To be filled with panic about WFH culture becoming a thing of the past?

[themusingsofaninsomniac]

prefacing with please read the context before blanket responses 😊

I am stressing away as I tend to do lately on the same topic. I have WFH since the pandemic, with the odd day or so in the office I am lucky to have full flexibility with.

I have Autism. I also have ADHD. The combo together is quite the clusterfuck to navigate as a newly diagnosed female. Essentially the pandemic shone a light on so much and I'm so grateful that it enabled me to seek diagnosis, as much as it's an ongoing struggle.

From working remotely since the beginning I've never felt more stable and successful in my career. I was able to secure a promotion into a field I'd never have had the confidence to try in a non-remote setting in the first place, and I've been fortunate to earn a fair bit more as a result.

I feel completely at ease in my own environment and with the ability to tailor things to what works well for me. Having that commute time back has helped my wellbeing, as has having my lunch breaks in my own home. I am in a routine that I feel helps my mental health and the challenges neurodiversity brings me massively.

My current employer is great but they are the type of company that won't be around forever unfortunately. And from a lot of media and on here etc, it's becoming obvious that things are shifting to either back in the office or a hybrid with a good half your days expected in the office.

This absolutely fills me with dread. I feel like it would turn my world upside down. I'm sure people who don't relate to this will think I'm being dramatic but change and environments outside of your own control are so so hard especially once you've had several years of the opposite.

I guess I'm just wondering where this leaves me. I still have a few friends who WFH but not in my industry. I'm not sure if there would be more flexibility for me, but I also worry about how that will reflect towards my colleagues and I don't want to get anyone's back up. I guess I'm catastrophising that if I need to find another job I'll never be able to maintain what is working so well for me.

Not sure what I'm seeking here to be honest - reassurance maybe or just help to navigate this and whether it's best to be upfront with new employers from the start, or whether that might reduce my chances of being hired. I've been told I don't present as autistic, or typical ADHD but I guess the mix of both means it's a lot more blended. Either way I have generally got good feedback from interviews so it would likely not be known unless I was transparent.

I'd especially like to hear from someone in a similar boat too, if there is anyone? Probably not at twenty to one on a weekday though I imagine 😅

Thanks to anyone who has read this to the end as I know that got wordy!

The younger generation doesn't solely include people who are able to work in person, much less who'd benefit from doing so. Young people are neurodiverse, living remotely, have caring responsibilities and are disabled just like people of other generations. The socialisation after work that you clearly think is a good thing has functioned to exclude lots of people, and would do again if it we returned to a workplace model where it was the norm (we won't).

Also, the bit about a nation of screens is a bit silly. There are loads of jobs that can't be done any way other than in person, and as a pp pointed out, our worst recruitment crises tend to be in these sectors. A younger person starting out who wants to be able to work in person has many more solid options available to them than a younger person who can't.

@Rosscameasdoody

I hear you. However, I was referring to those already in employment like the OP. My reference to exceptions is that exceptions should be made to accommodate disabled employees' needs as opposed to creating/continuing carte blanche for those with no specific health needs to continue to WFH 100%.

The government's purge on those currently not working due to disability is another matter altogether. I'm sure it is deeply concerning for those caught in their sights.

Regarding Hunt, perhaps we should all email him a link to this thread?

😂😂😂

If it's office based, 9 times out of 10 it can be done remotely.

And the government have said they want disabled etc to find wfh jobs so companies are going to have to become more flexible and start trusting people to do their jobs.

Presenteeism is just bullshit and damaging.

I work for a company that is completely remote. I'll never go back to working in an office again. There's just no need. And I don't want to.

Be aware that due to below replacement fertility and an aging population throughout the entire developed world, there are global labour shortages in every industry.

If you are good at your job, employers will want to attract and retain you. Just stand firm on WFH. Fine to ask at interview . No need to disclose your ND if you don’t want to.

i know as women we sometimes have difficulty with these negotiations, but know your worth and stand firm.

A good compromise would be letting people have autonomy over whether they go in or not.

With teams and zoom there is no need to physically travel to an office just to sit there instead of your own house for 8 hours.

Actually Im sick of the number of times the first thing I hear when I ring a company is the recorded message telling me that there might be a long wait time than usual due to the pandemic. I logged on to 3 the other day to see a banner saying the same thing, 'due to the covid 19' or whatever. Its incredible

Then when I finally get through to someone they need to answer the door for a parcel, thats my dog barking in the back ground sorry hahaha

No, not 'hahaha' Im having a business conversation with you, I also dont need to see cats and children wandering around in the background on teams.

My reference to exceptions is that exceptions should be made to accommodate disabled employees' needs as opposed to creating/continuing carte blanche for those with no specific health needs to continue to WFH 100%.

I'm sure employers will be just delighted at the idea they've got to incur full office costs and can only recruit within commuting distance. That level of government interference, which is what it would have to be, always ends well.

I always think the idea that people have to go to an office to have a social life is a bit odd. I realise I see office working through the prism of commuting to London and all the time, effort (and money!) that entails, but it's much easier for me to have hobbies working from home, because I save 90 minutes a day! And having hobbies allows me to meet people and socialise.

WFH and remote working (one of the things I always bang on about is that remote working does not mean balancing a laptop on the end of your bed, there are loads of options outside a pandemic situation) allow those with health conditions and caring responsibilities to access the workplace and be economically active. Along with the the fact that it's more environmentally friendly for people not to be travelling unnecessarily, and allows employers to recruit from anywhere and not be restricted geographically, it is not going anywhere.

Which leads us to the unpalatable question, how much more are you willing to pay to get such staff back in the office?

They dont need to recruit only within commuting distance, that varies from employee to employee, its up to the worker to decide if they're able to get to and from work in a way they are comfortable with

As with another poster pointing this out, there seems to be this view that employers now need to offer WFH or continue with it so that people dont have long commutes or can do the washing or the school pick up. Thats not their duty.

In future jobs will be offered as hybrid, wfh or in office and you can decide at that point.

Has their pay gone down then?

I think that for every person who is stressed at the thought of being back in the office, there's another person who is suffering from being at home, for all kinds of reasons, and who will benefit from being in an office with others

Well assuming their employer has an office, there's a very easy solution: go into the office (although they are usually pretty empty on Fridays).

If their employer is virtual only, there's a somewhat less easy solution of finding another job where there's an office.

Great advice. This is what I did, and I've never looked back.

Of course they have to recruit within commuting distance, if you want people people. You can't get someone in Lancashire for an office job in London, whereas you can if it's remote. The pool shrinks. And it's not about employer duty, it's what they need to do to get staff in the labour market conditions they have to navigate. Employees have choices.

Huh?

I think I get the point you're making, but I'm not at all clear how it relates to the paragraph you quoted from my post.

As with another poster pointing this out, there seems to be this view that employers now need to offer WFH or continue with it so that people dont have long commutes or can do the washing or the school pick up. Thats not their duty

A lot of them have DE&I policies. If they actually want to walk the talk, then they DO have a duty to facilitate remote working for those whose jobs allow it, and who would benefit from it. Otherwise they are just talking a load of guff. Sadly, most are. Lots of rubbish about they value diversity in the workforce, but actually they don't.

Possibly in real terms, but the more important point is that their choices have gone up. You wanting a particular level of service doesn't mean you can have it without coughing up, even if you have a pithy argument as to why you think you should.

Why don't you start a business that supports and champions autistic people working from home.

I'm disabled in a way that means I could only work from home. I'm attempting what the government claim they want disabled people to do, I'm retraining after a decade out of the workforce in the hope of getting a WFH role.

Fortunately I'm not doing this because I need to, but because I want to, but I am concerned that there just won't be any opportunities that are fully remote when I finish the training.

It would be a real shame though, because I'm a hard worker, despite everything I have to cope with, and know I'd be a reliable employee, as I was before the disability.

I understand why it’s better for you and hope you can find a solution, but it’s my belief wfh has created a nation of people with social anxiety and a form of agoraphobia. Look at the number of kids who were ok before lockdown but refused to go back to school after. Despite what tiktok tells us human beings are broadly social creatures who benefit from human interaction even if it’s with people they don’t really really like. Isolated elderly people are more likely to suffer from dementia. It might be easier in the moment to stay at home in pyjamas and not go to work but I think years of it will have a very negative mental effect on our population. DP and I are sociable people and we’ve been flat and depressed since wfh became the norm

I worked in the office all through the pandemic and transitioned to WFH 18 months ago when the rest of the world was moving in the opposite direction. As I work with people with chronic illnesses, I can tell you that WFH is not going anywhere. In the last 18 months, we negotiated hundreds of WFH contracts for people who otherwise would not be able to carry on in their roles as part of reasonable adjustments policy. These were in quite diverse industries from NHS to social services to large manufacturer engineering departments.
If you go on indeed or similar websites, you will see that there are multiple roles advertised as remote or hybrid working. I recently turned down a job offer as it would mean going back to the office full time, which I don't want to do for similar reasons as yours.

@Wheelz46 I don't think people who WFH a lot will be actively discriminated against but humans gonna human and often what the eye does not see the mind does not consider. I joined my workplace in lockdown so now make a lot of effort to ensure different directors hear me, see me and meet me on my office days.

We operate on a project basis in my workplace and I have to admit I do think twice if I am offered someone who I haven't met or seen in the office at all. I check that imlulse but it is easier if you see someone and have observed them at work.

I have just been allocated someone from one of our Nations offices (the rest of the team are in London) so they will be joining remotely regardless of whether they are in the office but they had attended a few all staff events in person and I had met them, so it was easier for me to put a face to a name and recall our conversations and some if tje thibgs they were interested in. It was a dmall factor in me taking them on to our project, that is just a human impulse. We are social creatures.

Youve had great advice already OP .I like to plan everything to give me less to worry about . My suggestion would be that while you are happily employed wfh you create a savings buffer to give you more time to find a new job should you have to . If it happens then you go to your interviews and negotiate for what suits you when you have an offer . The financial buffer will give you more time to keep searching for the working arrangement you want . Hopefully knowing you’ve made a plan will help you stop worrying ?

But with the changes to the welfare system in regard to pushing the more severely disabled into WFH, the whole premise is that more of this type of work is going to have to be made available. So if employers don’t consider it their duty to offer it, it won’t work and we’ll be left with sick and disabled people forced to look for work that doesn’t exist and punished because they can’t find it !!