To wonder why companies are mandating RTO during cost of living crisis

[Roxinabox]

I don't understand the timing?

It's mor expensive than ever to live in cities. Rent and mortgage costs are way up, public transport prices are ridiculous, local places to eat lunch are more expensive, and salaries are down in real terms.

And now more companies are asking workers to spend more money returning to the office.

Why now? I half suspect it's a conspiracy to keep cities going as people are increasingly getting priced out of them!

During the pandemic I saw a many people moaning about the loneliness and cost of wfh (space, utilities etc) as people loving the flexibility.

It depends where you are in your career too. I would guess that face to face training is much more effective than online and that people new in the careers achieve more faster in person.

The government wants people going to work spending money on work clothes,trains, parking, lunches, coffee, wandering around the shops during lunchtime etc I remember when Rishi was Chancellor, he was photographed buying his coffee at Pret and promoting EOTHO at Wagamamas. While you might not spend your money like that, enough office workers spend money during their lunch break.

While you might not spend your money like that, enough office workers spend money during their lunch break.

Do they, though, in this COL crisis? I take my food from home, including my preferred tea-bags because I certainly can't afford (and don't particularly like) Costa coffees and the like.

My employer is happy for us to continue to work from home. Those who took the piss during lockdown and beyond are no longer working here. Productivity is higher than it was when we were in the office 5 days per week.

The one day per week I go into the office is my least productive day, but CEO has said he's happy for it to be used as a catch up/mental health type day if that's what people want to do. Some people choose to go into the office for more than the mandatory 1-day per week. And that's ok too.

I'm very lucky, I work at a place where we're treated well, give and take is the norm and everyone works hard.

I don't know why employers are insisting on making people RTO. It's very shortsighted. As are the comments about 'why apply for a job miles away and complain when you have to go in'. Being able to hire the best person for the job rather than the person who lives closest to the job benefits employers and employees alike.

I feel sorry for those being forced to RTO when WFH clearly works perfectly well for many jobs.

There is a local ish office to where I live but none of the people I support or work with are based there. They're all down South.

people dont always have the correct chair/seating arrangements at home
home working can feel isolating
torygraph and others have a bee in their bonnet

My work has always been working in the office, however they have recently moved offices, which has increased the majority of the people's travel expenses.

Added to this half the office is out sick with suspected covid and the rumour is they are now looking at the potential for more people to work at home at least through the winter.

However in my department, I cant see how that would work

I don’t think companies are doing this to prop up the cities they are based in. Companies care about themselves and their financials.

Realistically, head office (not in the UK) are saying things like “If no one is coming into the office, why are we paying a load of UK staff £30k / £40k / £80k when there are able people in India / Malaysia / the Philippines? Can we cut back our staff costs and move to a smaller UK premises?” The head of the UK company knows that if the UK is cut back to a skeleton staff, it’ll become a satellite office. There won’t be any need for an expensive head of XYZ Ltd.

Indeed. You don't NEED to spend the money. I take a sandwich lunch and we are lucky enough to have free tea and coffee in the office.

I also find it strange people talking about "the economy" as it is a separate entity. We are all the economy.

There is a middle way between the obsessive presenteeism of some industries (which I never got - my work has always been flexible to some degree) and everyone sitting at home on their laptops.

I also wonder if people heard what they wanted to hear. I joined my current employer in late 2020 and I clearly remember a meeting and a follow up email where a question about remote (and even international) working was answered by the CEO saying they planned for a return to the office as soon as government rules allowed and that employees would be expected to be within a reasonable commute of an office (we have four in England and one in each of the other UK nations)

Certainly with larger companies there is some " you do this for the government if you want x/y/z"

Funny how change policies are announced days after bosses meet with government officials

I’m grateful we can home work. Makes a difference to my productivity. I log on earlier and finish later and typically they get way more out of me than on an office day because then I have to travel and usually walk around town to grab lunch in my lunch hour. At home I’m usually working fairly solidly 8:30am-5:30pm and usually work through lunch, if I take ten mins out that’s all it is.

Doubt there is space for us all to work in the office full time anymore. I’ve been there nearly two years now and can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve seen every at their desk in the office. It’s really rare to go in and in a small office of 8 see any more than one or two others there, sometimes nobody’s there!

It will be the companies problem though when she leaves for one offering fully remote working! Replacing staff is expensive (as is keeping office space).

@midgemadgemodge Sorry, you think private companies are getting favours from government for making their staff return to the office two days a week?

Of course not everyone (but it was never everyone), but some people are. I occasionally go out to lunch with colleagues for the social aspect, and the places we go have most of the other tables fill up. Admittedly, we're university colleagues and so some of the other tables are presumably students.

I agree that every day seems extreme, but I don't think that's a COL thing. Especially I never understood people getting takeaway coffee all the time. We have coffee provided for by admin now, but previously where I worked in another office and we just had a kettle, I'd bring in instant coffee. I find a lot of cafes have really weak black coffee if you want something larger than a double espresso.

@noticetomarry You like WFH because you can do more unpaid hours for your employer? I mean that doesn't sound like a great deal, but whatever.

For me it’s the other way round, offices usually have awful monitors, cramped seating, dirty aircon (too hot or too cold), etc, I far prefer wfh for this and many other reasons.

Because unless your job originally stated that it was WFH then you should be in the office. Yes covid meant that temporary WFH was introduced but you took a job with an office location which you should go to.
why should you dictate where you work just because it suits you? Get a remote job if that’s what you want

I also wonder if people heard what they wanted to hear. I joined my current employer in late 2020 and I clearly remember a meeting and a follow up email where a question about remote (and even international) working was answered by the CEO saying they planned for a return to the office as soon as government rules allowed

My employer has definitely changed its tune on the subject. And there are folk who have made lifestyle changes on the basis of the original message that WFH was here to stay - moved house, acquired dogs etc. Fortunately I don't trust anyone, least of all CEOs of big corporations, so I wasn't tempted to do any of those things!

Yes @Ginmonkeyagain

Everyone I know who works from home takes liberties with arrangement, mostly to the point of utterly taking the piss, so it's little surprise that most employers are mandating a return to office.

Maybe because some people take the piss. I had to ring a council dept last week and whilst talking to the person they suddenly said excuse me I need to put you on hold for a moment. A minute later they came back, apologised and said these parcel delivery men don't give you much time to answer the door. I wasn't bothered but it does show people do household stuff whilst being paid to work.

@midgemadgemodge yeah I'd adjust your tinfoil hat if I were you.

Government has been clear with its own direct employees it would prefer them back in the office, but that is a different argument.

Government as an employer was also one of the early pioneers of WFH and flexible working.

WFH simply started due to the pandemic , it was never meant to be a permanent thing. Many don't seem to want to return as they've moved further away which wasn't very sensible .

I feel sorry for young people starting their first job ~ original staff will have made friends , but these young ones won't have any connections to their colleagues and are bound to feel isolated WingFH on their own .

In my workplace - at least in part because they discovered a bunch of people were taking the absolute piss and had preschoolers at home all day with them while they "worked".

I mean on this point though, I sometimes ignore the postman if I am on an important call but they can see I am in and I have had them ringing the doorbell repeated and in one case yelling through the open window loads of times!

it is causing issues, staff feeling victimized if they imagine they are coming in more than anyone for instance.
however plenty of people changed their lives, moved houses, got a dog, on the premise that the office need only be attended rarely.