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 love working from home. I save around 3 hours commuting a day, can be here to wave DC off to school / be here when they get home and have got more work out than ever as I dont have office distractions. I walk the dog on my lunchbreak, saving £10 a day dog minder and also keeps me fitter. Dreading going back. I think it should be a choice.

I suspect we'll have stories about data protection issues, IT equipment being stolen from houses with sensitive data on it next. With a selection of doom-laden quotes from the experts the BBC manages to dig up for such stories.

I reckon by May.

There may be a brave new world in terms of technology. It's not going to help the train and bus drivers, the people who work in the derided cafes and sandwich shops, the people who've invested their life savings into opening their own independent cafes and sandwich shops. The people who are employed to work in those equally derided offices blocks - the cleaners, caretakers, facilities managers

Not to mention people’s local councils and pension funds which have investments in commercial property.

I prefer WFH.

I love WFH. If I were ordered back to work now, I would quit! I don't even have a long commute (10 minutes). My workplace is a toxic environment where I have been sexually assaulted in the past. Much more relaxed and productive at home.

Well if they do quit there'll be no shortage of takers when the position opens up

At least it's a change from the "if you can WFH your job will go to a foreigner" tag line of last year when the 'get back to the office' campaign coincided with 'eat out to help out' and caused a second wave.

Wishful thinking. Of course some people like the office, I do in many ways, but the government mainly probably want us back there because of all the spending involved.

I have to agree with him on this one, i hope to get back to the office 2/3 days a week

I’d like to work from home a couple of days a week. However, if I was told I had to work from home permanently, I would most likely look for another job.

I'm desperate to get back. Really miss all my colleagues and all the incidental chats you have about work. Hate having zoom calls where you can't gauge reactions or make eye contact. Really miss starting the day with a swim (admittedly this is lockdown not WFH). We've been told WFH until everything opens up but they are putting in place a new policy to allow regular WFH and flexitime, neither of which were officially allowed before (although I had a boss who was fine with it). I have an office at home but it's the social and collaborative aspects I miss. When we go back I'll probably WFH a couple of days a week but no more.

On the other hand DH (software engineer) loves being at home and his work have given up the lease on their city centre office. He does miss his cycle to work though.

Although city centres are doing badly I though small town centres did better last summer. Lots of local businesses said their footfall had increased across the week because of locals WFH and popping into town and I'm sure I heard someone from a big chain (possibly even Pret) saying similar, city centres stores were quiet but small town stores were raking it in. If increased WFH revives town centres that can only be a good thing.

Not to mention people’s local councils and pension funds which have investments in commercial property.

Some investments. I can't help but remember being told how these investors are experts at spreading risk and being worth their salaries. You know. Like the bankers that were supposed to be experts right up until 2008.

Anyway, moneys all madey uppy these days. Even us proles have cottoned on (keep it to yourself though).

@TinyTear

I have to agree with him on this one, i hope to get back to the office 2/3 days a week

A few years ago there was a brilliant idea of a 4-day week (same number of hours, but in 4 rather than 5 days).

I much prefer home working too. It's a massive boost for people who found a traditional workplace a struggle to access.

I dream of working from home but my job has to be at the workplace, and I have no skills that would lead me into a WFH type of job.
Of course everyone's different but I'd bloody love to work from home....

Good for you OP. I had a breakdown on the phone to my boss today because I hate wfh and am missing the office so much. It’s affecting my motivation and I can no longer compartmentalise work and home like I used to. I feel like I am living at work, because I am. If my work went to full time long term home working I would look for another job.

And for context I have two young kids and a decent commute.

What we need is flexibility to allow people to work in the way that is best for them.

what we need is the lockdown to end

How can people talk about normal life when we are all on house-arrest!

@AiryFairyMum

I much prefer home working too. It's a massive boost for people who found a traditional workplace a struggle to access.

Another reason why it's going to be resisted by the powers that be. They haven't got so many excuses for not employing disabled people now.

A few years ago there was a brilliant idea of a 4-day week (same number of hours, but in 4 rather than 5 days).

I did it for a few years, it was brilliant.

Most adults are used to work long days anyway, doesn't make that much difference and it makes a huge difference to your life and quality of life.

I think the French school system giving the kids a day off in the week is much better too. Much less tiring and better for the children.

Not all people enjoy working from home.

I know I miss the office, and I would love to be back as soon as possible.

I work in IT. It's been gradually moving towards remote working for years. People have overwhelming found over the last year that they prefer it, and I think that if we were forced back into the office full time, some people would look for other jobs where they could work from home.

A few years ago there was a brilliant idea of a 4-day week (same number of hours, but in 4 rather than 5 days).

You’d need your clients to be the same. Eg they might be in the US and go elsewhere if they couldn’t reach anyone at their suppliers on day 5.

Of course you could not all take Friday off but you’d lose efficiency as each day a proportion would be off.

WFH certainly works for many people, and there is space for more flexibility in workplace arrangements.

But
Some people have family life to consider. Conference calls with a spouse "encouraging" children out of the house, or an autistic meltdown in the backgrounf are not ideal. Or communal living for young people.
Internet strength.
Having safe, appropriate work space
"Living at work" rather than living at home.
Loss of social contacts, effective training, progression, teams.
Becoming sedentary, especially loss of incidental movement and work consuming the gained commute time.
Needing external motivation and social pressure for focus.
Added domestic distractions, cold callers, deliveries, neighbour's dogs/ DIY...
Getting time away from the work environment/ household members.
Employers passing the buck on creating an appropriate working environment onto their employees without compensation.

Most WFH social networks are still based on historic connections. As they change, they are hard to replace and are also getting harder to sustain as this situation limps on.

I'd be pretty pissed off if DH's company made WFH permanent and I lose autonomy on how I use my own home in space and behaviour around his company's needs without any choice.
Full time WFH would be a deal breaker for me as I need a focused environment without domestic distractions and with external professional expectation. I don't have the internal drive to self-motivate reliably. (Possibly neurodiverse, and many neuro diverse people would be negatively impacted by a lack of choice)

WFH is hugely better for the environment and this lockdown period has proved it can work for many people. The government needs to look further ahead than the next 3 years and start encouraging it.

@whetherpigshavewings

A few years ago there was a brilliant idea of a 4-day week (same number of hours, but in 4 rather than 5 days).

I did it for a few years, it was brilliant.

Most adults are used to work long days anyway, doesn't make that much difference and it makes a huge difference to your life and quality of life.

I think the French school system giving the kids a day off in the week is much better too. Much less tiring and better for the children.

It'd also be a big boost for things like hospitality during the week, who are pretty dependent on the weekends (in normal times)

Well I think some people like going into the office.

I'm just about to start a new job, and fear the onboarding might not be good due to WFH.

I think in an ideal world, you would go into the office about twice a week.