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.

I think employers who are giving up their offices entirely and telling people to work from home 100% are probably being a bit short sighted, as are employers who are you expecting people to be in the office 100% of the time.

For most people and most businesses there are benefits of on site working (collaboration, relationship building, mental health) and benefits of home working (independent working, focused time, work life balance) and so good employers will enable their workforce to take a hybrid approach and choose their location flexibly to balance these different needs.

Personally, I would not want to stay with my employer if we were mandated to work 100% from home, or if we had to be on site full time (luckily I’m the one designing our post-covid working practices so this won’t happen!)

I have a 10m commute but still love wfh, dh has an hour commute but hates wfh. We're in the same house so it can't be the set up either. We're just different people.

I would change jobs if I had to WFH.

@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 work at a university in a non-academic role but speak to academics regularly both professionally and socially.

Most of the ones I speak to are desperate to get back to face-to-face teaching as they feel that the students engage more in person than they do over Teams or Zoom.

As others have said, there will no doubt be a lot of changing of jobs in the next few years as people go for the options that suit them.

Companies will need to consider not only their employees but also their customers; we have just paid a local firm to do some legal work for us precisely because they are local but twice we have encountered delays to a time critical issue because we cannot take documents to the office since the solicitor is WFH. There is little incentive to use them again when cheaper options are available that are not local. However, there are all sorts of industries and occupations where that won't be an option, or it will benefit customers to have staff WFH if there are cost savings passed on or an increase in the hours at which a company can be contacted because people are WFH and happier to do different hours, as two examples.

I think employers who are giving up their offices entirely and telling people to work from home 100% are probably being a bit short sighted

That's a given in the UK. Weather to follow.

God, I hope DH won't be forced to WFH forever. I'm looking forward to going back to a normal.

I'm a lecturer, and desperate to be back in front of my students - it is 100 x harder teaching remotely, and I've been doing it for a year now.

I usually walk to and from work, which I enjoy as a way of setting me up for the day, then putting it behind me, and I also miss my colleagues. I do enjoy the extra time in bed in the morning, having a hot lunch, and the cat "helping me teach", but the benefits are negligible. Plus it is costing a fortune in energy bills. I'm hopeful we will have more freedom in terms of only needing to be in for actual lectures instead of office hours when we're not teaching, but working like this permanently would not be something I would choose. (For me or for my students.)

He only cares about the economics, he wants city centres full, trains full, shops full.
But he’s deluded-there has been a huge shift and whilst cities will get busier again there will be a permanent shift to flexible working (that doesn’t mean WFH on your dining table). And it’s great. It’ll be like the industrial revolution in the history books.

I hate wfh so much I got 4 hour a week job in a local convenience store on a Sunday to just get out of the house!

Tories are looking after their backers.

My team is split between wanting to wfh forever and desperate to spend at least 2 days a week in the office. The ones who want to get back live by themselves and in flats.

Well there's plenty of people who would prefer it so I'm sure it would balance out

He only cares about the economics, he wants city centres full, trains full, shops full.
Tbf to him, isn't that actually his job😁

I would leave a job if forced to WFH full time.

WFH saves me £300+ a month in fuel on a daily 140mile round trip. But I would 100% quit if I have to WFH when we're 'back to normal'.

I love my job, my workplace, getting dressed smartly in a morning, interaction with people, even the commute (most of the time). I feel isolated at home, less productive, don't have office space to work in. After a year of full then part time furlough with the odd bit of WFH I am absolutely desperate to go back full time.

@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.

WTAF?

I am a university lecturer. I detest WFH with every fibre of my being, and can't wait to teach students properly again. The students are the best part of the job. If I had to WFH for ever, I would resign on the spot.

Why would you think any lecturer actually liked being stuck at home behind a screen?

It's easy if you have a home office, a good chair, a desk and some peace and quiet in the day.

If you live in a studio flat and have a kid at home it's hell on earth.

But thanks for your opinion, Marie Antoinette.

@SchrodingersImmigrant

He only cares about the economics, he wants city centres full, trains full, shops full. Tbf to him, isn't that actually his job😁

Ha yep

I care about economics too. As we’re all stuffed if the economy tanks.

@Sausageroll67

I hate wfh so much I got 4 hour a week job in a local convenience store on a Sunday to just get out of the house!

I can totally identify with this. I told my boss that if WFH was going to be the long-term plan, Id be looking for a career change to one where you CAN'T work from home, where you meet people every day. I would much prefer that than the other way round. She told me she'd be doing the same.

YABU. WFH would be my worst nightmare, ultimate cabin fever. I’m so glad I haven’t had to, you can’t speak for everyone just because it works well for you!

The view that working from home is better and more productive is easy when you have a home office or just generally private space. My employer (who is super family friendly and has always been supportive of flexible working) has been also really vocal that they understand that not all of us can afford to live in a place where we can work well from home. Some people have 3 kids packed into a 2 bed flat with no where to fit a desk but the lounge, which really impacts their ability to work. I'm lucky to have a big house, that doesn't affect me, but I'm conscious not everyone is. Many of my colleagues have been working at the one table in their house right next to their housemates or partners 8 hours a day. I can't imagine that's great for their wellbeing or productivity. Me personally, I have a longer than 2 hour commute, but I'm definitely looking forward to getting back to the office. I'll still work flexibly, as I always have, but I'd hate to be stuck here forever.

I love WFH but i appreciate that i have some colleagues climbing the walls to be back in the office. We are all different.

Some people would! The operative word is 'forced' not 'permitted'.

I think work conditions will become more flexible, partly just because of the advances in technology and its availability, and that's all to the good. More people will choose to work from home; many who do work in the office may do so on a more part-time basis and do the rest of their work at home.

But abolishing face to face contact altogether, e.g. because a workplace finds it cheaper not to provide office space, would be a serious downturn for many.

@Megan2018

He only cares about the economics, he wants city centres full, trains full, shops full. But he’s deluded-there has been a huge shift and whilst cities will get busier again there will be a permanent shift to flexible working (that doesn’t mean WFH on your dining table). And it’s great. It’ll be like the industrial revolution in the history books.

What a bastard, caring about economics. You do know that behind that simple word are peoples livelihoods, their businessess, good working class jobs (like bus drivers), the places where younger people and students get part-time work and are so able to get a start in life. The snobbery and myopia which some of these threads reveal is unreal

Well given the crap service I have received from every single company I have tried to contact in the past year the sooner people are back in the office the better.
My general experience is that it’s simply not working irrespective of how much some employees might like it.