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.

I think hybrid working should be the way for most companies to go. We’ve been told we have to be in the office at least 50% of the time once the wfh rule is lifted. But you can go back 100% if that’s what you prefer. And you can’t have fixed days you definitely wfh, because there are days you might need to be in eg you can wfh most Mondays if you want but if they need you in one Monday you cant say “oh but Monday is my wfh day”. We’re expected to be flexible if necessary.
I think that makes sense, because it recognises the benefits of being in the office while also acknowledging the benefits of wfh and the fact that they’ve said many times over the past year that performance as a whole has not dropped.
The flexibility to wfh some of the time is a major job perk for me and one that would feature in future job decisions.

Customer service has deteriorated since wfh and I am also fed up of hearing spiel at the start of a call about background noise of dogs and children and that the service won't be great. They should get back to the office ASAP

I have been in office every day as defo want a separation between work life and home life.

Whilst I agree WFH does suit some roles I definitely do not want to be ringing my bank, car insurer or other service provider to have the call background be dogs barking or kids screaming as I have experienced during the last year.

This thread really reads like many people do not know that as long as you have worked for your employer for 26 weeks + you are entitled to make a statutory application for flexible working;

www.gov.uk/flexible-working

OP, have you done this?

I am in an office where about 25% of people have had to keep attending the site at least part of the time due to the nature of the work. The other 75% have been working from home.

The senior management told staff that once covid was over everyone for whom it is possible in the role could apply to WFH up to 50% of the time.

This seemed fair to those who have continued to work on site but those who have WFH claim they have proved they can WFH so don't want to come back at all and are arguing.

Those on site know how much harder their jobs have been with the other staff WFH so don't agree and the mangers can see longer term issues with staff development.

I can see senior management brining everyone back full time as per their contracts because that might be the only way to solve the issue. Hopefully once everyone is brought back and the arguing has stopped they will then offer the 'up to 50%' again but maybe not.

I think WFH has worked for some businesses and not others. A friend is a manager of a team in the financial services sector and they’ve found productivity has increased by a significant amount since WFH, presumably due to less time being wasted with employees chatting and endless meetings.

My DP on the other hand has found the opposite. Most of his employees seem unable to manage their time properly at home and productivity went down. It could be that your boss has found the same and I’m not sure that there’s a way to limit WFH only to those who seem to be performing well.

A hybrid way of working for most companies where it’s been a success makes more sense to me. Yes, people talk of all the city centre businesses that have suffered, but some of that trade has migrated out to local high streets that have been struggling to survive for a long time. I’ve never seen our local town so busy on a lunchtime and the butcher has said they’ve seen a big increase in customers. We’ve also had two shop units that have been empty for years being taken on by small businesses.

There was too much traffic on the roads at rush hour and the public transport system in some cities was unable to cope. Hybrid working would ease some of the pressures on this whilst boosting the mental health and work life balance of those that prefer it.

It’s going to be a balancing act and some sectors will need to adapt, but hybrid working provides a great opportunity for positive change.

OP - your second paragraph is exactly why WFH isn't continuing. The colleagues who weren't productive have spolit it for the rest of you

I appreciate people who have enjoyed working from home for over a year don't like the thought of returning to normal. But from a customer's point of view, the sooner we get back to normal the better. I'm totally fed up of hearing the excuse "coronavirus - many of our staff are working from home" every time to excuse poor customer service whether it's waiting ages to get phone calls/emails answered or to get jobs done.

Lots of people have not enjoyed the luxury of working from home even when deaths were very high - many NHS workers, supermarket workers and hospitality workers to give a few examples, so now it is time for everyone to do their bit at getting society back to normal.

@Billandben444

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.

I agree - trying to contact some businesses has been so difficult because of WFH - the employer and therefore the customer should always be the priority. There is also the knock on effect of fewer people using public transport - services will be cut for those who need to use them city centres will decline while everyone hunkers down in their 'home'

Just because it suits some people to do the school run, save on childcare and get a dog is not sufficient justification to impact millions of others who rely on a fully working integrated economy.

The thought that the unions could have a hand in trying to force WFH as the new normal frankly fills me with dread.

We are finding it hard to manage those who still feel they can WFH with small children running around. And who are resenting having to pay for childcare.

The ones that most want to wfh are usually the ones that give the worst service because they are the ones that want to look after kids and pets while they are working.

@chocolateorangeinhaler

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.

Alot of offices that housed public office staff, have been reduced or given up. So either they are keeping the service levels they have now or have improvement plans incorporating wfh.

I don't believe it has to be wfh with poor SLAs. They definitely can wfh or hybrid and improve the service. Especially now they are saving money on rent.

Its going to be interesting to see how this plays out in the coming months & years.

Dsis is in a public sector role and has done FA work since the start of the pandemic. Systems issues rather than laziness. She doesn't want to go back to the office and is up in arms about it. I'm on the side of her managers. A whole year of everyone at home unable to work productively but on full salaries funded by the tax payer. If it was a private sector business it would have gone bust by now.

I'm worried that those who have reasons for not being able to WFH are going to be pushed out of some jobs or not able to apply.

Muchmorethan is right. Too many people slacking off while claiming to have ‘worked’ from home have wrecked it for all

I bet. And in my work, one worker with small children said "why would i need to take time off". Those of us commandeered to be in the office have used up all our holuday.

Resentments eill be RIFE down the line.

Im not feeling v resentful as my dc teens but i fully understand how the women who've used up most of their holiday feel having to hear people at home say "why would i need to use my holiday just because the kids are off?".

Our numbers were terrible and it seemed that a few people that were wfh were massively taking the piss (Not picking up the phone, not being online, taking extended breaks) so it was taken away from everyone.
They are furious and one was trying to take it to tribunal. Needless to say it's all quietened down now. As PPs have said, it was only ever temporary.

Not the same but I am an NHS nurse who was redeployed last March when COVID hit. Having worked in the NHS for 22 years my role has now completely changed, I was not consulted, not interviewed and my team have gone along with what we have been asked to do with good grace. We are now going through a consultation period (which is just a paper exercise) as we will 100% be staying in this new role. It feels crap, I work in a different team with different responsibilites, having to take on a lot of management stuff. I have two choices take it or leave it but my old role no longer exists. Most companies are not interested in staff mental health or that you can have a better quality of life at home - they will do with you what they want and stuff your opinions!

Vote with your feet! That's what I did as I knew I was going to be expected back in full time with no flexibility. Archaic, inflexible employers will end up having to employ from a limited pool of staff that either want to work full time in an office or have no choice as they aren't very good at their job and are desperate.

I think once people start to return, more companies will also have their staff back in offices. There was a point it seemed likely wfh was the new normal, but I doubt it now. Everyone will be joining you soon OP.

I honestly think that those saying public transport will be cut, and that wfh causes shoddy service are being short-sighted and/or missing the point.

If a workforce is distributed people still need to get to places, except that those places are also more distributed, encouraging more 'veins' of public transport needed to spread out from the main arteries.

And while I completely understand the frustration of trying to manage people who try to keep their kids and animals in their workspace even after care options re-open, this seems more about some idiots being unprofessional than it is a broad condemnation of wfh.

@Guavaf1sh

Muchmorethan is right. Too many people slacking off while claiming to have ‘worked’ from home have wrecked it for all

I don't get this argument. You look round most offices and people are slacking off. Someone who works for me sometimes picks her grand daughter up from school.

She is gone 10 mins. People take longer in the office to have a wee and make a brew (and stop by 2 departments to have a chat).

I think the people who slack off at home, slacked off in the office. But most employers don't pull people on it, as long as they are in the building.

This is why I think there has to be a better way. Office working wasn't perfect either.

Also, re call centres, again the biggest impact comes from the employer not replacing staff that have left. And then as sickness levels rise, as they do in a pandemic, their contingency is gone. And I doubt, knowing how they work, that even back in the office they will increase their staffing levels.

I do think these lower levels of service, are here to stay for a long, long time.

Wether people wfh or not the customer is going to be the one suffering.

@LightasaBreeze

The ones that most want to wfh are usually the ones that give the worst service because they are the ones that want to look after kids and pets while they are working.

True, id have thought most people want to come back now.

Those who cant imagine wanting to come back have doors to throw open, space for a pet, the sound of birds in their garden,.... an office?

Many people are sitting on their bed with a laptop, in cramped spaces, with flatmates or messy teenagers. Awful.

Wow. I’m also public sector and I’ve been told wfh (or anywhere but the office) will be the norm, I think I’ll be going in once a month. It’s a shame some people’s unproductivity hasn’t been addressed while they are wfh. Slackers can still slack in the office. Op if I were you I’d put a flexible working application in.

My industry needs people to be on site. 80% of all staff must be on site. Back office functions seem to think they are as effective at home.

They are not. Work is so much harder without all present. I am fed up to the back teeth of entitled ‘ we should be able to work wherever we want’ individuals.

It is the responsibility of the leadership teams to establish the impact of home working on the business, not the individuals who want to stay at home and stroke the cat.

Flexible working requests are a thing. Just use them. And if the answer is not find a flexible role.

Not apologising for POV, running any organisation through the last 18 months has been a challenge. The journey out should not be made harder by needing to renegotiate contracts with staff. If you’re asked to go to work. Go to work or leave.