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.

Speak for yourself but I'll be looking for a job with the option to work in an office if we were close to ours permanently.

The obvious answer is to give people the choice and/or make it standard to have mixed weeks of two days in, three days home.

That way, there’s balance and choice.

I quit when forced to work from home, it was awful.

I do agree with the element of learning being missed if everyone is WFH. The amount of stuff i learnt by over hearing and just being in that environment. Its invaluable.

there isn't going to be a one size fits all, which is going to make it really interesting moving forward how the job market and employers manage that.

Worth noting that when chancellors talk about "the economy" they mean the bit that makes their mates rich. Not necessarily the bit you happen to be in.

At the moment they are the same, of course. But as people on here are saying, with technology, there's a brave new world out there.

I’m hit and miss with this. On one hand I’ve loved spending time with my family and being able to save so much extra per month. On the other I miss seeing my work friends and normal people at the airport, it’s a hard one.

@Megan2018

Absolutely agree with you there - have read the article and skimmed the thread, but my first thought is that the true motivation for this is writ large - my shop is in a small parade surrounded by big office buildings - at lunchtime the three takeaway outlets are rammed with office workers getting their lunch. If the majority are able and choose to WFH those businesses will be in extreme jeopardy, as will the area in general which is already prey to a fair amount of public disorder due to street drinkers, drug dealing etc. never mind our already decimated town centre which has lost I think 3 department stores and a host of other retailers over the last couple of years.

The only thriving businesses are takeaways, pubs and eateries, but they need customers - all very well to imagine people making special trips for them, but parking is scant and expensive in the few car parks available. There will probably be an upturn in the summer as we are a seaside town with a chunk of our economy based on visitors, but businesses can't depend on that in light of Covid, which, no matter how successful the roadmap proves, will still impact how they have to operate for public health and safety, and they have another 6 months of the year where people will choose out of town shopping centres over the hassle of the town centre.

Companies who have found the WFH model reducing their overheads will no doubt want to downsize as leases and rates are so high, especially in town centres.

Whether you love or hate going to the office, it's pretty disingenuous to project a veneer of concern for workers well-being being the prime motivation for this - I reckon it's all down to money, one way or another.

@RickiTarr

The obvious answer is to give people the choice and/or make it standard to have mixed weeks of two days in, three days home.

That way, there’s balance and choice.

I agree with this ^^

If I’m forced to work from home permanently, I will be looking for another job.
What works for you doesn’t work for everyone OP.

Maybe for you but not so much for-

1. People who have to work alongside family in the house with young kids maybe also there.
2. Young people who need mentoring which they cannot really get over zoom.
3. Isolation
4. People who take the piss and don't work as hard as they would in the office.

Not to mention all the childcare providers, shops, cafes and local business that will all go under if everyone thought the same as you.
Working from home is a very privileged position to be in for some but not for all. I support flexible working but not 100% work from home.

It's a free country. People can quit if they don't like it.

There's no lack of interested and suitable candidates to take their place.

It took the pandemic for employers to finance and understand the benefit of WFH, it's not going away any time soon.

We might ALL be able to relocate to cheaper areas, and either have a much lighter mortgage or a much bigger property. Bet the locals won't like that either

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.

Yes from a customer perspective, the companies and services I've had to contact that have had all their staff working from home have been the most difficult.

Good for you. Some folk would prefer not to work from home. Couldn't think of anything worse. What a narrow little life.

My husband works from home - we are all awake early with his phone calls. He’s loud. The phone rings constantly.

He may be more productive but I can’t even put the washing machine on when he’s working.

It’s annoying!

The Nationwide staff survey had a significant proportion wanting to be in the office some of the time, but not all of the time. Under 10% all of the time. Most companies are preparing for people to be in some of the time, and I expect most would make provision for the under 10% (if that is typical) who want to be in an office.

Rishi Sunak has got it wrong, or just wants to help friends who have large offices to lease/rent.

Shocking news - different people like to work differently

Not to mention all the childcare providers, shops, cafes and local business that will all go under if everyone thought the same as you.

childcare providers: still needed during working hours

shops, cafes, LOCAL businesses: will get a boost as people will have more time and more chance to go local.

We are still in lockdown... small detail, I know, but once the restrictions are over, we'll be able to use our local high street.

I talk as someone who previously spent 5 years working from home. Loved it for the first 2, then slowly started to hate it.
I’m all for flexible working, but if I was forced to work 100% from home then it wouldn’t be the role for me. That’s why I sought my current role... because working from home long term ground me down so much that I could no longer tolerate it.

I find the ones at work who shout the loudest about being more efficient working from home are anything but.

@CuthbertDibbleandGrubb

The Nationwide staff survey had a significant proportion wanting to be in the office some of the time, but not all of the time. Under 10% all of the time. Most companies are preparing for people to be in some of the time, and I expect most would make provision for the under 10% (if that is typical) who want to be in an office.

Rishi Sunak has got it wrong, or just wants to help friends who have large offices to lease/rent.

If you believe water cooler gossip, the Nationwide news could have come out in January. Make of that what you will.

You might prefer working from home but I think he is absolutely right. I'd like to spend less time and money commuting than I used to, but both professionally and personally I really need to get back to some face to face interaction with colleagues and business contacts.

Lots of people liked and some still like a take away coffee and going to the office, even the commute. The trouble is it will become unaffordable if there is not a certain scale of public transport. That will really affect me, not just work but normal life as I am partially sighted. If the bus that is cancelled is also the one I take to the hospital or shops it will affect my quality of life. That shouldn’t mean everyone should be going into the office, but iI hope it is one thing that planners in government are considering when working out how to fund things.

Infrastructure will also need to change. If employees were using a work based nursery are they going to fund places?

While all people feel differently I don't like that Rishi thinks he can speak for everyone saying people will quit. What about speaking for people who would prefer it. He's put a one sided view which is not his business to do so. It's up to the sector and their employees.

The main reasons people seem to want to wfh is because they don't like the commute and generally have DC that they need to fit their time around.

@Butterfly44

While all people feel differently I don't like that Rishi thinks he can speak for everyone saying people will quit. What about speaking for people who would prefer it. He's put a one sided view which is not his business to do so. It's up to the sector and their employees.

He didn’t say everyone would quit.