If you were wfh in one room in a shared house you’d be desperate to go back to the office, OP!

Dh found working from home so easy with 2 kids who also needed to work from home, a dog that goes loopy every time a car drives past and his mother with dementia who doesn;t understand why she has to stay in a certain room during working hours wandering in every so often to tell his students on zoom that she needs a wee (when her carer had just nipped to the loo).

Dd in her flat with one room and shared communal areas found being on zoom so easy & professional when a couple were having noisy sex in the flat upstairs

@CleverCatty

For me I'd happily go into the office twice a month and WFH rest of the time.

I save so much on travel costs and time too. Plus all the extras I used to buy and lunch out etc. No brainer for me.

Me too.

I enjoy working from home but appreciate that we will have different views. It makes my life easier because I have a young school age child and a longish drive on mostly rural roads, which eats into my time and costs me a wedge of the money I make in three days. It enables my SE husband to work longer as he doesn't need to be home on my work days. I'm not sure if there is a fit all solution but I do think it's a good idea that the notion of flexible working is treated more seriously, particularly given the difference it can make to people with children's lives.

Opposite for me, Id quit if I had to go back to the office !!

Chances are the government will put some pressure on companies to get employees back to work.....

travelling in to work if you use public transport/buy petrol = money for the government

Buying your lunch at pret (other eateries are available) = money for the government

Going to the pub after work = money for the government.

Sitting at your desk at home in your PJs eating a pot noodle for lunch = not so much money for the government

@user1497207191

I'm sure lots of university lecturers would like to carry on working from home, but most students want a return to lecturers and face to face tutorials so don't want their lecturers to WFH.

Same applies with all kinds of employers. For some, WFH has been a sticking plaster to keep the organisation operating at some level, but isn't viable for the long term.

I have been a lecturer and know many who still are and I really seriously doubt that - speaking into a void, little opportunity for meanigful interaction with students or colleagues plus all the other reasons many people in other kinds of jobs dislike. I don't think you're in the right job if as acollege lecturer you would prefer the current situation.

YABVU. You may be happier but not everyone will be.

The fact of the matter is that it’s up to the employer whether you work from home or not.

It’s irrelevant how happy you are working from home; if your employer wants you back in the office, you have to go back.

I agree with you. Sunak is just saying that because it maybe somehow works for the economy/companies to have people at the office IDK. There's all the footfall for cafes and stuff.

I know that some people have found it isolating though.

@coachmylife

Tis stupid.

Some people MAY quit if forced to work from home.
Some people MAY quit if forced to return.
Some people MAY quit for totally unrelated reasons.

Conclusion - some people MAY quit.

No news here...

This sums it up beautifully. Everyone is different.

Part of my job deals with HR and I had an interesting conversation with our external HR advisor the other day, because he made the blanket statement that everyone would benefit from being in the office more often. I pointed out that it's not that black and white... some people work better with peace and quiet, some are introverts, etc. As a company, I feel we need to work on a case by case basis.

I love the fact he thinks people can just quit their job at the drop of a hat. I like WFH, if I didn't I have to find another job that pays the same or better for the same hours, is flexible and is in a place I can get to reasonably easily and cheaply.

Given that when I've considered changing jobs before I couldn't find something that ticked all those boxes...

@R2221

so you won’t be ‘forced’ to work from home, because you want to, so what’s your problem?

not everyone has long commutes, I had half an hour walk to work, no travel costs, Working from home has in increased my costs. As a single parent with no bubble I’ve spent most of the last year on my own with a teenager with additional needs, with no proper desk or chair, squeezed into a corner of my living room.
Its not my idea of optimal working conditions

The critical thing is choice and flexibility isn't it?

WFH was a fairly marginal thing prior to COVID: some people had been doing it for years but it was not the accepted norm for many sectors.

Lockdown has showed people that it can work: some people have much preferred it, others have struggled: I personally love it but I can see how if I were 25, living in a shared flat and starting out it would be hellish.

But most people want a bit of a hybrid approach. People who are committed to being based at home will still need to come in for meetings and social contact and people who still want to be office based will have the odd day where they have a local GP appointment or whatever where it doesn't make sense to schlepp into the centre of town afterwards.

The problem with the pre COVID work patterns is that they were needlessly inflexible on both sides: a lot of people were forced to commute it simply so they could be seen to have their bum on a seat in an office at a specified time, while people who were permanently home based lacked support and resource.

Any business for which remote working is possible should now be offering a blend of remote and office based as far as they can afford to do so. Forcing people into one or the other pattern, simply because that's how it's been done, has been exposed as nonsense and that's a good thing ultimately.

just like everything else in this pandemic, everyone in their own personal situation has interpreted the daily changing landscape and its implications for their own benefit... and act accordingly.

@ComtesseDeSpair

I’m also getting very sceptical of this universal view pretty much everyone now seems to have that they’re so much more efficient working at home than they were in the office. Every time in the past year that I’ve had to make contact with my bank, a utility company, an insurance company, the council, or the customer service department of just about any organisation, I’ve been treated to a recorded message telling me that I need to be patient during this difficult time as staff are working from home and have had to adapt their ways of working to suit, so to expect long delays. If everyone’s being so much more efficient, why aren’t customers experiencing a better service?

I agree so much with this. In my experience service organisations operate much less efficiently when all the staff work from home. Call quality and internet quality varies so much. We have just sold a house so I have been on the phone to all utilities suppliers, council tax, insurance, TV licence etc, and apart from the council, every call has been an ordeal due to the fact that everyone is working from home.

Given the answers on here I'm surprised that only 40% voted YABU.

I am lucky that I have a decent workspace and the right technology to WFH with ease, but I still miss my workmates. Ideally I would like a mixture of WFH and going to the office.

DS2 has slow Broadband which cannot be improved. He's hoping to work at least 50% of his time in the office.

The people who pay the government to run the country - big commercial property developers being amongst them - are not going to sit back and let their cash cows die.

Although you could maybe have just chosen a job that didn't involve a 2 hour commute so get the same effects

Seeing as we're playing Whataboutery Top Trumps we need to remember that not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to live close to their workplace and/or find a job where they live.

Moving house and finding new jobs isn't quick or easy especially when you own your house or also have a partner's job, schools etc to consider. Many people have little choice other than to live and work a distance apart.

I’d hand my notice in without a shadow of a doubt if my firm forced me to work from home