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.

Ah well if it works for YOU then clearly, we should all do it!

Good grief......

Well, Rishi and his fellow Tories have a vested interest in keeping lunch and coffee places going and office rents coming in. I strongly suspect the truth lies somewhere in the middle, and I hope the shift brought about by COVID will make employers think seriously about flexible options - office working where needed, using space flexibly, home working taken seriously and not thought of as 'skiving', coffee and lunch places moving towards a delivery based system. Going back to the old ways 100% would be a really stupid idea - COVID has been a disaster, but it has also highlighted things that can and should be done better.

@vickylou78 *Not everyone is the same!"

Well that's the point though isn't it? The chancellor is implying that everyone is the same and his opinion is everyone's opinion which is totally wrong.

I'm on the same side of it as the OP and I work for an office that is never going to value working from home so I'll be looking for something else. Others like your examples will be the opposite.

Both opinions are totally valid, as is the compromise of doing both occasionally but when a member of government tries to push 1 agenda without any thought for people having different lives and opinions it's not right. Especially when it's clearly about money and not people's well being at all, I'd have more respect for him if he was honest about it.

I think people should be given a choice. Nobody shouldbe forced.

I like working from home. It may give us the chance to move out of the south east and live nearer family. It could change the working landscape and how we live completely , but it wont necessarily be worse. Childcare providers shouldn't go under , you can't work and parent effectively with small children around, childcare is still needed. There will be opportunities for businesses to open up locally to where people live rather than work, or maybe more online opportunities. And it's obviously better for the environment.
I think the key word is "forced" in what Rishi said - some people love working at home, some don't. Hopefully businesses will allow an element of choice. Long term I can see that it's difficult to make the connections you need to work effectively , but with a bit of thought put into it maybe this issue could be counteracted I.e. networking or team building days where everyone comes in , better info on work intranet on who does what etc.

My boss knows I'll leave if they make me go back to the office. But they're going to give people the choice.

We have already known for a long time that open-plan offices were not the ultimate work environment. But when it comes to saving money, the well being of workers never mattered.

Not sure anyone will be in a rush to go back to expensive premises etc..

Jobs who cannot be done from home are not an issue.

@SunsetBeetch

I think people should be given a choice. Nobody shouldbe forced.

sadly, no one (or near no one) had the choice before!

It was really hard to find WFH roles.

[quote Tarantallegra]**@vickylou78* Not everyone is the same!"

Well that's the point though isn't it? The chancellor is implying that everyone is the same and his opinion is everyone's opinion which is totally wrong.

I'm on the same side of it as the OP and I work for an office that is never going to value working from home so I'll be looking for something else. Others like your examples will be the opposite.

Both opinions are totally valid, as is the compromise of doing both occasionally but when a member of government tries to push 1 agenda without any thought for people having different lives and opinions it's not right. Especially when it's clearly about money and not people's well being at all, I'd have more respect for him if he was honest about it.[/quote]
Yes true, definitely be great if employees have flexibility to wfh if they can. I love it but I realise I'm in fortunate position this year to be able to set up my dining room as an office so I'm comfortable and I have company at home so don't need the social side. But just wanted to echo that some people will be absolutely miserable working from home.

Consider the difference between

People may quit
Some people may quit

I would LOVE to wfh permanently. I want to exercise and reduce the costs and stress of 2 hours in the car. But I accept that not everything can be done remotely so I'm looking for a mixed option. I just hope my employer will listen. Is anyone else asking for this and if so how did you position it with them?

Good for you. Shame you lack the ability to realise not everyone has found it as wonderful as you.

If there were to be a significant shift to WHF, wither HS2 ?

I wonder how many people have lost a car these past 12 months ?

The immediate pain is loss of fuel duty. But as office space starts being sold off, there will be a glut in the market. And that makes it very much a buyers/renters market. Which can't be permitted.

There's also a risk that someone might have a bright idea of moving the office space to residential, and collapse the housing bubble it's taken the UK nearly 30 years to create. And that must never happen.

Maybe we'll see WFH made a terrorist offence or something.

Maybe we'll see WFH made a terrorist offence or something.

😂maybe!

Probably not though... there aren't that many office roles that can be done from home anyway.

It's great if you have the space to WFH but unfortunately most people don't have the luxury of the space at home. Others may be missing the social side. And then for lots of people their home is their sanctuary and they want to keep home and work separate.

There are many more reasons why people don't like it.

You don't speak for everyone. Nor does Rishi.

I’ve worked from home full-time for years. It has its pros and cons. Yes, it saves petrol and time but when I worked in an office and commuted I enjoyed the separation between work and home. Some days it feels like I live in a workplace with bedrooms. I used to enjoy the journey between the office and home to wind down, listen to music, etc. I also enjoyed the social interaction with colleagues whilst working on projects together.

I’m fortunate that I have a dedicated office at home with a full set-up of desk, office chair, computer, 2 monitors, phone line to the office, printer, filing cabinet etc. I am well aware that for many WFH during COVID has meant being hunched over a low spec laptop on a folding chair at the dressing table, or fighting for space at the dining table or balancing something on a lap on the sofa, having to use your own mobile to make calls.

WFH is great of you have an employer that fully supports it and is geared up for it. I suspect many companies will use it as a way to save money on electricity and other office costs without a thought or care for the mental and physical well-being of their employees and be quite happy to have their employees working in completely unsuitable conditions at home. I’d quit too if I had an employer like that.

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

Well, that's alright then. Decision made because it suits @R2221

You don't speak for everyone. Nor does Rishi.

Thing is Super Sunak has the power make laws and set the tax system. Unlike any posters here.

coronafiona Do you know what your employer's plans are long term? Good companies will be asking employees what they want to do and coming up with a strategy to balance everyone's preferences.

Some companies are going to demand a total return to the office and others will be selling premises and demanding 100% WFH. Over the next few years I imagine there'll be a lot of movement as people find companies offering their preference.

I just said outright that I'll leave if we have to go back to the office. But I'm in a fortunate enough position that I can make demands...

@user1497207191

I don't quite know why you think lecturers in particular might want to stay at home. WFH has made our jobs much, much harder.

Maybe because my son showed me a screenshot of a comment by one of his lecturers saying how he's enjoying "working from home" in France and not having to spend thousands on renting accommodation in the UK, and suggesting he's hoping that working from home becomes the norm for courses that don't "need" face to face teaching like his subject.

Or that one of his other lecturers just posts up links to last year's recorded videos which are logged down as "live" lecturers, even though the lecturer only "attends" for the first couple of minutes to give the link and a very brief introduction, and doesn't stay around to take questions etc at the end.

OK - that's accounted for two, the second of whom is behaving very reprehensibly. There are thousands of others who don't see things the same way and indeed are not behaving in the same way.

Working from home is the dream for me.
I work in telecommunications - I'm one of the people you ring to scream at when your broadband is being faulty.
Working from home saves me time from commuting, money from commuting, money from forgetting my lunch, gives me a better work/life balance, and just generally improves my quality of life.
There are people who have left the company I work for with ongoing medical conditions who in the past have asked to work from home and were told no. Now the pandemic has made this possible.
Im starting back to work after losing my son in the next weeks and WFH is a massive benefit for me. In fact the fact that I can is driving me back to work.

Some people who I know who have been working from home have put on weight and haven't been as productive

I've lost weight WFH, because there isn't a food van rocking up at my house at 11 every morning, selling delicious cheese and ham pasties. .

I'd like to WFH in the summer, and go into the office in the winter. That would save on my heating bills.

I'd like to work from the office now and again, just for the company, but I'm not convinced many others would go in. Since I lost my partner, I've found WFH very lonely. If he hadn't died, I'd be happy WFH. We liked being together all day, even if we were in separate rooms.

Well, if I was working in the same office as Rishi Sunak I surely wouldn't want to WFH. This man is HOT and I'm sure he smells good.

Some employees prefer it and some don't depending on work life balances. But this has never been a priority and it's naive to think it will be now or in the future. Obviously some employers have found it cheaper - no reduction or increase in 'productivity' combined with reduction in outgoings. They really don't care about the impact on the economy that services workers going to the office.

It is indisputable that there have been real benefits in some areas though. For example, look at the number of SENDIST tribunals that were adjourned pre pandemic due to lack of court room space, lack of judges, failure of LA to prepare case compared to the number adjourned post pandemic. You don't even need the precise figures - it's lots compared to barely any. The number of appeals continues to increase, the number of appeals that are proved are consistent but the number of adjournments has decreased. I don't doubt that judges preferred the 'perks' of being wined and dined and being put up overnight in 5 star hotels but they have adapted to zoom hearings.

I’ve just quit my job for one that offers full time WFH so I can’t agree with Rishi.