Meeting: 'Working from home' - your vote needed!

[coxesorangepippin]

Got a meeting invite late tonight titled simply: Working from home'. Scheduled for half an hour. No additional info.

What are they gonna say?

Return to the office full time? Full time WFH???

Your guess is as good as mine. We're currently in once every two weeks.

Results posted in here tomorrow once the meeting has been held.

Yanbu = back to office
Yabu = WFH

Would you mind expanding on why you think WFH is an enormous con and why civil servants should get back into the office?

My company has said 2 days a week as well, hearing a lot of companies saying the same. It’s actually been really nice to go into the office and have the rest of the team there rather than going in and no one else being there so hopefully it’s a good balance for everyone

Not surprised by that outcome, I'd expect more days to be mandated in the office as time goes on. As I said previously I also like working from home, it suits me better in many ways but the business reasons for wanting workers in the office more often than not are sound.

Two days a week is nothing. I do three and absolutely love the hybrid pattern.
It'll quickly become the norm

Here was me and @GnomeDePlume thinking it was about something else completely!

What are your thoughts OP, are you ok with it or would you want to look elsewhere?

Yeah 2 days a week is good. Once they get back in to the swing of things it will be fine.

That’s fairly normal two days a week - we expected to do that. Some of the teams are back to 5 days a week but the norm seems to be 2-3 days

Re. Team not happy

We've been almost 100% WFH since covid.

Team is not happy because of the commute/traffic, the fact that all the work we do is online, never in person, and they basically don't see what value it adds. Also, we're less productive in the office due to distractions.

Boss has agreed with all of the above. Chance it may get changed to one day per week ( which I think is totally fine)

What's the employer's rationale for this?

2 days a week is fair and means they need roughly 50% less space so makes economic sense.

I think two days is reasonable - it's hard to quantify but at the same time I think there is a benefit to being in so people get to know each other better and especially for people new to the workforce.

Although interestingly in my work I saw a survey that showed the people who felt closest to their colleagues were hybrid workers, not full time in office; the suggestion was that this was due to having Zoom meetings and seeing at least a little of colleagues' houses, children, pets etc

@coxesorangepippin 2 days I think is OK but is the maximum. I have to go 3 days a week and find it too much so I sometimes just go 2 days anyway.

Hmm sounds like it might be one of those setups where people are on paper supposed to go in X amount of time and managers have to be seen to say that, but in practice it doesn't actually happen?

@coxesorangepippin Well of course you never do work in person if you have all been 100% WFH for three years!

Is that the whole organisations - it's like coming across those Japanese soldiers who still think the war is going on! A lot of workpaces have been back in the office at least a couple of days a week since late 2021.

This is true. People who piss about and do no work are just as likely to do it in the office. Perhaps more so as they’ve got people to chat to all day.

I really like hybrid and find 2 days WFH out of 5 ideal. Initially I thought I'd prefer 5, although to be honest it wouldn't be possible with my work. I've found having to go into the office twice weekly makes me really appreciate the days I work onsite, even with the routine of having to commute, and vice-versa when WFH. It's been great mental health-wise anyway.

Did your employer say why they're changing the policy?

Two or three days a week is pretty standard for most places these days. I find people who want to progress are making sure they are visible in the office regularly anyway.

If it helps OP, we’re mandated to go in one day a week and I’ve not been in since Feb 2020. Are they keeping a register ?

Twice a week seems very fair to me, I suspect at least some aren't as productive at home as they think plus it's hard to network from home. We all managed going to work before 2020

My employer is two days a week which I think is fair

No, they're expecting their (presumably adult) employees to comply with the terms of their employment... Don't be surprised if you're pulled into a similar meeting shortly.

My last job was 3 days out of 5 and literally no-one did it. Not even management. I know of people who are looking to jump ship in certain professions because of a return to the office where other employers in the sector are fully WFH.
I only WFH occasionally and I do get more done. Far too many distractions in the office, unless a client is in it's a bit of work and a lot of chat/procrastination in the absence of any major deadlines.

My experience is similar.

I work in welfare rights and (among other things) represent people at appeal tribunals.

When it is a video or telephone hearing, I get on with my other work until a few minutes before the time of the appointment. If they are running late, the clerk rings to let me know, and I carry on with my work. When the appeal has been heard, I carry on with the rest of my work. When the decision arrives in the post, I call the client and explain what it means, how much the arrears payment will be, any implications for their other benefits etc, log my outcomes etc.

When I have face to face appeals, I have to drive to the tribunal venue (half an hour or 1.5 hours travelling, depending on which tribunal office is dealing with the case). If they're running late, we all sit around until they've finished the hearing they're doing, and panic about getting parking tickets if the wait goes on a long time. When we finally get in there, the appeals seem to take a lot longer than they do over the phone. Sometimes, they will say the decision will be sent in the post, but sometimes they want you to wait so they can deliver it in person, which can be another hour. Then the client wants a debrief afterwards, to go through what the impact of the award will be. When I get back, I still have to write everything up.

Doing things remotely is far more efficient, which is why my caseload is double what it was pre-Covid.

What are their reasons for not wanting to go in?

I can sort of understand if they have a long commute or childcare challenges.

But if you want to work from home purely because you prefer it or don't see the value in working out of the office then these are the types of people our company would try to weed out.

And just because we all USED to attend 5 days per week, doesn't mean we should necessarily do this now. The world has changed.