Has anyone refused to go back into the office?

[GreenPepperRed]

Just that really. Have a job that can easily be done working from home. Company is now saying compulsory 3 days in the office. Has anyone just not gone in and carried on working from home? How did that turn out?

The majority of my department is insisting they are not going in. Can confirm they are serious because I went in to the office a couple days back and there was probably 10% of the people in.

Intrigued what my company will do. Fire us all?

People who are desperate to have everyone return to the office truly baffle me. Unless you have shares in Starbucks or commercial buildings are your asset then wtf!

@GreenPepperRed

A lot of rudeness slating me as an employee which is completely unnecessary...

I'm honestly envisioning a mass exodus of employees if they put their foot down and the company going down the shitter because of it. Will be interesting to watch. At this point most people I've spoken to there are looking for another job. I supposed we must all be awful employees and the company is perfect

Oh dear. Sounds like you need to grow up a bit maybe?

VladmirsPoutine It baffles me too! The anti-WFHers are always grasping at straws in this thread, desperately hoping everybody will be forced back into the office. So odd.

@Bringsexyback

I do sometimes wonder if I live in a parallel universe. I have had absolutely no issues whatsoever with customer service over the last two years. my team have had record-breaking years in terms of revenue, obviously we’re saving an absolute fortune when we don’t renew the massive office lease that we currently have … we are counting the days down until we can get rid of that, everybody’s got rid of desktops and they’ve been replaced with laptops which are far superior. I genuinely don’t understand all the forelock tugging that goes on here, this is the first time in nearly 30 years that the workers hold all the cards and yet so many are trying to scaremonger the masses is into towing the line again. what is wrong with you ?

This.

I can't work out whether the "do what your employer says, no questions" posts here are from (old-fashioned and plain bad) employers trying to crack the whip, or ground-down employees who don't know that a life beyond forelock-tugging is possible.

I can't work out whether the "do what your employer says, no questions" posts

I can't say I see any of those.

What I see are posters pointing out that the OP can't just ignore the terms of her contract like a child having a tantrum.

If she wants to maturely renegotiate that contract, that's a different matter.

@CatJumperTwat

VladmirsPoutine It baffles me too! The anti-WFHers are always grasping at straws in this thread, desperately hoping everybody will be forced back into the office. So odd.

I don't understand this either tbh. I said in my previous posts I actually went into the office and am being branded a child, lazy, not possibly senior at all sorts asking if anyone else has been in the position where most people are not coming in when they've been told they have to. I don't blame anyone for not coming in at all because the company is completely out of touch in many aspects and their policies make no sense for my industry and the pandemic has allowed people to realise that. My industry is one that has also excelled and exploded massively due to the pandemic.

I honestly think my company is in trouble. Even if some start to come in, they can try offshore 50% of us if they want but I can't imagine it's going to go smoothly.

My company has implied they're going to go back to 5 days in at some point. We're all in professional skilled roles. We can do our jobs from home. It's beyond me why my company are doing this. Maybe long leases they can't get out of? But it's ok because most of us children are dispensable so they're going to be ok it seems...some strange responses here.

Just wondered if anyone was in a company in a similar position where most of the employees are not following the orders but apparently not. I guess that answers my question!

@Bringsexyback

I do sometimes wonder if I live in a parallel universe. I have had absolutely no issues whatsoever with customer service over the last two years. my team have had record-breaking years in terms of revenue, obviously we’re saving an absolute fortune when we don’t renew the massive office lease that we currently have … we are counting the days down until we can get rid of that, everybody’s got rid of desktops and they’ve been replaced with laptops which are far superior. I genuinely don’t understand all the forelock tugging that goes on here, this is the first time in nearly 30 years that the workers hold all the cards and yet so many are trying to scaremonger the masses is into towing the line again. what is wrong with you ?

Do you genuinely think that anyone who can see the value of teams working together in an office for part of the week is a ‘forelock tugger’ or, in the words of PPs a ‘boot licker’ or an ‘old boomer’?

All this bollocks about the workers having the power, etc. Yes, some workers do have power if they have top class, scarce skills. That’s a tiny proportion of the workforce. Not Claire who does admin for the environment agency and doesn’t fancy going back to the office because she doesn’t like paying for wrap around childcare.

Perhaps you have failed to notice that as a country we are churning out hundreds of thousands of graduates? All of them motivated to do well in life, to justify their investment in tuition costs. Any perceived labour shortage, which for most professions appears to be at junior levels only, won’t last long.

Don’t let that stop you manning the barricades, though, and complaining that anyone actually, you know, going into an office to work, like we all did pre-pandemic, is a willing slave to the whims of their employer.

This, from the OP:

The company has pissed a lot of people off during the pandemic with some of their actions. To those that have suggested to tread carefully because they can offshore for much cheaper,…There's people who have left already because of some of the stupid things the company have done during the pandemic and they've replaced them with cheaper contractors abroad.

What clearer evidence base does she need that her actions are foolish?

Morale is very low

I have never worked in any organisation where nobody has ever said, morale is very low.

The company now have hundreds of unhappy employees that are just not coming into the office even though they've been told to. Yes hundreds. I'm talking about seeing maybe 20 people in the office when I went in when there should be around 300.

As other posters have noted, the crackdown will be imminent.

Maybe they will get rid of us all and offshore all our work? Will be interesting to see their next move.

Yeah, that is what will happen. It has already begun, as you yourself have told us.

The OP seems offended that several posters have suggested that she is most likely a junior employee.

That’s because she is behaving like a junior employee. Anybody in a senior position will be there because they know how to engage in discussions appropriately. Not skulking at home and trying to organise a revolution against their employer.

People coming up with all sorts of spurious reasons to have people go back to the office like 'team morale, team-building,' and nonsense about young people working from their bedrooms - where is all that concern for young people when it comes to them being able to afford housing? It's entirely disingenuous. WFH has been immensely life saving for marginalised groups such as those with disabilities or ethnic minorities.

I think WFH upsets a certain segment of middle management who really don't do much but annoy their underlings to make themselves feel important.

We've come close to reimagining a different mode of life and for those who hold all the power and their acolytes it's too terrifying.

Woweee a really sore subject amongst mumsnetters it seems I'm not offended about any of these posts or feel insecure in what I do or my position at work. Amazing what absolute nastiness comes out of a question on a forum, the irony from people telling me how to be professional as well!

"Do you genuinely think that anyone who can see the value of teams working together in an office for part of the week is a ‘forelock tugger’ or, in the words of PPs a ‘boot licker’ or an ‘old boomer’?"

I can see the value of teams working together in the same place for part of the week and I'm nowhere near being the forelock tugger people talk about. I'm really a work to live person, it's got nothing to do with sucking up to management or anything like that.
When I'm in the office I know a lot more about what other teams are doing, what is going on. I interact with more than just my direct team and I can ask or answer questions from various people who would never ring me if I was at home.

@GreenPepperRed We can do our jobs from home. It's beyond me why my company are doing this.

In my experience, that's exactly the problem.

Employees are often quite siloed in their thinking. They don't see the bigger picture.

But if you read through all the responses here, you'll see the reasons that extend beyond individual roles.

They are the reasons that keep a company profitable productive and progressive - everything from assessing WFH arrangements, equipment, productivity, customer service to training, collaboration and teamwork/culture.

If you are running a business, these are vital considerations that individual workers often don't appreciate. Sometimes it's the manager and senior ppl that made WFH work for the business. Because they had to, to keep everyone in work. Now, that's no longer the case and they want workers back.

And I don't think it's the case that businesses have had to have WFH forced on them to recognise it's benefits.

If it was that beneficial for a business, they would have implemented it before the pandemic. It wholly depends on the business, the employment market and the (regional) economy as to whether WFH is good for the business.

If it's not, then employees will be asked to return and deemed to resign if not because they are not delivering their contract.

@VladmirsPoutine

People who are desperate to have everyone return to the office truly baffle me. Unless you have shares in Starbucks or commercial buildings are your asset then wtf!

I wonder how many pension pots have shares in commercial buildings?

@GreenPepperRed

Also further clarification - yes I've seen threads about an individual refusing to go back into the office. I'm talking about the scenario where 90% of the employees aren't coming in as told and how the company reacted. Have they put their foot down and those 90% faced consequences, or was the company forced to be more flexible with their office working policies?

I completely appreciate site where you are coming from here, it's very hard to see 80% of your colleagues doing what they want and never coming in, when you are part of the mandated group being forced in - very demoralising

So you are saying employers can't work out for themselves whether the job could be done at home (or a Filipino at home) even though their employees have been at home for two years and they will only know if employees "insist".

Nope, not saying that. The ethos in my company would have been to employ locally but if employees aren't going to cooperate with us, then we might have a rethink.

[quote madroid]@GreenPepperRed We can do our jobs from home. It's beyond me why my company are doing this.

In my experience, that's exactly the problem.

Employees are often quite siloed in their thinking. They don't see the bigger picture.

But if you read through all the responses here, you'll see the reasons that extend beyond individual roles.

They are the reasons that keep a company profitable productive and progressive - everything from assessing WFH arrangements, equipment, productivity, customer service to training, collaboration and teamwork/culture.

If you are running a business, these are vital considerations that individual workers often don't appreciate. Sometimes it's the manager and senior ppl that made WFH work for the business. Because they had to, to keep everyone in work. Now, that's no longer the case and they want workers back.[/quote]
Thank you for a response that isn't nasty!

I see what you're saying. But my colleagues and I are asking the question why we can't stick to more flexible working as the company has heavily implied they're heading towards compulsory 5 days back in the office. No one's saying we're never going into the office ever again. So I would argue that the bigger picture can still be maintained with a flexible work policy, and would result in a happier workforce too.

We're in roles where we have smaller tasks assigned to us which we work on independent and then get in a meeting every week to update our team on what's been done/what else needs to be done to get the bigger aim achieved. I'm also in an industry that is male-dominated so I'm wondering if many posters here cannot relate to what I'm saying and I can't relate to their views because we're not in the same industry/environment?

@GreenPepperRed

Woweee a really sore subject amongst mumsnetters it seems I'm not offended about any of these posts or feel insecure in what I do or my position at work. Amazing what absolute nastiness comes out of a question on a forum, the irony from people telling me how to be professional as well!

Yes, you are. Here you are, upthread, being offended:

I said in my previous posts I actually went into the office and am being branded a child, lazy, not possibly senior at all

Theres an interesting discussion going on here (from those not slamming me personally!).

I obviously cannot control what other people do so am intrigued at my company's next actions.

I'm surprised some of the responses have been so harsh though. I thought more people would be advocating for more flexible working now as it probably would benefit the demographic of this website and most of the repliers to this thread!

Not sure why some people are so angry at the prospect of a long term change in work culture and attitudes towards flexible working compared to pre pandemic. If an industry allows flexible working then why not?

Been back for 6 months+

One person has refused & is ineffectual

It has affected the morale of the rest of the team

Management keep skirting round the issue

So unfair !

@Gwenhwyfar

"Do you genuinely think that anyone who can see the value of teams working together in an office for part of the week is a ‘forelock tugger’ or, in the words of PPs a ‘boot licker’ or an ‘old boomer’?"

I can see the value of teams working together in the same place for part of the week and I'm nowhere near being the forelock tugger people talk about. I'm really a work to live person, it's got nothing to do with sucking up to management or anything like that.
When I'm in the office I know a lot more about what other teams are doing, what is going on. I interact with more than just my direct team and I can ask or answer questions from various people who would never ring me if I was at home.

Careful now. By being entirely reasonable you risk being described as a subjugated slave of:

a certain segment of middle management who really don't do much but annoy their underlings to make themselves feel important.

those who hold all the power and their acolytes

Oh yeah, and your reasons Afro seeing the benefit of working from an office are ‘spurious’. Apparently.

Are you in the civil service by any chance @GreenPepperRed? I’ve heard of a few departments with this sort of situation, and I know someone in a arms length body with a similar set up - nobody is going in.

Afro??? For!

@kimbyy

It depends on how many stick to their guns & what impact loosing people would have on the business.

And what would be the impact of losing one's job by refusing to return to the office! It was never meant to be a permanent thing, a lot of people seem to be forgetting that.

It was never meant to be a permanent thing, a lot of people seem to be forgetting that.

No, but in my industry, and certainly in my company, it has shown that it's possible without losing productivity, so why not offer employees the choice?

But I recognise it's not feasible in all industries, so there's no clear cut answer to this.

Not sure why people seem to think it's worth insulting other people over though.