to think what Boris Johnson has said today is unacceptable?

[NoviceNewMN]

first he has said (I'm guessing as a sop to commercial landlords complaining about properties being abandoned by businesses) that everyone needs to go back to work because they will be gossiped about:

"You have got to be able to come in, you have got to know what everyone else is talking about – otherwise you are going to be gossiped about and you are going to lose out"

Really? Firstly so what? and secondly, it's basically condoning bullying as a reason to get back to work.

Then he has said

'It's not the job of government to come in and try and fix every problem in business and industry."

Boris says it is 'not my job to fix all of the UK's problems': PM’s astonishing claim as he denies nation is in 'crisis' and DISMISSES inflation spike fears, fuel shortages and empty supermarket shelves as 'just part of his new approach'

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10060043/Boris-denies-claims-supply-chain-chaos-just-ending-UKs-low-wage-economy.html

Why do people try and get so black and white about this ?

What he is saying that employers have to look at their own businesses.

So if you have a factory and an office and all the office people work at home because they can , then the factory workers NOW of course will be resentful if they don’t come back because they are having to pay transport costs and have travelling time .

So in that circumstance he is correct .

Other business can mix and match

Simples

I don't listen to a word he says. I have little respect for him and his out of touch cronies, who flip conveniently between their stances on most things to suit their current narrative. I started WFH a month before lock down and go in 1 out of my 3 working days. I'm being re-graded at a higher level now, so I don't think 'everyone' loses out and is talked about (the latter of which I really couldn't give a crap about!).

[quote Unsure33]@EarlGreywithLemon

So refreshing to see throw away comments like that . You step up and do the job then . Through a pandemic .

The whole world had serious supply chain problems at the moment not just the uk . What China and russia do affects us as well .

So you are welcome to the job. That also by the way pays less than many regional NHS managers[/quote]
Oh, not this crap again. Johnson has been hankering after that job for bloody years and it's very well paid. He should bloody well assume responsibility for it, and especially for the consequences from his hard Brexit that he imposed upon the rest of us, bragging about his wonderful deal, but refusing to let Parliament scrutinise it. And now he wants to rewrite the Northern Ireland part - this, after assuring us on Dec 24th that his wonderful deal delivered on all the promises he made. Absolute bullshit.
Yes - the whole world had supply chain issues, but the rest of the world didn't have empty supermarket shelves and fighting in petrol stations. That's Brexit Britain presided over by the man who was so proud to deliver it, but who keeps delaying its full implementation.

1. 'you are going to be gossiped about and you are going to lose out' - lame, utterly lame. Gossiping about others is a good thing now? Part of responsible and professional behaviour? Throwback to school days when bullying was approved of, because it 'builds character'.

2. 'It's not the job of government to come in and try and fix every problem in business and industry." = 'I have run out of excuses.'

I won’t disclose the sector, but it’s a US colleague who chose to move away from a big city a while ago
@EarlGreywithLemon

Look, I really don't think that is a great example to prove your point. For a start he's in the US, we don't know the sector, and you aren't exactly proving his career has been made and consolidated by WFH for years and years.

I've been following the thinking on this for some time, mainly reading the business pages of The Times. The majority of CEOs in private companies believe that many decisions are best made round a table, not by video or phone. They also stress the importance of junior colleagues learning skills (soft and hard skills) from more senior colleagues, which can only be done in person.

Yes, of course, WFH for some of the time is fine. Companies can downsize their premises and employees can work at home often productively up to a point. It's win-win.

But in business, you do sometimes need to look someone in the eye when doing deals and making major decisions.

Not all businesses can do business remotely all of the time and junior or middle ranking employees do need mentoring by more snr colleagues, which is far better face to face.

@EllieSattler

Almost everything he says in unacceptable.

When will people stop being surprised that he is a nasty piece of work who gives NO shits about morals, decent behaviour, the welfare of the ordinary person, the welfare of the country, or anything but lining their own pockets and shoving their dicks in something wet and warm.

Exactly

@Unsure33

Why do people try and get so black and white about this ?

What he is saying that employers have to look at their own businesses.

So if you have a factory and an office and all the office people work at home because they can , then the factory workers NOW of course will be resentful if they don’t come back because they are having to pay transport costs and have travelling time .

So in that circumstance he is correct .

Other business can mix and match

Simples

Again, not the point. It's the 'gossip' shit. Such a stupid way to frame it.

My dh works from home and had done for years pre-pandemic. As far as I can tell from the snatches of conversations I hear he spends the whole day gossiping on the phone to various colleagues (!), so it's definitely not something that you have to be in person for

But seriously, yes the PM has said some more self interested shit to add to the many streaming turds he's come out with over the years, and I'm still amazed anyone is lapping it up, yet they all are.

To those of you who seem to be a bit slow of understanding … let me repeat
Boris Johnson is wrong - not in the sense that I disagree with him but in the sense that is (taking the freedom the Boris supporters give him) talking a load of tosh.
In fact - like the looking glass world he is forcing the country in to, his tosh is the exact opposite of the truth.
Employment rights and conditions - hours pay parental leave etc. are part of a country’s legislation- the responsibility of the government.
What is not part of that legislation is how a company chooses to organise itself within that legislation- wearing a uniform, meetings, etc.
The possibility to WFH or not (when not in emergency pandemic measures) does NOT come under what BJ can dictate at ALL

• however anyone might feel about it.

THIS is where business can decide- not about employment law.

Boris Johnson is old and completely out of touch with working people.He has an outdated idea of working hours eg.9-5.That old clown has no idea how to run a country.He is inarticulate and quite frankly a stupid man(reading latin does not make you cleved).FFS why do people vote for this idiot?

I’m afraid Boris J and his cabinet are a complete load of mouthy idiots with egos the size of planets and very little commercial/business experience apart from the odd lawyer etc . The fact is he can’t have it all ways— private business is exactly that— and to be frank it recruits and trains as fit and having worked many years ago in HGV recruitment there was always a problem, EU workers or not— we could never get enough Brits interested or qualified (and they offered free training and testing too) . Every country in the EU has driver shortages and they just pool where work is at any one time. However other countries also utilise their rail freight far better too. I’m absolutely baffled by so called intelligent people taken in by their utter bullshit —-

I personally think the onus on companies to train and retain their own staff is where we need to be

I actually think the move to more wfh is an ideal opportunity to reduce travel and therefore emissions. Perhaps some of that unused office space can then be used to provide housing - something that is in short supply in this country

I don't think either of those statements are outrageous. The public largely doesn't have an appetite for state controlled business, so why should they bail them out or enforce certain things? The businesses moaning about losing staff to brexit have known about it for years and have had a chance to figure out how to keep staffing levels- ie by putting their hands in their wallets and paying a fair wage. There's been a decline in lorry drivers for years, why haven't companies improved conditions and facilities? And yes of course someone who is constantly working from home when colleagues are in the office are likely to be spoken about.

I do think smaller companies should have been offered more support though re the fallout from brexit.

@Upsielazy

I don't think either of those statements are outrageous. The public largely doesn't have an appetite for state controlled business, so why should they bail them out or enforce certain things? The businesses moaning about losing staff to brexit have known about it for years and have had a chance to figure out how to keep staffing levels- ie by putting their hands in their wallets and paying a fair wage. There's been a decline in lorry drivers for years, why haven't companies improved conditions and facilities? And yes of course someone who is constantly working from home when colleagues are in the office are likely to be spoken about.

Because the situation is unprecedented, both with brexit and covid.

Because vote leave lied to people that it would be all great and no issues at all.
Because the current government lied and failed to prepare and give enough information to companies so they could prepare.

There still is no plan, no idea where the country is going and the government is trying to achieve so it’s all a bed of roses,
How are companies supposed to get ready and prepare themselves in those circumstances?

Plus of course that same government has had no issue with injecting money, giving ut away when it worked for them etc..
I’m thinking all the PPE stuff given away to mates, money to the fertiliser companies so we have some CO2 etc….
When he wants to, BJ is very good at intervening.

@Mythologies

Get off your high horse . Where did he say he was making it legal for people to stop working from home ?

Surely he was asking / encouraging ?

And I am sure a lot of small businesses that rely on footfall from office employees might agree with them .

And offices are the biggest cesspit of gossip at the best of times .

Plus of course, you do realise that people will not see an increase in wages in true terms dont you?
They’ll a bigger number on their payslip that will be followed by inflation, increase in taxes etc… so that actually, they’ll have the same or less….

@Libertaire

I’m no Tory, but Johnson is right about this. Businesses have known for years that free movement was going to end with Brexit. They knew that business models based on limitless cheap migrant workers would have to change. It’s not his fault that Tesco & BP haven’t trained enough HGV drivers or that the food production & hospitality industries haven’t made jobs more attractive to British workers.

You have very selective vision.

The BoJo government didn't know till Dec 2020 what trading framework will be from 1st Jan 2021. How were businesses supposed to know? Looking into Crystal ball?

Boris says it is 'not my job to fix all of the UK's problems': PM’s astonishing claim as he denies nation is in 'crisis' and DISMISSES inflation spike fears, fuel shortages and empty supermarket shelves as 'just part of his new approach

When i heard that earlier, my immediate thought was 'I'm alright Jack' as are his chums..
How many times has the lying tosser dismissed things in an effort to make them just go away?

I think he is out of his depth and can’t cope, instead of listening to others he would rather bluff his way through things and leave others to sort out the mess.
Of course it’s not the government’s job to sort out all businesses but he needs to stop denying problems exist.

@Porfre

So it's not the job of the government to ensure the population have food, that there is energy and basic amenities like fuel are available?

What is their job then?

This. About time we saw a job description for the prime minister, all those who do paid work have one...

I find most things that man says unacceptable. But actually I don’t think these are the most unacceptable things he’s said today.

Unsure, I’m really not going to get into handbags at dawn here, but I didn’t try to become Prime Minister - he did. So we are more than entitled to judge him on the job he is doing, just like we are all judged on how well we do our jobs.

@Unsure33

Why do people try and get so black and white about this ?

What he is saying that employers have to look at their own businesses.

So if you have a factory and an office and all the office people work at home because they can , then the factory workers NOW of course will be resentful if they don’t come back because they are having to pay transport costs and have travelling time .

So in that circumstance he is correct .

Other business can mix and match

Simples

So you should piss off the office staff to keep the factory workers happy? In the real world employers who are refusing any home working are struggling to recruit good staff. Boris Johnson is coming across like a Luddite telling people they have to work a certain way because that is how it used to be done. Well things have changed, there is no putting the genie back in the bottle. He can make claims about how you will be gossiped about (who wants to work for a company where that would happen!), sandwich shops will close (business needs to adapt), and it will be impossible for younger staff to learn (leave businesses to decide the best way to train staff), but it is none of his business, Total micro-managing by a Prime Minister who knows zero about what working in an open plan office is actually like.