To want to know when WFH will end ?

[fizzypop100]

Because this has dragged on for so long

I work in my bedroom and sit on the bed at a mini desk. It's so much nicer than a cold office.
Hybrid will do but being in the office means my IBS is painful and I have to take more breaks.

@dementedma

WFH is shit. I absolutely hate trying to work from the kitchen table in a house full of people. No way is it more productive

But why are you doing that? Why not go to your local library, a cafe, a hotel, a co-working hub? Even if you just go for a couple of hours a day to get away from the house full of people?

This is the problem. People fundamentally misunderstand what remote working is, and it is not "working from your kitchen table in the first lockdown".

I want to know if I can reduce my wardrobe size. If I don't have to work out of the house I don't need so many clothes. If I don't need so many clothes I can have a bigger work space.

@JuergenSchwarzwald

Some who live in flat-shares or bedsits have nowhere to work from that is comfortable and suitable. They are desperate to get back to the office

Sigh. Have none of these people heard of co-working hubs?

Do the hubs have spaces with complete privacy? As in soundproofing? I've never looked at one!

For many of us, it won’t. Me & my team are now WFH permanently.

I’m saving £200 and, more importantly, around 30 hours per month in commuting time and costs. My work / life balance has never been better, I’m as happy as a pig in shite and long may it continue.

The last wfh directive..i saw no change in the traffic to work so doubt it will change much.

I can't WFH, not sure I would like it as I like the whole social interaction thing, lunching with colleagues etc.
My friend was told about a year ago that she's going to be WFH forever. She loves it, she has a dog that isn't on his own, she avoids a long and nasty commute etc.
My DS started a new job in September and is WFH, and he can't wait to get into work and start working alongside colleagues, get networking and start being a bit sociable (early 20s).

@StarShapedWindow

What happens when a new person starts? How will they train if everyone that does their job works from home? Perhaps they will work from the office for a few months to learn?

Started two different roles both wfh. It was hard going but did it!

@JuergenSchwarzwald

Some who live in flat-shares or bedsits have nowhere to work from that is comfortable and suitable. They are desperate to get back to the office

Sigh. Have none of these people heard of co-working hubs?

Sigh yourself. Could that be more unhelpful or condescending?

Maybe people work in areas where these hubs aren’t easy to get to. Maybe they work in sectors that need privacy. Maybe they don’t want to lug all their stuff around everyday when it could be left on their desk in their actual office. Maybe any number of reasons.

But why are you doing that? Why not go to your local library, a cafe, a hotel, a co-working hub? Even if you just go for a couple of hours a day to get away from the house full of people?

They all cost money apart from the library, and apart from maybe the co-working hub none of those are options if your job involves taking calls or having video meetings for most of the day (or just needing to be available to have video calls on short notice)

@StarShapedWindow

What happens when a new person starts? How will they train if everyone that does their job works from home? Perhaps they will work from the office for a few months to learn?

I 'be inducted at least half a dozen people since the start of the pandemic and started a new job myself.

All online.

It's harder than in person but it still happens. You just adapt.

Never heard of a co-working hub before but I wouldn't have thought it would suit many people.

If we don’t go back to the office soon, I will be looking for a new job I think. 3 more months max or I’m out.

My work have moved the vast majority to some kind of hybrid model. For me, that means I would only be expected on site a couple of days a month at most.

it works for me although I do see that it might not work for others. Both of us WFH and we were in a position to carve out dedicated office space. It did mean changing how we'd planned to use one of the spaces quite substantially & it wasn't cheap, so I'm fairly sure I'm out of pocket despite removing the commute, and incidental expenses incurred when I was office based. I do realise I'm quite fortunate though and many households (esp house share or with more than one home worker) really struggle to get a decent set up.

My work is planning to move to hybrid, but I'm going to request to be in the office full time. I'm working in my living room as I don't have space to work anywhere else, plus if my OH eventually moves in it wouldn't be fair on him to have to sit in the bedroom while I work. There must be lots of people in the same position and would prefer to be in the office.

Why not go to your local library, a cafe, a hotel, a co-working hub?

None of those are suitable environments for a working day, except for a hub which costs money.

Johnson is apparently planning to end WFH mandate on 26 January, but obviously business will react to that differently.

I have been OK with it, as my job (editing) is easily done at home, and my employer has not mandated return at all, but I admitted to my manager last week that I was getting a bit tired of pure WFH and would like to come in again, even just one day a week, on a more regular basis soon. I came back 3 times in autumn and it was just nice to have people around and a change of scene. Manager felt the same way too! Two days a week would be fine - I think my team were only ever all in the office on Tues and Weds every week anyway, so it wouldn't be that different to before. But I'd probably want to stick to home most days for the convenience.

As I have COVID right now, I might start next month if they allow.

@fizzypop100

Because this has dragged on for so long

Has it? It only came back in December.

I also hate the amount of people now ‘wfh’ in cafes. I am on Mat leave currently and am obviously spending a lot of time in local cafes, meeting friends with babies and often with toddlers in tow too. I’m fed up with people sitting behind laptops scowling because the kids make a bit of noise and I am daring to talk to other people. A cafe is not a work space. Unless you are a barista.
Also, you are taking up a table for goodness knows how long and I doubt are spending the equivalent in the cafe than if that table was turned over several times in the same few hours.

I actually looked up whether there's a co-working space near me because I find WFH on the day a week that my husband is at home with my 3 and 1 year old so challenging, and my employer is trying to put me off coming in for as long as possible without actually saying I can't.

Turns out that it's down the road from my actual office, and that one day a week would cost me £160 a month. So fuck that, obviously.

I’m just really getting tired of the blanket statements that WFH is awful. Yes, it is awful for some people. For others, especially many of those who are not NT, it is an absolutely wonderful change. I don’t want to go back to a world that was built for only one type of person. Wouldn’t it be better if there were a mix of working environments available depending upon what worked best for the actual person?

Yes. I’m not NT and that’s a large part of why WFH is very bad for me and why I need to go back to the office!

If you are going tona Co- working hub, you still have to leave the house and mix with people, which is what the WFH advice is trying to avoid.
Also, you have a commute and costs involved in that, and in hiring the space.
How is that any better than going to an office?

I hope it never ends! Saves me a fortune, I get more done at home, don’t have a hellish commute and finally get a lunch break. Day here and there in the office is nice but I don’t need to be there to get the job done.

I work in University Admin. I never thought the likes of our teams would be able to WFH but we have and are now only back in the office 1 day a week (well we were before the rules were to WFH again)

Even when all this is over (!) I know we won't ever be back in the office as we used to be. There are now too many support staff and Academics to house on campus so rather than build more office space, WFH and hot desking is here to stay. Whether we like it or not...

why not go to...

We were told to wfh if we can to stop the spread of covid. Doesn’t really help if we all go to work in different places with other people. Plus those in non ideal crowded accommodation often don’t have the spare budget for paying to work out of the home.

Finally: my employer doesn’t let me work in public spaces as we have had detrimental press leaks and I spend much of my time in calls.

So I’m in a house, on my own. I rarely get to see another adult during the week and am going up the walls.