Working from home - what has been the benefit to you?

[Rainydays55]

If you work from home full time or have hybrid working arrangement do you prefer this to full time office? What have been the main benefits to you?
If you had two job options -

1. 45 /50 minute commute, full time office working, pretty generous holidays
2. 10/15 minute commute, hybrid working , better pay, low annual leave entitlement

Which would you go for?

Not me but my DS. He started a new job, had one week in the office, met his team and then was told to WFH. The advantages for him are
Gets up at 8.55!
Enjoys his lunch break, has a nice lunch and then spends 30 minutes doing things for a little business he runs that he enjoys.
No commute
Wears comfy clothes all day
No commuting or lunch costs.
No negatives so far.
He’ll be working hybrid when Boris says don’t work from home.

hybrid working is my ideal situation. You still get to interact with your colleagues but you also get quiet focused time to work at home. I enjoy my home days as I can be more casually dressed, start earlier as no commute which means I can nip out to collect my children from school and then continue working

I never used to work from home prior to lockdown although I had the flexibility to do so.
Benefits: fuel costs, not buying lunch at work and teas etc, not seeing annoying colleagues, being able to go for walks in morning/lunchtime with DH, being able to get my disorganised DC to school without thinking about needing to get ready for work. Going from bed to desk in 2 mins, appreciating seasons a bit more and not being tired from commute.

I need holidays to cover my DCs holidays so I’d always choose more holidays. My commute was previously 30/45 mins. I live in London so you don’t go anywhere quickly IMO.

2

More efficient with time - jobs around the house, exercising etc throughout the day. More time with family.

2

Commuting is the pits. I did it for 12 years up to an hour each way with young kids and it was shitty

I've worked at home most of the time since March 2020. It has been life changing in the best way. I exercise 5 mornings a week - gym, yoga or walking. I have time to cook healthier lunches and dinners. I can completely step away from work at break times by moving away from the laptop. I can easily have a morning lie in if I need it. I can do some housework in between meetings. I still see plenty of my colleagues on Zoom meetings and the like

I wouldn't mind going back to the office one day a week, but wouldn't fancy any more than that. And I don't even have a long commute (20 mins!)

No 2, I think. I WFH and I love it. Hated the commute, hated how cold the office was, hated how inflexible it is.

Presumably the holiday allowance is the legal minimum, so it's still 25 days per year plus bank holidays?

Depend on what the hybrid set up is. If 3 days a week in the office or more I would go for 2 no question. If less, 1.

I thought annual leave minimum entitlement was 20 days plus 8 bank holidays.

Is it possible to be part time under option 1? If so I'd do that (3 or 4 days per week). Annual leave is really important to me.

If no part time then I'd go for option 2.

Time. I had expected to have to drop a working day per week due to family needs. Wfh gave me back 8h a week.

No benefit for me overall. I'm less focused, care less about how I look, do less exercise and work longer hours. I'm sick of looking at the same 4 walls and have no distinction between work and home. I cannot wait to be out of the house all day every day.

Now primarily WFH but option for hybrid where I can visit the office when I want but nEed to book a desk as we now all hot desk.

For me I couldn't go back to FT in office. Benefits for me:

• No commute (previous 45min-+ each way)
• Can be around for school run in morning whereas DS has to do breakfast club when I'm in the office due to commute time. Saves me both money and helps me be more involved.
• Able to get a few household tasks done at lunch (quick wash on, tidy up) so there's less to do in evening and we can relax a bit.
• more time to do exercise due to no commute.
• comfy working conditions - no need to dress up as working in leggings is fine at home!
• able to get more sleep as don't need to be up at 5:30am!
• generally more flexible at work as I'm happy to attend later calls from home and it just means I might log off for a bit then log back on later at night. This is useful as I work across time zones.

No commute and being able to see my DD whenever I fancy a quick cuddle

I like wfh / hybrid working. I save time and money on the commute and it’s generally a bit less stressful.

However, I really value my annual leave (as I have school age children), so of your options I’d choose 1. In other words the advantages of option 2 aren’t enough to overcome the disadvantage of less annual leave (assuming the difference in pay isn’t massive).

Annual leave minimum entitlement is 20 days I think

I was 3 days at home before covid anyway. Being full time at home unless I want to go into the office for something is great.

I'm here when the kids get home from school - old enough I can still work while they home
No money on commute
The two days I was in the office before were always really hectic, dropping kids to school, running for train, but getting home until 1930
Really basic but I can stick a wash on in the morning every day, walk the dog at some point during the day, am here to receive deliveries etc.

My role is very autonomous though and I work nationally and internationally not so much people in my London office so there's really no need for me to be there.

I would go for 2 I think. Would the additional pay allow you to buy some extra holiday if you wanted to?

I get to take my kids to school every day (only take 15 minutes). I feel like I’ve got better relationships with other parents and the school staff no because of it.

I didn’t have much of commute tbh, about a 15 drive, but so much less rushing about in general. Plus I can make a coffee to my own taste (and without having to make 10 more for others 🤣).

I also love being able to do my washings in the background so I’m not stuck at home doing load after load at the weekends.

@CrimbleCrumble1 it is.

I actually personally prefer being in the office FT, however - my office is 1.5 miles from home, so I still pop home at lunchtime and prep dinner/get a wash on and sorted, I do drive into work due to timings, logistics and locations of nursery/school/office but this allows me almost an entire hour a day at home in the middle of the day, if there was an hour commute I'd not be as happy being here every day.

Sorry should say option 2 for me. Without a shadow of doubt. Do they have flexible benefits that maybe allow you to buy additional leave?

Oh and I'd go for 2 for sure. The money would do it for me and presumably you'd save money on the commute too.

Is there an option to buy annual leave in the benefits package?

@Rainydays55 - have you been offered job 2? I told a friend of mine when she was offered a job with statutory hols to respond saying she would be happy to accept their salary and hours but would they increase the holidays to 25 days + BH to match her current position. They accepted and she's been there now for 6 years and is in a senior position, always worth an ask!

I do a hybrid model - 2 days in the office, 3 at home. I only go in as part of a rota, I don't need to be in. Wfh has been the best thing to come out of the last 2 years.
Significantly reduced commuting - time/petrol costs/wear and tear on car/reduced blood pressure/enviro factors
Significantly reduced time travelling to meetings - see above, plus I can meet colleagues from across the region and country without the endless planning that went into organising these
Far higher productivity - far more focused at home without the endless interruptions and background noise, I can work on as needed without having to watch the clock
More flexibility - if I need to go to the GP etc I can step away for 30 mins and make the time up easily, whereas before an appointment would have required a couple of hours to factor in travel etc
Increased exercise - I walk in the lovely woods/garden/etc at lunchtime at home now now as opposed to a quick walk once round a busy car park or along the pavement on the side of a dual carriageway
The list is endless. If I have to go back to the office 5 days a week I'd be devastated.

I'd go for option 2, no doubt about it.