To think it’s daft to make big life decisions based on WFH without checking it’s permanent?

[GoldenOmber]

My work used to be office-based. We’ve all been WFH since March 2020 because of government rules (not in England).

This week the government lifted that rule, and later that day our employers told us what the plans were to start bringing us back. This is pretty flexible - not starting for a month or two yet, will still allow a lot of WFH for people who want it (like 9 days a fortnight with one in the office). Most people are ok with this. Some people really aren’t.

Now we are having drama over email with a small but vocal group saying how angry/upset they are, because they have made big changes based around getting to WFH and it will now be difficult for them to go back at all. Even 1 day a fortnight starting in April. Changes like moving house far away from office; getting a dog and not wanting to leave the dog alone; selling car and not wanting to get public transport b/c germs (not just covid, all germs).

Work have ALWAYS said WFH was temporary though! I have some sympathy for how long it’s going to take you to commute from your new house in the middle of nowhere, but SURELY you’d factor that in when you bought it?

YABU - no, after 2 years of WFH working fairly well it was reasonable to expect it to continue without checking.

YANBU - yes, they should obviously have checked.

[Hellsbells35]

YABU. If it’s worked fine this long and people could do their job perfectly fine, why force everyone back in? Makes no sense xx

[Jeannie88]

Ot was temporary and a long time at that! Too many have accepted it will be the norm but no, getting ready for work, meeting colleagues face to face, has been the norm before covid. Many of us haven't had that choice and have still gone out every to our jobs, which has been extremely stressful with the fear of covid. Sorry but no excuses, you've had it different and may I say easier, back to the real world! Got to get dressed, meet others, have a scheduled lunch break etc.

[waitingpatientlyforspring]

We have two cars. Dh has has not been back in the office since march 2020. They are talking of making home working permanent with sporadic days in the office but haven't committed to the new hybrid working policy. Therefore we are still paying £170 a month for dh's car and paying to insure two cars as we know wt anytime he can be called back in the office.

It is really irresponsible to make long term changes based on a temporary, albeit, a long term temporary change.

[Catastrophejane]

I was really shocked at the number of people making life changing decisions like moving to the country after a couple of months of wfh.

Having grown up in the countryside, I’m well aware of the many benefits, but there are lots of downsides too ( not just about commuting).

Lack of amenities, less going on, etc etc. Also some rural places are less open to newcomers. 4G also shit.

[withoutawordofalie]

If you can work from home from anywhere in UK then whats to stop someone working from home in India and doing your job for a fraction of the salary. I know some of you will say my job cant possibly be done from abroad. My sister in law thought that too, she worked for a large high street bank and they sent all her work to India and made her job redundant.

[Clytemnestra2]

In a sense this is one aspect where those who rent are at an advantage over people who own their houses. They’ve had the flexibility the move to wherever over the pandemic and can now move back to be near their office.

I definitely question the judgement of those who have bought homes the other side of the country to their offices during the pandemic. Not least as pretty much every office job requires some level of forward planning, weighing up of future risks etc and it seems these people are incapable of this!

[GoldenOmber]

I don’t get why 1 day a fortnight is so hard either. Maybe they think they’ll be asked to do more and more days in the office if they agree to that? But probably best approach is to show that 1 day a fortnight works fine, not “but but but I’ve sold my house and moved to Narnia”.

[ufucoffee]

To those who say I'm bitter/unreasonable for wanting people back to work this is because our department runs much more efficiently when we are in the same room and I also think that you should work where you're told to work by your employer. But I think I'm rare on here for wanting to do what's best for my job, not what's best for me.

[fetchacloth]

@Doubleraspberry

We've done a lot of work on wellbeing and every staff survey and focus group comes up with broadly the same facts:

• most people want to work a mixture of home and office (with percentages varying)
• new starters have found it challenging to get to know people with 100% remote working
• younger staff are feeling isolated, and worrying about building careers with less visibility
• staff miss the social mixing side when working from home
• there are many, many benefits to being able to WFH when wanted

@Doubleraspberry : I have to say I've had much sympathy with younger staff, trainees and new starters the last couple of years. It must have been a nightmare for those people to work remotely with limited support.

[karlakourt]

I really can't understand what's so hard about 1 day a fortnight

Most schools have wrap around care
Public transport still exists.
Dog walkers exist

Nothing is insurmountable

People who moved 100s of miles away need to make a plan B super quick

[fetchacloth]

Definitely YANBU on this one.
I can't believe the number of people who have blithely upped sticks and moved 100+ miles away from their workplace and are now finding themselves completely stuck with being able to commute again.
Also some people who have taken on the responsibility of dog ownership who have had to hand their dog over to a rescue place to rehome it.

I'm sure that at the time, workplaces were clear that the WFH arrangement would only ever be temporary. A classic case of some people believing what they wanted to believe maybe.🙄

[GoldenOmber]

@ufucoffee

I am really hoping that the I can only wfh brigade because I want to are forced back to our offices but because I work in the public sector I bet they get their own way.

I’m more worried that the organisation will get so fed up of the fuss and refuse to compromise that they decide flexible hybrid offers are more trouble than they’re worth, and then the rest of us lose out too.

[SirChenjins]

@ufucoffee

I am really hoping that the I can only wfh brigade because I want to are forced back to our offices but because I work in the public sector I bet they get their own way.

If their roles allow for it and their productivity is the same or higher than if they were in the office then great, I’m pleased that they’ll get their own way. You sound very bitter.

[Doubleraspberry]

@ufucoffee

I am really hoping that the I can only wfh brigade because I want to are forced back to our offices but because I work in the public sector I bet they get their own way.

Why? That sounds unreasonable of you.

[ufucoffee]

I am really hoping that the I can only wfh brigade because I want to are forced back to our offices but because I work in the public sector I bet they get their own way.

[Thirtytimesround]

Dh has been working from home for 2 yrs. We live in a v expensive commuter location: would bloody love to move to seaside instead and WFH there in a massive house.

But we didn’t.

Because that would be dumb.

[purplebunny2012]

@Wherearemymarbles

I was quite bemused when i read of all these people moving to Wales etc as they were never going back to an office ever again.
I dont know a single person whose job is now permanently at home. Most are in the office 3 days a week.

My husband's is because the lease was due up on their office building. But my WFH was never going to be permanent so we didn't make any changes to make the return difficult

[ButtockUp]

I'm a bit concerned that social anxiety might increase significantly with so many people working on their own, stuck inside their homes. This has already been mentioned, a few times, on MN.

I've also seen a fair bit of snobbery emerging on these threads. It's almost like a whole new social class has emerged.. wfh and non-wfh.

I did snigger, ( sorry) when , during lockdown, people started to move far away from their work places to have ' a bigger house/ a better life/ live the rural dream.
They probably ( literally even!) counted their chickens too early.

[gorseinon28]

I'm convinced that the main reason for having people back twice a week in our office from early November (well it happened for four weeks), and saying last May this would happen at some point, was to minimise the very issues that the OP highlighted. So that if there is ever a reason to attend at the office, no-one can claim they cannot because they moved house (or other reasons the OP mentioned).

[Doubleraspberry]

We've done a lot of work on wellbeing and every staff survey and focus group comes up with broadly the same facts:

• most people want to work a mixture of home and office (with percentages varying)
  
• new starters have found it challenging to get to know people with 100% remote working
  
• younger staff are feeling isolated, and worrying about building careers with less visibility
  
• staff miss the social mixing side when working from home
  
• there are many, many benefits to being able to WFH when wanted

[Whitefire]

@GoldenOmber

People do know that hybrid working means some time in the office though, right? Or no? Maybe to some people it means ‘some people in the office 100% of the time, others at home 100% of the time’?

I think some people took it to mean "you can if you want" so basically a complete choice of where you work.

[GoldenOmber]

People do know that hybrid working means some time in the office though, right? Or no? Maybe to some people it means ‘some people in the office 100% of the time, others at home 100% of the time’?

[Whitefire]

My workplace are dragging their heels about hybrid working, they need to get it sorted as there is no shortage of alternative organisations offering the same roles (apart from mine) with a flexible working approach. Some say it may be jumping from the frying pan and into the fire but some may be willing to take that risk.

[OnGoldenPond]

Where I work at a recent staff meeting it was acknowledged that hybrid working is almost certain to become permanent as the jobs market is demanding it and they are already finding it difficult to recruit in a candidate's market. Have heard the same has been happening in many sectors.

[HunterHearstHelmsley]

[quote MabelsApron]@HunterHearstHelmsley Agree. I made this point a few pages ago and someone said that women who aren’t mothers don’t need flexibility. [/quote]
That old chestnut