WFH, suddenly taken away, are we really just going back to the old way?

[80caloriesofbiscuitplease]

Today my (public sector) employer announced we were all expected to be back in the office, full time from a months time, with home working only to be used in emergencies.
I know that response to WFH has been mixed from other professionals and some employees have frankly been less productive from home. I would have been happy with one day per week from home as a compromise.
My argument is that there should be a consultation period where we could put forward our rationale for being able to maintain an aspect of home working. Also are we really going to go back to the old way, packed buses, packed trains, traffic, pollution, all for presentism?
I feel that we've seen another way, with happier employees, healthier employees and an improvement in the environment. I work in a grey concrete wasteland where I regularly sit at my desk all day without a break. At home I can open my doors, hear the birds, stroke my cat. My mental health has improved so much and that makes me a better employee. Today two of us were in the office and four were working from home. They really want to go back to six of us coming to work all day, every day to answer emails and input data which we could do from home?
I know I could look for another role but I like my job and I'm quite good at it. I don't want a role which is completely home based, but I feel saddened by the whole world going back to the way we lived before.
And yes I know some have worked out the house the whole way through. It's not a 'my life is harder' competition.

Also to add if this was pre-pandemic one day a week WFH it’s massively unfairb

I know we keep hearing about how efficient everyone's been at home, but my experience is that customer service has been appalling as a result so something doesn't add up.

I think its also awful for the young people who are the future of these organisations. Nowhere suitable to work at home and no one to learn from if you do go into the office.

I can see some benefits, but I think the downsides are bigger.

I think it's a missed opportunity for your company to look at home-working and see what about it might be beneficial to business.

I think hybrid working would be a healthy way forward for all. I do worry about the impact of home-working on businesses like all the little shops/cafes etc in the City of London, which make (made) almost all their money Monday to Friday. A hybrid model would at least ameliorate that sort of thing, as well as people feeling lonely/isolated/not bonded with colleagues etc.

Employers are under pressure from the government who are under pressure from their rich mates who own the buildings

Lots of people’s pension funds are significantly exposed to commercial real estate, so it’s not just the ‘rich mates’ that suffer. There will be major societal consequences should that sector collapse.

@CovoidOfAllHumanityidofall New graduates will have different expectations.

They certainly will. They've just suffered a year of being stuck working online in tiny flats and meeting no one on their courses. I think, more then ever, they'll be looking for work in a proper workplace to actually escape from that miserable experience and actually start to meet people, work together, etc.

I know we keep hearing about how efficient everyone's been at home, but my experience is that customer service has been appalling as a result so something doesn't add up.

I keep seeing this kind of comment but
a) customer service is such a tiny part of the workforce and there are many many other roles that have no customer interaction
b) most large-scale customer service roles don’t involve office interaction anyway - they’re literally rows of people with computers and headphones all logged into a system.

@ThanksIGotItInMorrisons

Wonder how long it will take for work to be moved abroad for cheaper costs if everyone is allowed to wfh??? All those suddenly redundant jobs

There are a plethora of reasons why most organisations will not outsource overseas. Quality, timezones, communication, cultural differences, firm reputation, to name a few. My DH has WFH for 20 years along with many of his peers, there has never been even the slightest sniff at outsourcing.

The future of traditional office-based work is a hybrid model

I’ve got recently graduated dd2 working from a bedroom upstairs desperately missing the colleagues and office life she had for 5 months before the pandemic hit. Her slightly older colleagues all happen to be married/ partnered in their own homes, some with children and are perfectly happy to remain there. How is she going to progress, achieve, be spotted? She doesn’t get to speak to anyone apart from through a pre arranged phone call, she can’t just turn around and ask a question or pick up bits of information floating around the office. She speaks to a small number of people whereas before she was exposed to around 50 people in the office and thousands on the site.

It’s not just her, many of her peers are trying to kickstart their careers from childhood bedrooms or very crummy rentals, they are missing out on so much. Dd1 started a new job/career 6 months ago working from her spare room. She hasn’t met any of her colleagues or her manager. She’s quite happy at the moment but it can’t be forever.

I think there will be a churn with some people desperate for a workplace based job and others desperate to remain at home. But if you are responsible for new starters be aware that they are quite possibly having a pretty awful experience and surely deserve a chance to be present and have a chance to learn and show what they’re capable of.

after reading the rest (massive drip feed btw)… Everyone on here are probably getting emotional about the topic (like I was initially) because it’s so raw…

Interesting that the OP had to give a 'drip-feed' to make some posters wind their necks in a bit, isn't it? It never ceases to amaze me on here the number of people with massive chips on their shoulders and their eagerness to lay into others. So not everyone's job is suited to WFH. The OP acknowledges that.
Some people on here need to get over themselves. OR just stay off threads that make them act like nasty twunts, sorry I mean 'emotional'.

How many people on this thread are meant to be working from home at the moment but are actually on mumsnet instead?!

I did that in the office too.

I work flexibly, for an employer that actually does flexible working properly and doesn't give two shites if you're on mumsnet or facebook or whatever in "working hours", as long as you produce the required work.

But who are these 'entitled office bods'? Everyone I know WFH has actually worked from home. Yes there was distribution when we were homeschooling or when we didn't have proper office equipment but generally it's been business as normal. All the departments in my trust I have managed to get hold of with no delay or background noise. If it's working then why all race back, why can't we look at it on an individual basis? Young people will choose to go in because of career progression etc. Some will because they prefer it.

I dislike wfh, pre Covid I did 1 day a week from home, looking forward to going back to that routine tbh.

Honestly I think these threads attract a huge level of bitterness from people who would really like to work from home but can’t for whatever reason. This whole ‘the gravy train has stopped, WFH was always temporary (nope, many were already doing it and everything was moving that way), don’t blame me when your employer inexplicably outsources you cos clearly that’s a new option now, you’re going to lose your pension, the economy is going to crash without pret sandwich trade’ thing.

I really don’t know why it bothers anyone that I put my laundry on while I’m boiling the kettle instead of stand in an office kitchen and talk about Love Island. Or why me going for a morning stroll and not getting into a car and joining queues of traffic isn’t seen as a tremendous thing for the environment and mental health.

It’s so clearly a better way for so many but seems to really bring others out in a bitter rage.

@mrsrhodgilbert

I’ve got recently graduated dd2 working from a bedroom upstairs desperately missing the colleagues and office life she had for 5 months before the pandemic hit. Her slightly older colleagues all happen to be married/ partnered in their own homes, some with children and are perfectly happy to remain there. How is she going to progress, achieve, be spotted? She doesn’t get to speak to anyone apart from through a pre arranged phone call, she can’t just turn around and ask a question or pick up bits of information floating around the office. She speaks to a small number of people whereas before she was exposed to around 50 people in the office and thousands on the site.

It’s not just her, many of her peers are trying to kickstart their careers from childhood bedrooms or very crummy rentals, they are missing out on so much. Dd1 started a new job/career 6 months ago working from her spare room. She hasn’t met any of her colleagues or her manager. She’s quite happy at the moment but it can’t be forever.

I think there will be a churn with some people desperate for a workplace based job and others desperate to remain at home. But if you are responsible for new starters be aware that they are quite possibly having a pretty awful experience and surely deserve a chance to be present and have a chance to learn and show what they’re capable of.

Exactly! Learnt lots from watching other people do interesting work and asking to take a look. Which I can’t do now 😂

@ferretface

I dislike wfh, pre Covid I did 1 day a week from home, looking forward to going back to that routine tbh.

1 day a week from home is WFH. WFH does not mean 100% from home, it can be a flexible benefit.

Young people might want to live their lives differently. They might not want a 9-5 with a long commute from an expensive house in the suburbs just like their parents had.

Already pre-pandemic there were collective work spaces springing up in cities. My forward thinking self made millionaire mate has been using these for years. He's met loads of useful contacts that way and never had his own office.

Maybe they won't be in their own businesses' office but in a workspace with other young people.

All kinds of things can happen that we can't yet see. What definitely won't happen is that everything goes back to just how it was before for everyone

Businesses and people that can spot an opportunity to be the first to do something differently and cater to new ways of working will do well for themselves.

(nope, many were already doing it and everything was moving that way

Exactly, the tide was turning even before covid.

I'm sorry that retail workers and hospital workers and so on can't work from home but that's hardly the fault of whose who do work from home, is it?! My sister works in retail and does so because she loves being out and about and being with people. If she didn't enjoy that she wouldn't do the job she does.

@80caloriesofbiscuitplease

But who are these 'entitled office bods'? Everyone I know WFH has actually worked from home. Yes there was distribution when we were homeschooling or when we didn't have proper office equipment but generally it's been business as normal. All the departments in my trust I have managed to get hold of with no delay or background noise. If it's working then why all race back, why can't we look at it on an individual basis? Young people will choose to go in because of career progression etc. Some will because they prefer it.

As many mnay posters explained

Who said it's working well?

It might be working well FOR YOU (or your some of colleagues). It doesnt mean it's working well for the office/new starters/in the long term.

(IF I was been cheecky, I'd add that it might also be that wfh doesnt work well for ALL the members of the family.... There has been a few threads arund that recentky too)

If we only think about what works well for everyone else then maybe people shouldn't have paid holiday either. All that cover that needs to be arranged, and all that money the businesses have to waste on paying people who are not there.

@CovoidOfAllHumanity

Young people might want to live their lives differently. They might not want a 9-5 with a long commute from an expensive house in the suburbs just like their parents had.

Already pre-pandemic there were collective work spaces springing up in cities. My forward thinking self made millionaire mate has been using these for years. He's met loads of useful contacts that way and never had his own office.

Maybe they won't be in their own businesses' office but in a workspace with other young people.

All kinds of things can happen that we can't yet see. What definitely won't happen is that everything goes back to just how it was before for everyone

Businesses and people that can spot an opportunity to be the first to do something differently and cater to new ways of working will do well for themselves.

Does it mean that those young people will

10 have to live close to a town centre to benefit from those (still very sparce) facilities
2- will also have to pay for that THEMSELVES if they want the priviledge of a modicom of socialisation, networking etc....

Will that be refected in their wage or will wages go down on the ground that people wont need to commute so they will have spare money (an ides touted by the government to increase taxes)

@Backhills

I know we keep hearing about how efficient everyone's been at home, but my experience is that customer service has been appalling as a result so something doesn't add up.

I think its also awful for the young people who are the future of these organisations. Nowhere suitable to work at home and no one to learn from if you do go into the office.

I can see some benefits, but I think the downsides are bigger.

This. I know a few young people (ie first job out of uni type age) who are finding it soul destroying to work from home.

I also know several older adults who are also finding it miserable and lonely and feel their mental health has suffered as a result. No proper separation between work and home, they are working much longer hours, they feel work has ‘invaded’ their home space in a way it never did before.

Not everyone sees home working as a joyous life enhancer, for many people it is grim. For every person dreading the return to a commute, there’ll be others for whom it will be a relief - I have a lot of friends who use their commute as switch off/down time and have really really missed it.

But I do agree that if you always used to work one day per week from home then it seems vastly unfair to just take that away.

Maybe young people can afford to buy their own place because they don't need to rent a tiny room in a houseshare in zone 2 as it's the only way to deal with the commute. I know plenty of people who could buy elsewhere but are tied to their location due to work, and would move out if they didn't have to commute 5 days a week.

Retail could shift to local high streets, inviting interactions with neighbours and feeling part of the community. I think it will all balance out.

It might be working well FOR YOU (or your some of colleagues). It doesnt mean it's working well for the office/new starters/in the long term.
That poster actually says in the same post: 'why can't we look at it on an individual basis? Young people will choose to go in because of career progression etc. Some will because they prefer it.'
Are you deliberately misunderstanding what she writes? She's clearly talking about a hybrid/flexible system.

I think it's a retrograde step and short-sighted, OP. Plus we are still in a pandemic, employers with open plan and poor desk spacing may be rueing the day a month later. Also all the good people will shortly bugger off to more enlightened employers.

@IntermittentParps thanks for understanding! That's why I think it should be individually assessed. For me, walking up the road after the school run is less effort compared to my colleagues who drive from Wales? Why are people commuting in from Wales to do a job they could do at home?