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Original poster

Is hybrid/remote work dying?

139 replies

Finallybreathe · 19/07/2023 21:44

Posting for traffic.

I was looking for a new job and I didn’t want to work in an office full time nor did I want to work from home full time… I was surprised to see how many jobs are no longer remote/hybrid but full time in an office. Thankfully my new job is 3 days at home and 2 days in the office. What’s happened?

What’s the working dynamic like where you are? Are you back in the office full time?

OP posts:
Ginmonkeyagain · 19/07/2023 22:18

We have to do a minimum of 60% of the week in the office, but it is not heavily policed.

I enjoy the office so go in at least 3 days a week.

Senior management clearly have a prefence for the office so attendance is creeping up.

tillyandmilly · 19/07/2023 22:19

1 day in the office - 3 WFH

StillWantingADog · 19/07/2023 22:19

We are 1 dpw in the office though some do more.
company purposefully downsized our offices so there wouldn’t be space for us to all come in more often.
it works great for us but I’m aware of issues with performance managing some colleagues
I do know a lot of our clients however seem to be pushing back to 3 dpw, with quite a lot of resistance.
i feel very lucky.

mrsfollowill · 19/07/2023 22:20

My office has rented most of the office space out now so there is not enough room for everyone to go in at the same time- we have 10 workstations for around 50 staff in a huge open plan building- used to house 1600 when at full capacity.
There are a few people who work mostly from the office 3 days a week or more as they didn't have a good set up at home. There are a few who never come in except for face to face training- need special adjustments to seating/desks or have a disability that make office working very difficult.
The majority of us are required in the office for 1 day every other week- most are happy with it. Productivity is very easily monitored and any slacking off is picked up and addressed. Office days are a chance to catch up with everyone and usually lots of ideas bouncing around. Suits me and most of my colleagues.

LilyLemonade · 19/07/2023 22:20

2 days in the office / 3 days at home in my organisation. That is probably one day too many for me but I have to recognise there are advantages to the face-to-face contact. I would hate to go back to full time in the office.

Yellowlegobrick · 19/07/2023 22:21

50 -50. In my industry we are seeing some employers determinedly trying to force people back in for a higher proportion, those that do tend to be faced with challenges recruiting - you just don't get the best people if insisting on 4 or 5 days in. Its a job where you tend to be often working with people who aren't always based in the same office so being there face to face is hard to justify from a business perspective other than presenteeism, micro management and lack of trust.

1980to1989 · 19/07/2023 22:22

Fully remote and absolutely love it. Complete introvert here, and I'd absolutely hate to have to go back to working in an office, even for just 1 day a week!

Wenfy · 19/07/2023 22:23

Don’t go by the job description as many companies don’t update them. You need to ask for flexible / remote working.

TheChosenTwo · 19/07/2023 22:24

Our place has just made the temporary hybrid policy (implemented during Covid before I worked there) permanent. Currently we are in a different office due to a temp relocation while we secure new premises and because it’s so far I am only going in once a week. Actually looking forward to getting a new office and being in 2 or 3 days a week, I’m still fairly new and feel it to be more beneficial having people around me. I’ve felt some lazy unsociable habits slipping in and I don’t like it but there’s no real motivator to avoid them!

HamBone · 19/07/2023 22:25

I’m self-employed so mainly wfh anyway. DH is two days office/three wfh, but his group is constantly finding reasons to only go in one day a week. They’re v. productive so no one seems to mind!

WhiteFire · 19/07/2023 22:26

other than presenteeism, micro management and lack of trust.

Yep. that's exactly why we are in.

NineToFiveish · 19/07/2023 22:26

There seems to be an obsession about this topic. Remote and hybrid working is here to stay, in my view. I am currently working in a hybrid role but am soon starting a fully remote role, written into my contract. It means I can move to a better area for my family, and my employer can cast a wider net for talent when hiring. Win-win surely!

Middlelanehogger · 19/07/2023 22:33

Median setup among most of my friends is hybrid - 3 days in-office seems fairly common. Honestly, as people started coming back over the last year or so we've realised how much more productive we are when we co-locate. Our work is project-based in small teams where a lot changes over the course of the day and everything is just a lot slower when you have to remember to tell each person something instead of them just overhearing it as part of chatter in our team room.

I respect organisations which are being honest and formalising their WFO norms, because what I saw a lot of last year (I'm in a consulting role so go into other people's companies) was that mgmt often naturally grew closer to people they had facetime with but the WFHers didn't even realise this and were accumulating a slow disadvantage. At least if it's explicit it's an even playing field.

Yellowlegobrick · 19/07/2023 22:35

I completely understand it when teams are actually in the same office, but when you aren't, it can feel 100% stupid spending an hour or more travelling in only to teams call people in other cities, then work quietly at a laptop surrounded by people from unrelated teams you barely know.

TheKeatingFive · 19/07/2023 22:39

Yes and no. My industry benefits from people being in offices, so that's what most companies are trying to do. Most of us are 3 days in 2 days wfh and that seems typical.

But at the same time, skilled people are hard to find, so there's a lot of flex for the right person. So we also have a few full time remote workers.

It's a bit unbalanced as things stand. But I'm not sure what we should be doing about it.

jcyclops · 19/07/2023 22:40

ONS statistics for June 2023 show 26% of businesses operate home/hybrid working, and 69% operate none.

A new study of 34 countries from the Institute of Economic Research (university of Munich) says UK workers spend 1.5 days/week working from home, second only to Canada's 1.7 days/week. Some other countries - US(1.4), Australia(1.3), Germany, NZ, Finland & Netherlands(1.0), Italy(0.7), France(0.6). The average is 0.9 and is falling in almost all countries. One unexpected result from the study is that English speaking countries are universally higher.

TheKeatingFive · 19/07/2023 22:41

what I saw a lot of last year (I'm in a consulting role so go into other people's companies) was that mgmt often naturally grew closer to people they had facetime with but the WFHers didn't even realise this and were accumulating a slow disadvantage. At least if it's explicit it's an even playing field.

This is definitely happening. But like you say, so slowly people may not even realise.

BitOutOfPractice · 19/07/2023 22:44

I'm the opposite of most. I WFH for 20+ years pre covid. I've moved my business into an office (shared Co-working space) now and I'm loving it. I work for myself so if I really CBA to get dressed I work at home but I'd say that's only 1-2 days a month.

Wheelz46 · 19/07/2023 22:46

Most office jobs that I have heard about are hybrid.

My employer is extremely flexible, providing you are being productive and don't fall short of quality, they are more than happy for us to work from wherever suits us best.

There is definitely less interruptions at home, so I do find myself more productive WFH.

I really dislike training over teams/zoom, I always make a beeline for the office if the trainer isn't doing the training over calls.

bellsandwhistles333 · 19/07/2023 22:48

I'm lucky started my new role in feb and that's 1 day in office 4 at home but the offices are open and you can go in as many times a week as you want but one is mandatory

CKL987 · 19/07/2023 22:50

3 days office, 2 from home. Only recently mandated. Think some people will be looking to leave.

SamW98 · 19/07/2023 22:55

2 days office 3 days home but worked over each 4 week period so as long as we do 8 days we can choose when.

However, we are currently in
the process of a buyout and being taken over and the board of the company we will become part of believe everyone should be in office full time.

I do think there’s going to be a lot of pushback

Showdogworkingdog · 19/07/2023 23:32

One day a month in the office. Meetings are virtual by default unless there’s a reason for them to be in person. Colleagues live all over the country so travelling in for in person meetings is time consuming and frankly a ballache. Last week I was in the office and between people stopping by for a chat and the noisy fuckers bellowing into their headsets and shouting across the office at one another, I got next to nothing done. Appreciate it doesn’t suit everyone but I’m not interested in being in the office more frequently than that.

mastertomsmum · 19/07/2023 23:36

I hope it’s not going to stop being the norm to work in a hybrid way at my office. It’s SOOO much better than the old days of being in the office

Threenow · 19/07/2023 23:37

I'm not in the UK, and although lots do wfh it wasn't such a big thing here after lockdowns, certainly not in the town I live in. I couldn't work from home - I'm a receptionist - and I would hate to do so. The best part of working for me is interacting with others in the office, and I wouldn't be disciplined enough to work from home - I need structure. I did hear something on the news just this week about how more people are back in the office now.

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