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 don’t think it has been taken. away as this last year hasnt been ‘normal’
Wfh was an answer to an abnormal situation, not a perk given to people willingly.

Let’s be. honest there. This year, it might have been considered ok to do a zoom call with a toddler in your arms. It’s not going. to ok in. normal circumstances.
In the same way, wfh had to happen this year, but it might not be an acceptable solution in normal times.

It has been said many times, but there are things that need to be tackled with wfh (aside from performance). What do you do with newcomers ? How do you balance people working onsite vs wfh re access to promotion etc…? What about wages? Should you pay people a london wage or a NE wage if they wfh? Etc…..
This will need time and. much better. to have that sorted whilst everything is running smoothly (on-site). than having people stumbling upon problem upon problem imo.

I think WFH is here to stay. What won't be here to stay is children in the background, I think there will be an expectation that you use childcare. At the moment with bubbles closing there has been some leniency, can't see that continuing. I think there will be assessments of the home set-up and whether it is suitable, there is potential for loss sick days from eye strain and back pain to consider. Possibly even an expectation that WiFi is up to a certain standard.

If WFH is so productive, why do we keep hearing that message on customer services lines telling us to be patient, the wait will be longer than usual, as staff are working from home?!
Everyone I know who is now WFH says it’s much more enjoyable for them, but they admit it’s less productive because they hang the washing out, pop to the shops, make the kids tea etc

@Musmerian even in teaching, some things can change, like parent meetings. Why have packed schoolhalls when you can do it online and run to time as well.

DP has been WFH throughout. Huge improvement for him. An extra 4h a day. He wasn’t one for coffees on the go on his commute so I don’t think he’s ruining Starbucks. They will be going back if needed only from September. Hurray for his employers who are seeing sense.

Where are all these figures about loss of billions and worse customer service?

I don’t think @Billandben444 is bitter.

I’ve experienced those issues too. Not all jobs can easily be done from home wo an impact on. customers.
Up to now people have been understanding ‘because Covid’. They are not going to be as happy now.

@Bagamoyo1

If WFH is so productive, why do we keep hearing that message on customer services lines telling us to be patient, the wait will be longer than usual, as staff are working from home?! Everyone I know who is now WFH says it’s much more enjoyable for them, but they admit it’s less productive because they hang the washing out, pop to the shops, make the kids tea etc

Some people are still forgetting that it has been a pandemic and actually for huge chunks of it, they’ve had kids at home and had to juggle.

I feel that workplaces should allow employees to try it under normal circumstances with proper childcare in place etc.

Given the service provided by most public sector organisations ie non existent, the sooner they are back in the office the better.

Customer service lines don’t say it’s because of WFH. It’s because of the pandemic.

I can’t see how a month’s notice equates to ‘suddenly taken away’.

@helpfulperson

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.

This! I have seen several threads on this topic with comments saying “I will be saving a fortune wfh as I don’t need to pay for childcare anymore” - no you are working not looking after your child

And if the response is “well I will make up the hours in the evening”, that may work for a small number of jobs but most people work in a team and I don’t think your team will be happy having calls/having to wait for a response at 10pm at night because you were playing with your child while the rest of us were working

@Clymene

I don't understand how it works with social distancing? We can't go back full time as we're only allowed to use every other desk.

The plan is there'll be no social distancing after 19 July.

Your WFH sounds perfect no wonder you don't want to go back to work.

However, it was temporary for the pandemic I'm not sure that it is being taken away when it was to limit the spread.

I have found that with the vast majority of organisations that have their workforce at home the customer service is worse, it takes longer to get through, standards have fallen and replies take ages. I never found this before so something about WFH for some companies just isn't working!

@Mayaspecialist I also think everyone is going to be really shocked when customer service roles either don't go back or do go back and customer service levels do not improve and they realise wfh was not the main reason service was bad. So if people have noticed that customer service roles got significantly worse when WFH started do you think that is a coincidence or has something else happened which will carry on if people return to the office?

I have found customer support really slow and not very effective over the pandemic, I also have a couple of businesses I deal with at work where I can't even talk to someone, they were both companies I had recommended to other people specifically because the help line was so good and now you submit an email with your question and wait for a reply and maybe have a to and fro of many emails. So slow and not anywhere near as effective. I couldn't recommend them now but I do hope things return to normal.

[quote LadyWithLapdog]@Musmerian even in teaching, some things can change, like parent meetings. Why have packed schoolhalls when you can do it online and run to time as well.

DP has been WFH throughout. Huge improvement for him. An extra 4h a day. He wasn’t one for coffees on the go on his commute so I don’t think he’s ruining Starbucks. They will be going back if needed only from September. Hurray for his employers who are seeing sense.

Where are all these figures about loss of billions and worse customer service?[/quote]
If I’m. honest, parents evening online are shit. I didn’t learn anything that wasn’t on the report and there was no time to ask. questions.

On a. teachers pov, yay they are great. But I don’t think I would bother for any other online parents evening tbh. They are even more a waste. of space..

I find on here that people whose jobs are not possible from home seem to be very unhappy that some people could easily get to work from home hence all the 'get back to the office it was only temporary' type replies. I think there's probably a lot of jealousy and the opportunity to WFH will make companies very popular if they offer it.

I am retired so why would I be jealous of people wfh, I am sick of poor service from people wfh.

Everyone just needs to go back to work. It's not healthy to be cooped up at home with the same people day in, day out. Trying to work around other members of the household or curtailing the lives of young children who are having to tiptoe around their parents wfh.

And it's selfish. Most people who want to wfh full time seem to be those who have experienced being at work elsewhere and have spent years commuting. That's not good for young people who will miss out on the interactions of a busy workplace

I don't want my soon to be working young adults on a laptop in their bedrooms. I want them out and about meeting varied and interesting people, not just seeing their immediate managers on a once a day zoom call.

I'm nearly at the end of my working life now but I wouldn't trade the things I did, the places I travelled to, the people I met, for a bedroom at home.

WFH was a solution to an immediate threat not a utopia that everyone subscribes to. Maybe there is a case for going back slowly over another few months but I definitely can't see a case for it becoming the normal way of working for everyone.

And, despite what everyone says about being more effective wfh it's just not true. Customer service is abysmal across the board. It takes longer to get through to someone, when you do it's to hear a long 'because of COVID message', then the distractions and background noises of the dog barking or the child crying, then the inevitable delays in resolving problems or securing dates 'because of covid'.

Lazy employees will be lazy at home or in the office, but WFH gives the lazy employee almost free reign to dick about and do the bare minimum, without a manager raising an eyebrow. I think it will take a while for some sectors to "trust" WFH, and it will be the lazy ones that ruin it for the rest.

@Fairyliz

Given the service provided by most public sector organisations ie non existent, the sooner they are back in the office the better.

This. It's appalling in many case but also private sector.

You don’t need to be in the office to get a promotion, unless you plan to sleep with the boss or something. Promotions are based on work, aren’t they?

@LadyWithLapdog

Customer service lines don’t say it’s because of WFH. It’s because of the pandemic.

Not true. I’ve heard several say “most of our staff are working from home, so please be patient as wait times will be longer than usual”

Everyone just needs to go back to work. It's not healthy to be cooped up at home with the same people day in, day out. Trying to work around other members of the household or curtailing the lives of young children who are having to tiptoe around their parents wfh

Surely it’s a balance.

I find that people, including young people with no caring responsibilities, actually quite like to have a mix of wfh and office time.

I find that a lot of those crowing for a full return to the office are quite old school “presenteesim” types who measure success by the hours spent at the desk. Fuck that.

@Bagamoyo1

If WFH is so productive, why do we keep hearing that message on customer services lines telling us to be patient, the wait will be longer than usual, as staff are working from home?! Everyone I know who is now WFH says it’s much more enjoyable for them, but they admit it’s less productive because they hang the washing out, pop to the shops, make the kids tea etc

The fact that a company is saying its due to wfh, doesn't mean it is. They have had over a year, to solve that problem. Its convenient excuse though.

Also, I worked at home before this. I also out my washing in during the day, hung it out, prepped dinner, the shop is i doors down so would pop there if I wanted to.

Non of it impacts my work. Taking a load of washing down to put in while the kettle boils, doesn't ruin productivity. How is it any better, if I am just stood doing nothing instead. I hang it out on my lunch.

I can prep food on my lunch break. Or nip to the shop then.

We do get additional breaks, apart from lunch as well. So 5 mins at the shop, isn't going to make or break my day.

But on the other hand, I got a report in at 5.30pm last night so looked it over at 9pm when the kids were asleep and have my response ready to go out at 8.15am this morning.

I don't mind doing that because I didn't spend 2 hours commuting yesterday.

And all those jobs you mentioned (unless they are doing a weekly shop) probably take less time, than some people spend making endless brews so they can have a wander round.

I do think people forget that office working wasn't entirely productive either. Lots of people in offices slacked off and spent time doing anything else, other than their job.

I'd be gutted. I work better from home, I don't need to load myself up with painkillers to get out of the house for one. It's improved my life uncountably. There is a slight light with my role though, as the office is being torn out and we are having a hot desk work environment. So fingers crossed if we are expected in, it won't be all week

Reading between the lines there’s a problem with productivity and rather then address this head on, they are taking action to get everyone back.

@LadyWithLapdog

You don’t need to be in the office to get a promotion, unless you plan to sleep with the boss or something. Promotions are based on work, aren’t they?

Not always about work. In my industry you need someone to be championing you for your promotion and that is harder if nobody really knows you. That’s kind of ok if you have been in the team pre-pandemic but for those that are new or will join him the future, their network will be significantly smaller which makes the promotion journey 10x harder