Has the work life balance shifted and I didn't notice?

[forinborin]

A very first world problem, interested in your experiences.

All my friends seem to have an incredible amount of flexibility in their working schedules. For example, if we're meeting for a lunch during the week, they often offer to do something in the afternoon as well (shopping, cinema, some art exhibition or drinks etc). They are able to attend all school events, volunteer somewhere during the office hours, take their parents to medical appointments, have long weekends with leaving early on Friday or starting late on Monday, never mind mid-day gym, or dentist, or vet, or physio appointments.

I am very happy for them (genuinely), but I just can't understand how on earth it is possible. We are roughly at the same level of seniority (and not at the level where our working hours are timetabled), different industries though. All of us working full time, but all my days are usually back to back, I can't even carve out more than 30 mins for lunch without playing tetris with meetings and deadlines, and if I do make some space for personal needs, I have then to work late or super-late, or catch up over the weekend. Posting on mn is pretty much the only leisure thing I can fit in 5 mins here or there that are under occupied for some reason (mainly when travelling between offices).

Am I doing something wrong? Has the working culture just shifted and I am terribly out of date?

But the op seemed to be meaning taking half a day off for no reason, not working flexibly. Starting late on Monday, finish early on Friday. Maybe their jobs allow that, but if they don't then that's wrong which is what I'm getting at. And it seems to be more what op is meaning, they just stop working and bugger off to do whatever they want as no one knows.

I think Op was making a lot of assumptions. She can't possibly know the ins and outs of all of her friends and acquaintances' contracts and working patterns. That's the point people were making when they responded.

I'm sure some people think I take the piss as they see me out and about during the day but they don't know what I do on an evening and weekend.

I watch with envy as people in my team take long lunches, attend family events, do the pick ups, start late/finish early and yet still seem to make up their hours and always have "lots of leave". For me its been the opposite instead of leaving the house for my commute at 6am I am logged on, as most of the team disappear at three o'clock I'm normally the one fielding calls/queries as the only one left online.
I have increased my "paid" hours from 30 back up to 37 but normally work 45ish hours per week. Officially spread over 4 days but on the 5th day I'm normally responding to emails on my work mobile. My work life balance was shit before the pandemic and its even more shit now. Am I jealous of my colleagues who seem to be able to to do the bare minimum and get away with it, you bet your arse.

As someone mentioned earlier there are workers and shirkers. I'm a worker bee and always have been from the time i started working and even now when I've reached the giddy heights of "senior" I still can't take my foot off the gas. As much as I'm jealous of my colleagues being able to walk away and have an afternoon coffee, I won't be able to do it and it will never feel right; always something to do and another email to respond to. It is an exceptionally busy time in work as we are winding up a department, so lots of people leaving for other roles but lots of work left to do.

I worry how my colleagues will manage once things change and there is a shift back to being in the office (even if its a hybrid), I've continued to attend the office once/twice a week because of my particular role and as I say my days are as full as they have ever been.

@Welshrarebitontoast I don't think it's as simple as workers v shirkers. If your colleagues are allowed to work their own hours then they are doing nothing wrong.

You having to work unpaid hours is a separate matter that should be raised with your line manager if the 4 days a week you have negotiated isn't working for you.

Parents doing drop off /pick up is not going to change if the work culture allows it so you have to find a way of ensuring that other members of the team are not having to do more but your colleagues are doing nothing wrong and it certainly doesn't mean they are shirkers.

Some people are more efficient than others and can complete their work in a more efficient manner. Others work differently but neither is right or wrong. Providing they are completing the working hours / job they are paid for I can't see that they are doing anything wrong.

I think people need to understand that the old way of working was making us miserable the flexibility of working from home is amazing . What if you put laundry on or go to your kids events as long as the work is done on time then no one should care really !

Most of the people who have a problem with wfh and think people are taking the piss are probably from the older generation and are just bitter ( like nick ferrari this morning )

@MerlinsButler They’re not, and they’re not meeting targets either.

Too long winded to go into all the details here - doubt very much you’d be interested anyway, but as I mentioned we’re winding up a department so most of these people will be moving on in the next two years to other roles.

Oh I see. In that case it really isn't about whether the wfh / flexible working approach is right or not but that the team isn't performing. It seems the wfh / work -life balance is a smokescreen for them not doing their jobs. This is then a management problem.

I think where companies and employees have clear expectations of core hours / hours to be worked / work to be completed then there can be a better balance. In your org's case it seems to be more a performance management case - I can see why you are frustrated with your colleagues. Especially as you are picking up the slack so to speak.

I do also think it's a luxury the further up you get. If "call centre" staff are wfh I'm pretty sure they can't pop in and out.
I will freely admit to being envious BUT I know my job is secure which is maybe one of the benefits.
I'd be interested to know if at a top line level companies are seeing any impact, positive or negative, on productivity/ profits / performance?

Can't speak for all but for the business I work for we are seeing record levels of productivity since COVID sent people WFH.

I myself am more productive, and that's on less than half the hours I used to clock in whilst in the office

I'd be interested to know if at a top line level companies are seeing any impact, positive or negative, on productivity/ profits / performance?

After more than two years, if it wasn't working, we'd have scrapped it.
Some at the top level of our company don't like the fact that so many WFH, but it's hard to argue with the increased money in the bank.

That's great to hear! It makes sense.

I think the shift is about a better understanding of Parkinson's law (even if that isn't consciously recognised): that work expands to fill the time allocated to it.

When we all sat in offices 9-5 5 days a week, we spread our work across that week.

Working from home means getting your task list done, then putting some washing on, or popping out to pick up kids etc etc. The same task list gets done, but we're probably quicker and more efficient and we're more aware of other priorities at home. Fewer water fountain chats etc. That allows for more efficiency and ultimately greater flexibility.

Many part-timers will recognise this -we get treated like we're doing less, supernumerary, or our employers are doing us a favour to employ us PT, when we can see that we are doing the same volume of work as FT colleagues (or indeed the same volume we ourselves were doing when FT). Having less time tends to make you focus on getting things done quicker and more efficiently.

Maybe one of the post pandemic shifts will be task based (rather than time based) employment.

My employer introduced flexible working in 2020 and has now made it permanent. We can work between 6am and 10pm, although we do have to agree working patterns (long term or ad hoc) with the line manager. I mostly stick to working 8-4, but have taken a long afternoon break to meet friends for lunch then worked later into the evening. I think most people appreciate the flexibility.

It's the fact people have to be responsible for own hours. DH is WFH and often starts early, does school run, walks dog and sometimes a run too but he also works evening and quiet bits of weekends where needed. It gives us huge flexibility and he does a fantastic job and has skills and achieved well beyond his pay (government funded organisation) so no guilt.

I am a teacher so presenteeism is rife and infuriating!

I work in tech as a program manager. I have enormous flexibility and structure my day around meetings (often with the US in the late afternoons and evenings). After that my days are up to me. Most days I'm up early to review emails that came in overnight from other timezones. Then I do school run, walk dog, grocery shopping etc. Then a few hours intense work, maybe school pickup and make dinner in between meetings and messages/ emails. Then evening meetings. Bear in mind your friends are possibly replying to emails and messages on their phones while out and about.
I block out focus time a couple of times a week to catch up with more time consuming tasks. I'm in the office ad hoc, mostly for team meetings and face to face lunches/ coffees, both social and knowledge transfer type stuff.
I don't think my role is unusual anymore in certain industries.
It's fantastic! I don't take the piss though, but I'm not sure what would happen if I did. It's difficult to keep tabs on non performance in a virtual environment where there's a focus on wellbeing and flexibility.

I don’t understand why companies don’t just make some people redundant though?

I mean good luck to the people concerned, but I like the OP, I run my own schedule and I can take time out to do whatever, but it means lates and weekends to get work cleared.

I am meant to work 28 hours a week! But nobody is ever keeping tabs on what amount of hours I do !

Some days / weeks are busier than others - some days / weeks are quiet.

once im Getting my work done it doesn’t matter about the amount of hours really!

sometimes il log back into my computer after my daughter is in bed and do 2 hours of work and then tomorrow I’d buzz off at about 2pm for the day. Enjoy the afternoon

Maybe she is making assumptions, but she is their friend and knows them. We don't. I assume she talks to her friends and they share details, they go out to lunch together and she knows they go shopping or the cinema after. Maybe she knows as well that they work no further time at night or weekends as they've told her.

They could be working extra after, but there's plenty that don't and take the piss. MN likes to think no one takes the piss and does everything right, but that's just not the case. There's plenty of people who don't do their job properly unfortunately, and will eventually be found out. But bad management stops that.

...and the first of my "working from home" friends has just been made redundant. She can't understand it as she does more work at home than when she goes in etc etc.....

I work in the public sector in an investigator role. I am contracted to work 9 hours a day (these are compressed therefore I don't work on Mondays but still receive full time salary.

My laptop is registered on our network. If you just have your laptop on but do nothing then it will register as that and your 'light' in teams will change colour and the amount of time you have been inactive will be stated..
so not much room for skiving .. however those 9 hours do not have to be consecutive or over a day. It's weekly 36 hours.

I am an early riser so start at 6 and work solid until 9. Have a shower make some breakfast back at it until 1pm. Take a lunch break, Go for a walk. Back at 2:30 and work until 5.30pm . However at the moment 2 kids back from Uni, so might do something with them in the afternoon.. and work after supper for an hour and do an extra hour the next day ..

I work hard. A lot harder than in the office. At home it's solid work with no distraction and no chit chat. When I go to the office about a tenth of my current output is achieved .