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 bit about employers not having carte blanche to continue with/create more fully wfh roles. It sounded like you don't want that, or have I misinterpreted what you meant?

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.

As someone who grew up in the 1960s, when the big fear was that there would be high unemployment because of increasing automation, I'm a bit bemused by labour shortages.

I guess there are just lots of jobs now that didn't exist then, because the goods/services hadn't been invented.

And this is the problem isn’t it ? The government has rushed through yet another policy which hasn’t been thought through. There will be many like yourself who can and do engage with the system and want to work. But the question remains as to where these WFH vacancies on which the whole change to the welfare system is based, are going to come from. No mention of this, or how the government intend to persuade employers to take on people whose health is severely affected, and who may not have worked for many years. I’ve worked with the disabled for many years and know that they make hard working and reliable employees, but it’s an ongoing slog to convince employers of that.

I think a lot of people haven't got their head round it, because it was very much not what our economy looked like until quite recently. But then covid and lockdown came, and a lot of things that were going to happen more slowly got accelerated. People have retired earlier, there are more of us in ill health affecting our ability to work and often requiring care. The already struggling childcare sector was dealt a swingeing blow by lockdown and commuting is more expensive, meaning the things some people needed to be able to work have gone as well. And as a society we haven't really all grasped the longer term consequences of that yet.

It may be that you will still be able to WFH and some others may take up the office based days .You have done well ,and they will be pleased with that surely? I think you may be worrying prematurely TBH. Try to relax ,meditation or yoga maybe ,or just reading or walking .If and when it happens you may find them sympathetic .

I haven’t read the whole thread but as a ND person, I find that having my own desk rather than hot desking helps a lot when I need to go to the office. We also have a quiet room for if things get overwhelming. This is a true quiet space, not just a quiet working space. I think there is a happy medium to be reached.

This every day. We are harming our society. (and its similar in other countries I think but they have more of social structure to their lifestyles so the impact is less)

OP, I think you need to familiarise yourself with the upcoming changes to the welfare system for those with disabilities/health conditions. I realise you’re not unemployed but the changes will have a knock on effect for those disabled people who are already in employment and possibly struggling in the workplace.

The government is introducing policy to get more disabled people into work via WFH. I’m critical of the plans as they apply to those who are too sick to work, but in your case I think the new legislation they will need to introduce to underpin it, together with existing legislation under the Equality Act 2010 may work to your advantage. If and when the situation arises, you could approach an employer and ask for WFH as a ‘reasonable adjustment’ under the Act. The link to the Equality Act 2010 is below and sections 20 and 21 deal explain what reasonable adjustment means.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents

Exactly this. I'm always surprised on these WFH threads when people mention people not doing their job purely because of WFH, or that because someone WFH they're forgotten about and don't get given projects or miss out on promotions, as to me that's just bad management. There's no way I'd let anyone in my team get away with not doing their job.

I totally agree with you.

But the people who abuse the privilege are spoiling it for everyone (eg the council workers moonlighting with second jobs when they should be doing their council job).

No, I meant employees should not have carte blanche to insist upon 100%WFH roles unless they were required for health-related reasons.

Like other posters, I've had some pretty poor experiences of attempting to undertake business with people working from home - barking dogs, doorbells and, on more than one occasion, screaming/tantruming/squabbling children.

So, no, as a customer I'm not impressed with having to deal with others' domestic crises when I'm attempting to request/resolve issues of importance to me the customer.

I suspect, I'll vote with my feet/purse. This will happen when competitors revert to office-based operations. I haven't yet done so but I'm absolutely willing/keen to do so.

Whilst, 'employees have choices', equally or more importantly, so do customers.

Same here. Also on the autism spectrum. WFH helps me manage my condition.

My employer recruited me (post covid) claiming that I would need to travel once a month at the most (2 hour commute each way), then as soon as I passed my 6 month probation they started moving the goal post and said I would need to be in the office once a week. I had a massive breakdown 2 months ago and was under the care of the crisis team for 2 weeks. Once I was stable enough to get back to work the GP wrote a fit note saying that I was fit to work provided I could work from home/avoid travel for at least a month. Employer pressured me to ignore this advice on my first day...

Basically I am looking for something else because this workplace is contributing to my depression. The 'office' is one small noisy room with poor wifi, no PCs so you always have to bring your own laptop and I can't get any work done there. It also has one toilet and one meeting room and completely unfit for purpose...

WFH is a lifeline for people with disabilities like me.

I think some companies thankfully realise they will lose good employee if they insist people are in offices for no good reasons. People have seen that the alternative to being glued to your office desk is possible now for many jobs. My current employer has a massive issue with recruitment and especially with retaining staff...

Yes, the people who WFH in my company work harder than everyone else because they don't want it taken away.

The pandemic has done a lot of that. A lot of people who claim they don't like socialising still do seem to spend a lot of time interacting with people online.

There wont be any changes to the welfare system!!! This is election rhetoric!

That's a great reply.

I had a colleague who was always a bit of a slacker but got really bad once lockdown started. Our manager spotted what was going on quickly and put him on a performance improvement plan which led to him leaving (and he's since left the job he went to under a bit of a cloud).

Any competent manager will be able to identify people taking the piss and address it imo.

Not all managers are competent though! In fact only the minority are in my experience

You can be as competent as you like but if occ health and HR give mealy mouthed support, suggesting adjustments that in no way reasonable for the business needs of the service, these people limp on and you just have to manage it as best you can. Round after round after round of action plans, informal, formal, occ health referrals that the worker 'forgets' to attend or didnt get the letter blah blah blah

Right, thanks for clarifying. That is broadly what I thought you meant.

It's good that you're at least prepared to vote with your purse, which is more than at least one previous poster seems willing to do. You stand more chance of getting what you want if you'll pay more for it, as we live in a capitalist society.

However, there are a great many office based roles where you're simply not going to have any input at all, either because you don't use their services or you do in some way but it's too remote a link for you to have any influence. In those situations, it's simply not for you to say what the employer/employee relationship should look like. They are, naturally, not going to be persuaded that they should incur office costs and reduce the pool of people able to work for them.

Oh, that is so hard. I am really sorry you are having to go through all that.

I don't know what type of neurodiversity you have, but ADHD and Autism are considered a protected characteristic under the Equality Act (2010). This legislation requires employers to make adjustments that are considered reasonable (copied from my assessment report). You may have already looked this up, but the extract below is Gov.UK.

Reasonable adjustments in the workplace
"An employer has to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to avoid you being put at a disadvantage compared to non-disabled people in the workplace."
It sounds like your employers requirement is putting you at a disadvantage compared to other people. Is this something you could research and take to them showing that they have a legal obligation to make reasonable adjustments for you?

Wishing you luck with it.

Please have a look at the Equality Act 2010. Your employer needs to make WFH a reasonable adjustment for you if working in the office puts you at a disadvantage because of your disability.

I’ve worked from home on and off since 2001. There were WFH jobs before the pandemic and there will be for a long time afterwards. So I agree with PP who are suggesting you try not to catastrophise OP. Can you access tools/support via autism support organisations to help you to manage this better?

WFH is totally normal in some industries and is normal many freelancers and consultants. My advice would be to continue to do your job well and build your skills and qualifications so that employers will bite your hand off.

re the government - I know it’s not a surprise that they are rubbish, but DH is looking to get back into work after a period of Ill health and being a carer. So he looked at the so called working from home jobs, and found a whole bunch of roles in care homes. They really are all over the place.

I'm neurodiverse. Diagnosed dyslexic and borderline dyspraxic. I also tick a lit of traits for adhd but haven't sort diagnosis.

Working from home is not for me. Firstly it is too much of a reminder of the depression I sank into during lockdown. Secondly I kearn much better by being shown how to do something in person. Thirdly I'm a career changer so relatively new in this career and I gain so much from overheard conversations and the extra attention I get from mire experienced team members because I am there.

I do value the flexibility to wfh if I'm ill or there is a nursery event I need to attend. But otherwise I'm in.

We're all different and being part of a society I think we compromise to help everyone. I'd much rather my colleagues were always there but accept they benefit from being home some if the time. Presumably they'd rather stay at home but accept others benefit from their presence some of the time.

Well I think if she has been working from home already, and has a diagnosed disability, it is worth asking her employer if this is a reasonable accommodation.

My relative has autism and works from home permanently.
In truth I am in a different country with different employment laws and am definitely not an expert on this, but I don’t think what I said was rubbish.

All the very best and I hope you can continue to work from home.