To feel WFH has had its day a bit?

[Seaswimminginwinter]

Bosses think workers do less from home - bbc article

My job doesn’t lend itself to WFH but I have noticed on nearly every thread on here about WFH, people insist that they are more productive. However, I have to admit that this doesn’t match with my experiences. But I am one person so maybe I’ve been unlucky, except this article is quite interesting about perceptions.

I also think it changes homes and areas. My own DH is WFH today and it is my day off, meaning I will spend it feeling as f I am I the way in my own home. Homes aren’t meant to be offices.

I get there are advantages but overall I don’t think it works well at all.

Or just faff about on the Internet watching the clock til home time😂

I get twice as much done when I wfh and do a far longer day.

if I go into the office I waste so much time chatting and mooching around the shops.

Snap - going into work are definitely days I slack off, as otherwise you're being aggressively antisocial (and rude to anyone junior who wants to ask a "quick" question)

Many people do say that they can put a wash on, pick up the children, even give them their tea and then make up the hours. I am convinced they dont do this. When you are client facing for example it is no good being available at 1900 when everyone has gone home.

me too. Well not quite slacking off, but I never plan to expect to do concentration type work (I'm a lawyer, so do quite a bit of it) when I go into the office, I treat it purely as a chance to see people and do the relationship building/ socialising aspects you tend to do f2f, and meetings. I do tend to get quite a bit done on the train though - no internet and therefore no incoming emails is great for concentration!

You are convinced wrong then.

Complete nonsense!! I find the office difficult as people keep coming up to me asking me for stuff and can i do this that the other and then I'm just sitting there doing bits of this and that and struggling to complete things.

At home I get so much more done as i focus on things no distraction at all have my music on and I'm so much more productive tbh!!

I hate it
boring and lonely, i have no flexibility as have to work certain hours

staff turnover is now MASSIVE as new starters are given all the spiel about "huntlines" and asking questions on teams but the reality is that no one answers super quick and they are left panicked and dangling.
I also genuinely worry about the youngsters who face a life of wfh in their bedroom, not meeting real people and forming friendships with people in the canteen or by the water cooler etc
combination yes, permanent forced on you, no

I agree, although there must be some responsibility laid at the feet of the people who (still) think you can just replicate an office or classroom environment by plonking it online.

Fully remote businesses and schools have very different processes and procedures.... we Home Ed and I work fully remotely so when the lockdowns first began I honestly thought that homeschooling groups and fully remote companies would be swamped with requests for advice on how to make this work. Not a peep.

Our entire organisation is Pan-European and we have never had an office. Everyone's in different countries. We were WFH before the pandemic.

No problems with productivity here. But then it's a very skilled, desirable role and people work hard, take pride in it and don't take the piss.

My department is WFH (we do offer office space for those who'd rather do that - even pay co-working spaces for those who moved away but vast majority WFH fully). Our productivity increased a lot since this was introduced. As someone mentioned before - employees do a lot of international calls across several time-zones and this way they're happy to take a call at 6am and then another at 8pm but make a big break in the middle or do whatever suits them. We don't take notice when they logged in/out. I genuinely don't care and wouldn't blink if someone watched an entire movie during regular working hours provided they are still delivering what we need them to on time.

But those people asking you questions are probably junior and exactly the ones struggling at home as they’re stuck and can’t get hold of anyone. Your “distracted” is their “essential help”. As a junior this is one of many reasons I hate WFH - people I want to ask questions have Teams on busy/do not disturb all day, and I sit there stuck on tasks unable to ask for help. In the office I can ask in 2 minutes and get way more done.

I don't understand why those same companies find it so difficult to set reasonable targets for whatever the work is and then talk to employees if they're not met. WFH doesn't change that basic practice. But I guess it's easier to moan on the radio.

Yep. Companies moaning because employees don't want to be micromanaged remotely are announcing they have really shit management and value presenteeism over productivity and results.

Honestly - if my team are meeting (high and usually stretching) targets and expectations, both in terms of outputs and behaviours, I don't give a shit if they're sitting in front of their laptop for every minute of the day or not, or whether they've nipped out for a run or whatever.

If they're delivering what is expected of them, and those expectations are appropriate for what the organisation needs to meet its goals, then more power to them if they can tie it all up faster and go for a run or whatever.

You say not at all, but then you completely ignore the examples I mentioned of young people who were and would be excluded from jobs requiring traditional workplace attendance models due to caring responsibilities and geographical location, who aren't now. Clearly neither of these particular limitations are a privilege, and they don't become less potentially exclusionary because there exist people who have housing in more expensive areas but not broadband, for example.

Essentially what you are saying is the same point as mine. That different models work for different people, and that it's ridiculous to generalise that all people at a certain stage are better off with one model.

I take your point about adjustments, but the fact remains that some types of neurodiversity, disability and health condition will in themselves prevent those experiencing them from being able to work at all in jobs that require the work to be done in a specific location. Those of you talking up the advantages of workplace attendance for some young people need to acknowledge that cohort too.

It works well for some, not so well for others , depends on job and domestic situation and to be honest the personality and work ethic too and how much you like your job and value it. To be honest I've noticed that anything that involves call centre type activity, the service is pretty dire, but I don't know if this is the individuals slacking off or a lack of staff post Brexit and covid

Many, although of course not all, people who provide call centre services from home are not paid loads and often don't have a proper working space and facilities. These things are important for WFH. You can't just expect employees to set up on their sofa and be productive.

@Icanstillrecallourlastsummer I think that's part of the issue- I've had calls with TV on in background, kids coming up to the parent, dogs barking etc- I appreciate that's life but it's not ideal for either worker or customer and gives a poor impression too

I've been wfh since 2018 at which time the company I work for was already issuing laptops/headsets with a view to equiping people to work from home, and slowly closing smaller (aquired) offices and allowing remote working.

My whole team has been remote since 2019 and I've noticed no real difference in productivity from those I worked in an office with previously. My offshore team is obviously different, but I can tell if they are productive or not easily enough from various system checks.

Over the past few years I would think we've moved to a nearly 70% wfh model globally, and other than keeping central offices open in major cities, the vast majority of staff now work remotely.

It did become difficult in Covid lockdown with DH starting to WFH as well, and not enough space for two offices. The person in the living area was constantly intruded on in reality, and long term I don't think it's productive to not have a completely seperate living/working area.

We have since moved and both have our own office where we wfh, some days I won't see DH from am to until he finishes for the day. It works well for everyone I know.

Works for me. It means I'm more flexible with childcare and appointments.

As someone with a heart condition on days I'm not well enough to leave the house I can still work. When I was on bed rest for the last 7 weeks of my pregnancy I could still work from bed.

I can do housework on my lunch break which means my evenings are free. I don't have to be distracted by Co workers who want "a quick chat"

My office has closed down so I don't gave a choice but I prefer it.

Works great for me, I work with people scattered all over the country, if I commuted into my office (a 90 min journey by bus/train) I'd be doing exactly the same thing (no one I work with there in person) but in an open plan office with other people there to distract/make noise. I work 7.30-5.30 4 days a week so I only need childcare 4 days a week. Even doing compressed hours my day is shorter than how long I'd be out the house 5 days a week if I commuted in. I have no one to talk to during the day, I work between meetings and meetings never involve small talk at the start as they do in person, we just get on. We are definitely more productive but we are happier as work/life balance is far better. As a full time working parent to 3 young children it makes it possible for me to work full time and not be completely absent all morning/evening 5 days a week. My commuting time is spent with my children.

Yes, I retired when I had to WFH, I was working part time and was intending to work until 66 but instead as I hated WFH I retired at 62

Cant, you call your team members? We socialize as a group too. We just arrange it. No other teams are involved.
No enforced socializing with others.

Urgh I wfh in an office that would never allow half the shit that goes on at some of the places I have to contact.
Just got off the phone to hsbc and so many dc in the background crying on the call. On top of that the lady I was speaking to desperately was trying to get me off the phone but I'd held for so long I needed to keep asking about it. Then because I was clearly taking too long with my query they quickly redirected me to an incorrect department abruptly disconnecting me with her. I know full well she's now not working.

Sorry, haven't got time to read the rest of the thread, just been through page 1, but I wanted to pop in to say - WFH massively benefits air quality and the environment, as fewer people drive or use public transport, thereby cutting the necessary numbers of buses or trains running, and keeping roads free of polluting traffic jams. 🙃

It has its place but so does working in the office. I have applied for a job where I will be expected to go into the office a couple of days a week and work from home a few days a week. Both elements of the working arrangements would be beneficial to me. I feel it would be important for me to get to know colleagues and bounce ideas off of other people. Equally being at home would mean I could take my children to after school activities and actually see them during the week. Something that 100% in the office would not allow.