To think we shouldn't assume WFH is easier / cheaper?

[BoredtoTiers]

Having read quite a few pieces in the ongoing debate about return to the office, some of the arguments being put forward have been that WFH is necessarily easier / cheaper (often accompanied by a suggestion that it's totally fine to pay less to home workers).

Now obviously, employers can make a job office based and employees can either accept that or go elsewhere. This isn't really about that.

My own experience is that home working has been more expensive and longer term will be cost neutral at best. Easier? In some ways, but not in others.

Yet I see a lot of articles and posts in threads suggesting that of course it's easier / cheaper. Often this is based on things like the cost of a London commute. AIBU to think that this argument simply doesn't hold water for many who have shifted to home working during the pandemic?

@oopsIdiditagaintoo

i will continue to get the v tiny tax benefit once we are back to hybrid working.

I think it's being made more complicated to claim.

Read they were going to just scrap it altogether

Regardless of whether it is cheaper or not pay should not be reduced. We are paid on the basis of our skills and abilities not our living costs (perhaps with the exception of London weighting)

I’d be leaving if any job tried to imply they were actually paying me as a contribution to my commute rather than for what I do or deliver

Cheaper for me.

No train travel cost or need to buy an over-priced lunch...

I have a work phone so don't need to pay extra. I assume I use more electricity but frankly I don't mind that at all.

I absolutely hate office environment and politics. If my boss tries to make us come back in I will resign and look for another role.

I have a long term health condition and working from home most of the week is literally a life-saver for me because it gives me more time to manage my additional needs and take care of my health.

Cheaper here too by a LOT. Trains were £17 a day plus childcare £50 a day for before and after school.
We have a large house so I don't heat it all day. Just bought a small heater for my office and a 20 minute blast around lunchtime is sufficient.
About to have more work done to the house with all the money we've saved.....

I work for one of the largest blue chips with worldwide presents and we will be reducing our Real Estate exponentially offices are closing and when the lease is come up for renewal we will be taking 50% of the current square footage that’s in the strategy that is in our plan we’re not going backwards here working from home is here to stay

It’s cheaper for me because I had a long train commute. But then the additional heating costs, WFH equipment my employer wouldn’t buy, even not having the subsidised gym at work, has all cut into that.

I didn’t see my commute as wasted time/money I didn’t get anything out of, either. It was reading/walking/podcast time built into my day.

As others have said if this was a permanent arrangement we’d also need to move or make big changes to the house, which wouldn’t be cheap. I don’t really like chairing meetings sat on my bed!

My workplace was about a mile away so no savings there, DH's workplace was about 7 miles and he always cycled for exercise so no saving there and he was less fit. Fortunately we are both retired now so glad to not be wfh.

In terms of money I suppose I am better off. Slightly. I used to think a day in the office cost me about 30 quid in train fares, lunch and incidentals. But I have spent a bloody fortune on other stuff to make wfh more palatable. My lack of incidental movement has made me fat as anything. I can’t resist the kitchen. I have no self control. I hate looking at myself in the zoom. Some days I just can’t face wfh and just skive for a walk. We can go back but so few have that there is rarely anyone there and I cannot be arsed to travel in and sit on my own which I think would be even more damaging. So maybe a few quid saved but quite a big cost to me.

It’s not easier or cheaper for us. We didn’t buy our house thinking it would need to be an office for 2 people, we bought it as a home. We don’t have dedicated office space. Which means DH works from the lounge and I work from the kitchen table. It’s a nightmare really and means our home doesn’t feel like our home anymore.
I walked to work so hasn’t saved me any money there, and now I don’t get that wind down down at the end of the day… my walk used to clear my head before the madness of an evening with 2 young children.
We’ve saved a bit of money on DH’s commute but that’s offset by the extra we spend on gas and electricity during the day.
Both our offices have closed during covid, so I am looking for a job where I can be back in an office. I can’t do this any longer, I hate it.

WFH is great, if you have the space! Just like original lockdown was great if you had a garden/ weren't locked in a high rise flat. For those in small spaces/ lots of kids/ cramped/ not nice accommodation it’s not great but most decision makers will have never experienced that so won’t get it.

Evening with 3 young children, that should say.

I have a 48 mile round trip on my work commute, so my fuel, wear and tear and depreciation costs are much higher than my heating costs, which are subsidised by our solar panels.

It's always odd that some can't comprehend why wfh might not be cheaper for people. If you cycle/walk/travel a short distance on the road then the cost of electricity and gas from running equipment, heating and just generally being around during the day is likely to mean you're paying more a month. Not everyone buys new clothes for work all of the time I'd in the office anyway, and some jobs require the use of teams anyway where a shirt at least or whatever is expected. Plenty of people take a packed lunch to work anyway. Not everyone has long commutes where they feast upon pret everyday wearing their new jigsaw work clothes- quite London centric thinking.

In terms of being easier or not, I've found the expectation that you need to be on your death bed to be ill otherwise well you're at home anyway and you can work to be draining, if their spouse works out of the house the expectation that if you have children and they're off well you're home anyway you'll juggle it rather than sharing as usual, the expectation you'll be available for longer days because you have all the kit at home, some meetings are harder online than in person, training new staff and ensuring welfare of all is harder imo. Also depends if you're working from a nice home office or desk or cramped on your bed in a houseshare etc

It depends on the job and circumstances as well, just like anything really. Covid has been shit for many.

Read they were going to just scrap it altogether

It existed pre Covid but involved submitting receipts / evidence. Since 23rd March 2020 it's been easier to claim - you just login and confirm you've worked from home at least 1 day in the tax year, no receipts or evidence needed. It's going back to the old more complex version from April this year I believe.

Not everyone has long commutes where they feast upon pret everyday wearing their new jigsaw work clothes- quite London centric thinking

Definitely! I used to walk to work, taking a packed lunch, and wearing the company issued blouse and navy trousers that didn’t cost me any money!

In my old job, wfh saved me a fortune. £75 in train fares per week plus I was pregnant in 2020 so didn’t need to buy maternity work clothes.

Now I car share & do a hybrid model, so I’m only really saving in coffees & lunches a couple of times a week, compared to the cost of heating etc at home.

Definitely cheaper for us. Not as much fuel to buy, £50 a month instead of £250. Yeah electricity and gas has gone up a bit, but we were still over paying to keep us in credit for winter. I never actually changed the direct debit amount. Don't spend any more on food, if anything we spend less.

And most importantly, I'm much happier at home. I hate offices. I'm not really interested in making friends at work, not best friends at least. I get along with everyone and we will have nights out as a team but that's it. And we can still do that while wfh. We just organise it and meet up.

I don't care if others want to go in. Go ahead. But don't force us all back just because some don't like it, some of us do.

Dp found staff working from home weren't as productive and it caused issues with communication and development. He has one person who wants to work from home and he stated it would be on a lower salary to take into account they cannot function as well as office based staff

I always took a packed lunch and just wore my same clothes that I go out and about in anyway, I didn't really have any extra work expenses. WFH also involved using my own computer, I only did it for a month or so though as I resigned and retired.

A season ticket from where I live into Central London is £3500 pa, then you have work clothes and shoes, lunches, coffees, which maybe you don't need, but do tend to buy while you're out.

No one wfh is spending that on extra fuel.

I don't think it makes working easier and I very much question the insistence that people are more efficient at home, but it does make "life" easier. You get a shorter working day, can put a wash on or empty the dishwasher in a short break, are there for deliveries or tradesman without taking leave etc etc

I do think it's taking it's toll massively on MH though, even for people who think it suits them. I know quite a few people who aren't really enjoying it, even recognise it's not doing them any good, but don't want to go back to the office either because of the benefits.

I reckon it's cost me £50k for us to be working from home, as in terms of living space we've effectively gone from a 4 bed, as in bedrooms for occupants, to 3 bed and an office. We didn't buy a house to factor in a study, we bought a house for 4 occupants and for having frequent overnight guests. I massively begrudge having to give up bedroom space for a home office so my employers can save money.

I've also found that my work/home life boundaries have become massively blurred, and not in my favour. My company were very generous with ensuring we all had proper chairs and IT equipment etc, but I reckon they've more than made that back from all the incidental hours everyone has been doing.

Not a fan of working from home...

WFH has saved me money. These are my personal circumstances though. Surely it's not that hard to comprehend that other people's circumstances might be different?

No one wfh is spending that on extra fuel

No, but equally we don’t all commute into central London.

My husband cycled and took a packed lunch. Our fuel bills have rocketed even before the rises and he is fed up, cold and lonely. We don’t have the luxury of an office so he is putting in long hours in a freezing conservatory. WFH is making his job which needs a lot of team meetings so much harder. It’s nuts and needs to stop.

It's definitely cheaper for me as I don't have the £140 per month train fare. I don't heat the house any more than we would have done anyway (I settled on it coming on for an hour regularly through the day a few winters ago, as we don't have a room thermostat, as this then maintains an OK base temp for the longer heating stint in the evening to start from). I've not noticed a massive rise in electricity use really, and any increase is covered with the train fare I'm saving.

I do miss the incidental exercise. Massively. I do need to do something about this, which I'm intending to do when a work glitch involving lots of overtime requirement has passed.