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.

As a Nanny I want offices to reopen, get back in the office and out of my way.

@80caloriesofbiscuitplease

I hope it is not. The issue is the people in charge by definition did well in the old in the office ways and want to have that level on oversight again. This Miss it.

I think it is stupid and watch the law cases coming.

I agree with you OP

What is stopping you from presenting your employer with a business case for a WFH policy?

I am not convinced the economy will lose on billions.

I think people will spend that money elsewhere. I know so many people who are better off wfh, but have spent that money. But they have spent it using more locall businesses. Not the Costa on the way into work.

There will be a reduction in spend on public transport and petrol. But i think it will get spent elsewhere.

And aren't we meant to be trying to reduce petrol/ diesel use? The public transport here is rubbish so not many use it anyway.

Employers won’t be able to please everyone. Some can’t wait to return to the office full time others would love to never step in the office again. My employer did a survey ( 2000+) people and over 70% preference was to work a hybrid model of working week split between WFH and office based.

There are many economic and environmental benefits to reducing long commutes into over populated, over priced cities.

Our council offices are only open to the public from 10 til 2 and almost all public facing staff are still WFH. That's not an acceptable service level.

Commuting time will impact employee, not employer as it’s employee’s responsibility to be in work on time.

I’ve not been WFH (key worker and public facing throughout) but know the wellbeing benefits of a shorter duration commute due to there being less traffic.

I think WFH has been a mixed bag. For some it’s not good for wellbeing, not separating work from home and not interacting with people. Yes, jobs can be done from home but I don’t want a dog in the background when calling the water company or not being called back when the line cuts off as the agent can only receive calls, then extending the time by an hour.

Ultimately WFH has been temporary and employers have the right to do what they feel is best for their organisation. We chose our jobs based on pre pandemic conditions. Some had better conditions during the pandemic, some had worse.

We work from home always have nothing to do with Covid its where our office is. But our level of service has remained the same throughout but phoning different businesses we have found tiresome and frustrating as some are still using Covid as a bad excuse for being unable to offer the same service as pre covid

I've (deliberately) worked remotely for almost 15 years so obviously I agree with you.

I'm all for occasional in-person meet-ups and am fully aware that a lot of jobs cannot be done from home, but that doesn't change the fact that some industries and some personality types thrive in a remote-first environment.

I'd much rather support the hot-desk/co-working spaces that are often owned and run as a small business than a huge corporate rental.

And do people really think I've spent 15 years avoiding drycleaners, taxis, and coffee shops?

rosie1959 agreed. I think poor customer service has been more about people having no childcare (and businesses, like schools, wrongly assuming that wfh is just a replica of an in-person environment and bungling it) than a problem with wfh per se.

I really thought that the companies who have always been 100% remote would play a much bigger role in helping schools/businesses set up smooth processes but it seems they were never asked.

I think it's very short sighted of your employer - unfortunately the only way they'll change is if they lose talent. Time to look for a new job OP

It was always a temporary thing

Was it? I think we were forced in to something that no one could have predicated and many businesses took that opportunity to look at how they could cut costs and drop office space entirely

For my organisation they too consulted on it and said we’d be working hybrid but have now done a U-turn and want everyone back in. It’s very demoralising

I would absolutely be disappointed in this. For the most part I thought employers had realised that we can work flexibly it seems they are very short sighted. It will cause them issues recruiting in future

I'd like all customer service employees to go back to their offices/call centres please. I'm fed up to the back teeth of having to listen to a pre-recorded jingle that apologises for possible dog/children noises in the background cos 'their employees are wfh' only to have the phone ring out and another disembodied voice telling me to fuck off cos they're busy. I'm fed up to the back teeth of having to join the long queue outside Barclays cos 'only one counter is open as our staff are wfh' and I'm fed up with friends posting pictures on FB of their garden/kitchen transformations when they're supposedly wfh. Oh, and please get Enfield's library employees out of the front door and back into their workplace so my local branch can reopen.

Have you put in a formal request for flexible working?

I'm with you OP - they should have at least given you a phased return to full time - it's going to be another big change! Plus, you've been flexible for the last 18 months for your employer, why can't they do the same for their employees in return? Surely there are many benefits to hybrid working.

Ever since the advent of email I've always been puzzled by the stream of people heading into London to sit at a computer terminal to communicate by emails to others in their business. It always struck me as pointless and expensive both interms of office space costs and travel let alone time.
I can see the case for wfh but this forced on business to sur ive and continue. I understand the need for employers to get back to normal and then work out a happy balance for both employee and employer.
As someone who works in a worldwide industry it should also be noted that wfh will have implications for companies to employ from a global talent pool. This will lead to cheaper labour competition and will keep U.K wages low unless there is legislation to combat this. Generally if this happens companies will register off shore to circumvent U.K laws, this would not help many of us.

I don't think the economy will lose out as a result of people working from home. We're spending money on other things. A lot of people are taking the chance to get work done on their houses. That's a lot more expensive than sandwiches.

I'm sure it's better for you OP.

I am self-employed and have been wfh for the past 8 years.

But as a user of public sector services, I have noticed a distinct drop in efficiency - which is always blamed on wfh.

'sorry, it's taking longer than usual to process this task as we're all working from home at the moment' etc.

Some employers will be able to adapt and will welcome the reduction in office rents etc. Others won't. Ultimately it's their call on what's best for the business - and you'd think they'd include the wellbeing of their employees in the equation.

It's a shame your employer is so short sighted.
Our situation atm is we can go in if we want, with most people opting not too. There's talk of moving to 20% of time in the office next year. They're removing 40% of the desks in the open plan office to make the space less cluttered and turning the remaining desks into bookable hotdesks.
They are of course keeping an eye on the figures and so far performance is just as good at home. I'm going in for the odd morning for a change of scene but come home at lunch as nursery and school pickup is soooo much easier from home.
My work life balance is so much better and less stressful now. I've been with my company for 8 years. If they suddenly said back to the office full time I'd look for something else, many companies aren't doing that.

[quote Justa47]@80caloriesofbiscuitplease

I hope it is not. The issue is the people in charge by definition did well in the old in the office ways and want to have that level on oversight again. This Miss it.

I think it is stupid and watch the law cases coming.[/quote]
Well not really. The people in charge are amongst the privileged minority, who can afford a suitable WFH environment.

will cause them issues recruiting in future
Definitely WFH will. Employers will be reduced to the relatively small pool of those who have a WFH suitable home. Vast numbers don't. Perhaps one (of many) reasons why standard of service for customers and clients has fallen. Too many employees struggling to provide a professional and productive service from a cramped home environment.

We always made it very clear to our staff that WFH was a temporary measure.

We are expecting staff back in the office in August

Most seem happy to be coming back,some I expect will look for WFH roles elsewhere

Would you be prepared to share a bit more about the nature of your dept? I'm public sector too and we have to meet face to face with a manager at some point before September to discuss how we want to work in the future. If the business can support I think WFH 2/3 days a week would be considered acceptable.

Even before COVID many London based govt departments were asking staff to stay at home a couple of days a week. I have a friend in MOJ who years ago was told she was only allowed into her office three days. They were downsizing to reduce rents even then so it's reductive for them to say everyone in every day. Weren't they committed to smarter working/flexible working (whatever it's called in your place) before March 2020?

Well you said it yourself in the second paragraph that some employees are not as productive working at home.

Why should the public pay for sub standard output from the public sector just because people fancy working from home.

If you don't want to go in ever again then quit. There are thousands who have lost their jobs through this pandemic who would like your job now. You can be at home as long as you like.

A reasonable option would be a balance. Say 1/2 days WFH. Wouldn't work for every role. Some really do need full-time office, but it could be way forwards for others.