To think remote working is shit

[Doodoodoodo]

I understand that lots of people like remote working for many reasons. However, AIBU to think it is shit? It's so hard when you start new places/teams and you never have a clue who anyone is or who to speak to about things.
I really feel that I'm missing out on some much with hybrid working and I worry for the younger graduates coming through right now.

Wfh tends to suit older richer people with more settled lives and more comfortable houses. I wonder how many poorer women's lives are going to be made extra miserable by wfh. The temptation to try to wfh and save on nursery fees will be immense. We all know it'll be women who are mostly left trying to look looking after the baby and working and looking after the house as they are 'at home all day' . I'm not saying I dislike wfh but there are major class issues that come with it.

I hate it. I started a new job 2 years ago and it has taken me ages to settle. I still don’t feel like I properly know people outside my team. Love the flexibility of being able to work some days at home but would much prefer to have a balance. An office has now been opened near me so I can now go in 1-2 a week and that makes a big difference although no-one I work directly with is based there. Much prefer my old job with a local office with lots of colleagues that you could go to whenever you wanted.

I’ve just been offered a WFH job which would make life so much easier for me.

But I absolutely love my colleagues and having a laugh and a chat or moan with them and I’m concerned about not having this part.

This has been done to death. You only have to search mn! Why did you start a new thread?

Many posters are introverts and it suits them. It doesn't me. I only work from home one day and it's fine, easy enough to put a wash on, run eufy around, not drive my short commute. But I hate working on a laptop at home, I prefer to be in the office with all my things, and all my files to hand and two screens etc.

When DS1 does finish university I wouldn't want him working from home all the time. I would want him being in the office, collaborative chatting about projects and work that they're doing, being mentored. I don't think it's healthy or good for young people to work solely remotely.

Fine if you are 40 or 50-year-old hermit!

Perhaps people are so defensive about WFH because they are repeatedly called anti social or hermits by others for enjoying it. Not everyone wants or needs social interaction from the workplace and your colleagues don’t exist to fulfil your social needs - they are there to do their job.

the ability to wfh worked well for me when I was a poor single parent. I had school age children, admittedly.

Whilst the temptation to save on nursery fees may have been there if I had younger children, I wouldn’t have taken it. If someone decides to take their young child out of nursery because they wfh, they have created their own stressful situation.

The nursery fees would apply wether wfh or in an office. How is better if nursery fees are crippling in top of commuting fees? If they could just about afford nursery fees when working in an office, they can still just about afford them if the job is at home.

So much received wisdom about young employees and new starters gets trotted out on WFH threads.

I've worked from home since my 20s, when I was in a houseshare. Yes, I worked from my bedroom or a shared living room. Yes, having a dedicated office space at home (which I do now) is much better. But WFH in a houseshare was still a million times better for me than working in an open plan office and I'd choose it in a heartbeat given those two options. That's the nature of my work and my personality. I'm sure 20-something introverts who need to focus by themselves to be productive still exist.

Also not convinced that 20-somethings need the office as a social outlet. I may be introverted but I'm very sociable on my terms. Keeping my social life and my professional life firmly separate was very important to me. My friends were the people I could cut loose with and be vulnerable with - I'd never dream of doing those things with people I had to work with.

Fast forward a decade and I've started a new job entirely remotely. I have a colleague I've "known" online for over 15 years (before either of us got this job), still never met him IRL. In fact I've only met two members of my team IRL because it's an international role and we're spread out across the world. Getting to know them and bonding with them has been absolutely fine.

I WFH and I love it. I'm self employed and the nature of my work means I can do it when it suits me.

DD is autistic and I can give her all my attention before and after school. I don't have to make myself look presentable or commute. I can take breaks from work and get housework done. I can watch netflix at lunchtime. I don't have to suffer the public or colleagues. It's amazing.

This is unnecessarily rude. Lots of threads recover old ground, people like to add their perspective. Do we just have one static thread on each topic we reread when we fancy talking about something? Your son is an adult, he might want to work from home? Most 20 year old I know have a rich and full social life outside of work they don’t need colleagues to fulfil that role for them. Most people lose touch with former colleagues the minute they change jobs too.

People not wanting to waste time and money on a commute to sit in an open plan noisy office to be chatted to by every other person, are not hermits. You actually sound really rather old fashioned in your approach, paper files in 2022?? Two screens are pretty standard at home too. My employer hands them out to people. You could ask yours.

Two screens are pretty standard at home too. My employer hands them out to people. You could ask yours.

you do need space for this, its not something you can set up on the kitchen table between meals

I did for a while. You literally just plug it in. No set up required.

I couldn't even think to imagine having work stuff in the living areas

@user53852098 - as this thread has shown people have different opinions about it and that’s ok. It doesn’t mean people who want to work from home are hermits or anti social.

I do find it odd that some who prefer office working seem to think it’s all very unfair and people should be forced back into the office to support their own social and mental health needs at the detriment of their colleagues’ own wellbeing.

I'm retired now as the horror of wfh was too much for me even though I had a room for working in, DH worked in the other room, he retired early as well.

I agree with you. Home working suits some people who either/ both enjoy it or do it out of necessity. Office working suits others. While the job market is still decent there is scope to move to an organisation that does it the way that suits you. What isn't ok though is to say that everyone who wfh does it because they are anti social/lazy skiving etc just because they don't like it. Many people wfh affect no one else at all. But it does mean for example I don't have to claim any benefits to cover childcare costs for wraparound care while i commute to work and surely that's better for society as well as my own family and mental health.

What I wish is that wfh were granted only to roles which are suitable for remote work. I’m sure even the most die-hard wfh people on here have encountered problems with people wfh inefficiently or insisting that the fact they are not in “real life” work is immaterial. I present to you the local council. It’s not a case of better systems needed. It’s a case of why the hell is the pest control person wfh?!

Came on to say exactly that. I joined a new company during lockdown - the onboarding process was great, and my team made a real effort to make me feel included and welcome, and were very conscious that is indeed much harder when it's remote. Now we're out of lockdown and have a hybrid policy, and have just recently introduced one set day per week when we're all in, which I think will be helpful for cohesion, bonding etc all that. So personally I love remote working - I get more sleep on those days, generally less tired by the end of the day if I haven't commuted, can stick a load of washing on at lunch etc etc. I also actually get more work done. And I do also enjoy the days in the office as I like seeing my team. So really comes down to the organisation itself but yes, it is harder to settle into a new team when remote but it can be done IF the team/company make an effort to do it well.

Eh? Have you had experience of a pest control person working from home ?!? Or just taking calls from their home before they go out?

Yep, wfh. They dispense advice but from home

My husband absolutely loves working from home. He has a lovely office, all the comforts of home, no commute and no annoying colleagues. I am extremely envious.

let me add to that the tree officer too !

@ChilliBandit
How rude yourself. It's not just me that's old fashioned. Just because we use Hubdoc as an AI into xero, I still get old fashioned companies with paper invoices and stubs and receipts. Not everyone can use online signatures etc.

It's not for me.

I wfh occasionally (my role wouldn't work as full time wfh anyway) but far prefer being in the office.

I am that chitty chatty colleague though 😳😄

I work hybridly and absolutely love it . I would never go back to the office 5 days per week .

Know of three first time jobbers who are finding communication harder because the oldies are choosing to wfh and are harder to ask or check a quick question about things that they need to know quickly. They are finding it frustrating and comments like don’t know where my boss is, have only seen my boss twic3 in a month, or have only seen my boss online as I was about to leave the office for the day they emailed to say let’s chat and then they’ve been left waiting and waiting missing their buses.