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!

Whether or not you prefer working from home has a lot to do with who you are. I likely have some form of undiagnosed neuro diversity going on and being in an office is like nails on a chalkboard. I can cope in a small room without many people but everywhere is open plan, there is noise everywhere, there are conversations everywhere, I can't think and it makes me want to cover my ears and cry. Or at least wear headphones to drown it all out and not everywhere allows headphones either.

And yes I was like this prepandemic. I spent years struggling and booking out meeting rooms just so I can think and work in a quiet room and then got a job that was fully wfh before the pandemic was even a thing and suddenly started being a star performer after years and years of just being okay.

People who think it's all solely about commute or slacking off are the people who clearly thrive in an office and I'm happy for them. But not everyone does.

Were you employed on a WFH contract?

also, carpet manufacturers/photocopying engineers/ even car manufacturers, public transport - all suffered from the wfm

So get it delivered to a delivery pick up point. You are working.

'Back to the office ' is a dreadful idea. Traffic congestion is horrendous (especially Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) and air quality around schools is awful. Stress levels are rising, too. If our population is going to continue to increase, we need to use our spaces wisely so everyone can get on with their lives and the economy can prosper.

Gah that was to @WrongSwanson

What?

I am pretty sure my work dont begrudge me the odd 60 seconds out of my day given I regularly do 10-20 hours unpaid overtime a week and rarely get a lunch break

Because the lazy ones pretending to work from home have ruined it for everyone. Businesses work to results. It’s not a hard concept to grasp.

lack of trust?

My company merged this year so rather than wfh 2 days and in the office 10 minutes away the rest of the week, they want me in the other office 2 days a week. I don’t mind hugely and it’s okay with dc as they’re older and dh wfh BUT, it’s an hour’s drive to the other office and I’m allowed to claim expenses… I don’t think that’s environmentally friendly but anyway, they’ve now realised they didn’t account for so many mileage expenses claims from everyone and that hasn’t been budgeted for. Some weeks I drive an hour to sit at a desk on teams calls so that’s rather pointless. Hoping to bring it down to once a week in the furthest office.

similarly, dh kept being encouraged back in the office but his local office has closed so his base is moved to the location an hour from our home (note: after years of commuting, dh and I specifically chose our home and jobs to be in walking distance). On the plus side we can car share as our offices in the other town are near each other but reality is, dh gets there to find nobody he actually needs to speak to is there and so sits on teams. He’s been wfh since 2019 and is irritated by the change (he’s an introvert and very happy and effective from home). I do prefer some office interaction.

A lot of people are taking the piss when WFH - you can often hear young kids in the background. And it’s not great for new graduates who often pick up soft skills from being in the office and listening to their colleagues.

Lots of people never left the workplace. We were explicitly told you could be required to come in at any time...especially if the IT failed, so no-one should have changed living arrangements.

Realistically some meetings work well over video/call but many don't and although I have less interruptions I am more effective and useful when I am in the office and see and hear what is going on.
Companies are mandating RTO because it works and for the 50% that take the piss its the only way.

To be fair, you were responding to a poster who had a call interrupted by a delivery driver.

More fool you for doing all that unpaid overtime and anyone that has to do that much overtime makes me think their time management is poor.

If you say so. Don't know who pissed on your chips today.

Lots of companies had an element of remote work/hot desking before covid. Quite a few London firms were already shrinking their HQ sq footage & more are in the process.

there are still part wfm jobs being advertised on nhs.
they know it makes sense, and is an incentive

I manage 2 people and both wfh full time.

They both have primary school aged children and I would rather they worked from home as they are much less stressed.

Their jobs can be done totally remotely so there is no benefit to them being in the office.

Last week, one of their kids was ill. It was much better for the employee that she was able to look after them at home and still get her job done in the evening when her husband got back. It would have been so stressful for her if she had to travel to the office so she would have had to take unpaid leave.

They are both excellent employees and as long as the work is done (it is very easy to see if they do the work or not), then I don't care when they do it.

I also find that they are so grateful to be able to work from home that they go above and beyond what they need to do.

Absolutely no one. But don’t try be a martyr by saying how much unpaid overtime you are doing. That’s your choice.

i think with a fair balance it can work and i dont believe more and more companies are demanding full RTO

Overtime - really depends on type of job. Senior roles usually involve a contractual need to work the hours needed within reason, which can include being responsive to incidents. Your time management can be the best in the world, but if a crisis emerges at 5pm, senior managers can't just ignore it.

Quite right it's my choice. And it's part of the reason why I shot up the career ladder. I wasnt being a martyr, I was simply explaining why I don't feel remotely apologetic if I take 20 seconds out of my day to walk to the front door and back

Our leadership are trying to do this, and facing a bit of a backlash. We are based in offices all over the country, and there have been a number of moves (based on govt property strategy), which have reduced car parking to nil.
Our leadship is in London, so have no concept of the expense and unreliability of Public Transport in “the provinces”. We also have had virtually no pay rise for years.
They are expecting people to spend and extra £20 a day on travel / parking … for no real reason (other than our CE is trying to impress the minister, so he gets nominated for a gong, before this lot are booted out)
The teams I work with are based in 5 different offices, so a lot of my day is on Teams.
Also forgot to mention that the property strategy means we only have desks for a 1/3 of the workforce, so we have no idea where he expects us to sit.

So get it delivered to a delivery pick up point. You are working.

That's absurd! When i'm in the office I make tea, get a snack, go to the toilet, have a chat. My employer is not going to mind me answering the door at home.

It's ok. I think Nicknacky got out of the wrong side of bed this morning.

Either that or she slavishly stays glued to the desk not even so much as pausing to go for a wee or take a sip of water.