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!

If you're referring to me I didnt indicate or imply whether I would vote or not with my purse so dont make things up

However the reality is that my costs as a consumer and customer have gone up. People who are working from home still are being paid the same wage, often including london weighting or other enhanced payments for other areas in the country which was to take account of housing and commuting costs for workers in expensive areas.

You say their pay may have gone down in real terms, well so has everyones, including mine due to inflation, yet I pay more for a poorer service.

I think in 5 years time the landscape will be very different, more and more people are getting pissed off with how this is being managed and despite claims of a worker shortage, there isnt a shortage in the sort of roles that you're talking about. The shortages are for work where essentially we have never had high levels of employment, teaching, social work, nursing, care work, front line workers.

Absolutely this!

The nature of my work means that I am in the office for most of the week and I'm happy with that. However, I see people at the start of their careers that don't have an office to go to. The churn in some of these teams seems to be quite high. I wonder if there is a link between that and unavoidable wfh.

I'm in a similar position (autism) and I'd begun the shift to WFH pre-pandemic because I wasn't coping well. Post-pandemic my employer is doing an excellent job of sitting on the fence about their long-term plans, which is causing a lot of anxiety, so my line manager is pursuing the reasonable adjustment route so WFH becomes my standard regardless of what changes they make in future - could this be an option for you?

I found the boiled frog explanation helps people understand, e.g., pre-pandemic you're the slowly boiling frog, you don't understand why you're struggling so you don't jump out and you keep struggling (you know what the mental cost is here). Post-pandemic going back to the office you're the frog thrown into already boiling water so you jump straight back out because you know what the problem is now.

Read up on your rights as a person with a disability in the workplace. The Equality Act.

I disagree that seeking a more suitable service necessarily means a greater cost to me. It certainly didn't when I voted with my purse in moving from various companies (banks, insurance etc.) who off-shored their services.

Equally, it's simply not for the employee to say what their contract is as that is a decision made by employers based on how many customers they are able to retain. Also, they will need to factor in their ability to recruit, retain and keep up the morale of staff who are required to be office-based whilst their colleagues (in the 'remoter' linked roles) continue to watch Classic Eastenders, spend their 'working' day on MN, hanging out their washing and picking up their children from school etc. etc. etc.

It seems to me you are advocating a two-tier contract. Those who are customer facing must be office-based whilst the hangers-on work from home.

You appear to believe the employees hold the power in this dynamic. They won't. The combined power of customers, unwillingness of people to be employed as office-based whilst similarly (skilled/unskilled) colleagues 100% WFH and the business wishing to survive outweigh anyone's dislike of commuting, paying for childcare, having to improve their laundry routine etc. etc. etc.

Make sure you get any arrangements formalised and ensure they are put in terms of "reasonable adjustments"

My company is pretty good and for all bar one department flexible working was a thing before covid. I am in the department that couldn't but now can and it is brilliant for my mental and physical health. I have bipolar and am a migraine sufferer and it makes things much easier and I can have an hour out of work in my own space and catch up at the end of the day whereas before I would have had to go home and had a partial sick day.
I have flexible working agreement which is one designated day and a second day when it is required for my role. I typically work 5-7 days a month in the office. Not long after this agreement was put in place they brought in a 2 day minimum and there are rumours about this being increased or more strictly enforced as people are dropping down to 1.5 days averaged. Having the agreement in place especially having it phrased for reasonable adjustments for my disability gives me some protection. They could come back with by not being in the office I can't fulfill all the aspects of my role but this would be a harder sell since I have been doing my job mostly from home for nearly 4 years.

Yes Im registered blind but have successfully managed to become a bus driver.

There are 'reasonable' adjustments for the business needs of your service, not carte blanche to just say you have a disability and therefore anything goes.

Before covid there were wfh jobs, some employers are embracing long term hybrid too. But I would also say that you, we will adjust back to other ways of working too, neurodivergence doesn't mean you can't adjust to new things, but it takes time

I'm the same, currently a long commute too which I know I do have a say in going forwards. But I find office days a complete drain on me now as well as so distracting with all the goings on - it's like I have become more sensitive to it or just realise how much less stressful it is now I've seen the alternative.

I do like to go in for social reasons on occasion as I think it's important to connect with the team etc in real life here and there - but I also feel like I'm massively awkward and don't have the confidence/directness that they do so often come away doubting myself as I do things differently to them too!

One day a week/fortnight would be my sweet spot I think.

So find hobbies and get out of the house. Work is work, it's not your (only)social life.

Yep, new/young staff are really impacted by too many staff WFH. They need to be around experienced staff to pick up on "soft" skills, such as communication, office behaviour, etc. You can teach them the hard skills via courses (in person and on line), but if they're not around experienced staff in person, they'll take longer to pick up on all the other workplace skills.

Re WFH workers taking the piss, then that's down to management, not just their immediate line manager (who may also be taking the piss), but right up through the chain of management. People can get away with things for a while, but sooner or later, piss taking and poor performance gets picked up.

At my son's firm, where he's just started 3 months ago, they've nailed it! There's a "whole department" online teams meeting at 9.15 and 3.15 every day, where everyone who's working that day have to attend, whether they're in the office, at home, or in an internet cafe somewhere - no excuses! It's only a short meeting, 5-10 minutes, but it's basically a catch up for all staff, and it highlights who's not there! Timing is perfect really - make sure everyone is out of bed (and back from the school run) ready to start at 9-15, and a mid afternoon meeting means staff can't go out to pick up their kids, have afternoon tea, go shopping, etc. I think that kind of thing will become more common if WFH is here to stay. Of course, if you've booked time off for holiday, sick, study day, or whatever, you don't need to attend the teams meeting, but otherwise it's obligatory! With son being a new trainee, he loves them as it's his only chance to get an idea of the bigger picture as he listens to the experienced/managerial staff talk about their work, allocate tasks, etc., even those working in other buildings who he'd never "meet" otherwise. Though he does find it funny that all the staff in the office are talking to each other via Teams, even if they're on adjacent desks - but he understands that's to ensure the WFH staff are properly engaged and remain part of the team!

You developed your career and you got a promotion, autism or not you a very competent person in your field and if you need to move jobs you will find a company that supports that . I’ve been wfh since before covid as as my sibling . Some companies never had a issue with it

Thank you, this is fair. I guess my stress is around navigating this at a new company and that when you first start a job you can't really be as picky. Like a PP said sometimes there is judgement declaring this sort of stuff at the application stage so I'm in two minds about that and this would be the first time I'd be going into a new role with a diagnosis. I'd also feel quite dishonest to withhold it too so it's a conundrum!

My current employer is great like this and basically allows individuals to choose a working pattern that works for them but I know others are more like how you said and would be nervous to approach this as a new hire in case it could impact my employability - as I wouldn't have proven myself to them just yet.

With an office job, working from home is a very easy adjustment to make. Your example is silly.

As an example, it is not at all unreasonable for a woman with heavy periods to be permitted to work from home on the days she needs to be close to a loo all day.

especially if she spends the whole day on Teams anyway

I completely understand your view - I know that the approach has to be flexible because as you say some need to be present in the office for their mental health and others feel the opposite. I wish that flexibility was just given to employees to decide what is the right route for them.

I will admit if I don't go in for a while I do start to feel a bit disconnected from people so I do ensure I attend key team meetings face to face which aren't all the time.

I have a baby and a preschooler. I’m on maternity leave but will go back to work full time. When I only get to see my children for 2 hours in the evening I think it’s understandable I don’t want to be out the house a few times a week after work. Equally it’s understandable I don’t want to be sat in the house alone all day until they come back.

Theres nothing shameful or uncool about enjoying working with other people, going for lunches, catching the odd drink at lunchtime and enjoying it as a social experience as well as work.

After 3 years at Uni where half of his lectures/tutorials etc were online due to lecturers working from home, son was desperate to work at a place where he could work from the office, rather than even more isolation and loneliness of working from "home" in his bedroom - he'd more than had enough of that after Covid!

Yes, it meant he's had to move to a different city to live, which is where the work is, but he couldn't have lived at home with us anyway as there are no cities within reasonable commuting distance of us with jobs in his chosen profession, even for just 1 or 2 days a week in the office. With being a trainee, it's not a job he could do fully from home anyway as he needs training on the job and it's a 5 year professional training course.

By going in the office most days, he's made loads of "real" friends with whom he goes out to pubs, meals, football matches, etc. That's because he was in the office and got to know people through work. He's not the most "social" of people, and didn't make any friends at Uni because everyone was stuck watching lectures in their bedrooms. But with meeting people in real life at work, it suits him better and he went out with some of the other graduate intake within the first week of them joining the firm! The WFH graduates taken on at the same time are very isolated, have never gone out with those who go into the office, and don't seem to show much interest in the firm or the work - one has already been "let go"!

I'm introverted myself, as is my son, but I don't think "hiding away" is the answer. Son did that at Uni, because he could due to lecturers WFH, but he's regretted it since. Hence why he wanted a job where he could go in every day to actually meet people. He was very anxious about meeting new people and even more anxious about going out socially with them, but he pushed himself through it and is now loving his new "social" life an hates the occasional days he has to WFH because of the isolation and loneliness (not to mention having to work from his bedroom in his tiny flat which is smaller than his Uni flats - at least they had desks!

I understand and do agree - permanent WFH definitely has its disadvantages and although I can be uncomfortable in an office setting I do think it's important to still do this from time to time, to avoid that type of thing and foster more of a relationship with people - ie. General chat aside from specific Teams work call chat. I just don't find small talk particularly comfortable but by doing it on occasion at least it forces me to be able to manage.

I have retrained into the new career I started at the beginning of the pandemic. It isn't specialist per se and can go across industry so I think there may be opportunities but so much of what I'm seeing specifies 3 days in office which is a lot for me. I don't really want to retrain all over again, it's very stressful plus I do really enjoy what I'm doing. Although there is quite a lot of putting myself out there more than my other job which was easier to work more independently I guess.

WFH helps some individuals, usually people who have been at that job a while, however for new starters, especially people in their early 20's it has caused nothing but chaos as they are not learning the amount they would be learning in the office.

I love WFH some of the week, but fully remote doesn't work imo.

I have to have a perm WFH job for reasons totally different to you, but just wanted to say not to panic too much, they are out there!

When the pandemic ended my employer insisted everyone went back 3 days a week,so I started job hunting immediately, and applied for anything that fitted the bill otherwise (salary, skillset ,experience required) where the advert either stated it was a remote role, or that they welcomed a discussion about location/ flexible working. I was very up front with the recruiters that whilst I would obviously be flexible for the occasional client or team meeting, I needed to be at home 99% of the time and that there was no point putting me through the process if that wasn't an option.

It took a while and I ended up changing industry but I now work for a large corporate with a significant proportion of homeworkers. We have many employees that have some kind of neurodiversity (everyone is encouraged to be open and honest about their quirks and challenges and any support they may need), and you would absolutely be able to be honest about why you need to WFH and what it means for you.

I know this does exist but I'm not entirely sure of the parameters to be honest. My current company are great, my line manager knows and has asked what 'accommodations' I would like but I'm struggling to know, aside from the flexibility I already have.

But with a new employer that's where I'm getting into a tizz because if it's me with neurodiversity asking for more flexibility than others vs someone who's ready to match their working pattern and doesn't need special accommodations.. it's a no brainer to hire them in my mind?

It was a silly example, just a silly as these blanket statements that reasonable adjustments have to be made in line with any old request and those adjustments mean the worker working how they like

Someone can be close to the loo while in the office, that is a reasonable adjustment, more breaks so she can nip off when she needs to. Whether its reasonable that she is at home depends entirely on the work she is doing, not just whether she is on teams. She might be on teams because shes not in the office.

Could you share what are the best industries for remote please?

I'm civil service so will be back to 60% in office eventually. There's pros and cons for me as a person with a visual impairment and who is at present weighing up getting assessed as I believe there are some neurodiversity traits I'm dealing with - particularly around sensory things.

I love the current arrangement, I go in on a Thursday and Friday which are quiet enough in our office that it's not overwhelming. I have 3 days of controlling my work environment so can adjust lighting etc and I'm not having to deal with using a magnified screen in an open plan office. When I do weeks where I don't go in (caring responsibilities and training have meant this has happened a few times) I do miss it. I get to see my colleagues and the set up is better for my job - as someone mentioned up thread, I'm a young person living at home and work in my bedroom. I don't have room for a dual screen setup and can't use my laptop screen as it's too small, so I have to work on one screen.

But, I worry that 3rd day may be the tipping point where I go back to being exhausted at the end of a week, my eye condition worsens when tired and adding another day commuting will have an impact. Only time will tell, I suppose.

For young people, often having had to move to a new city for work, then for a time, work really is your only social life, unless you're a particularly extraverted "out there" sort of person which most people aren't. A new city is daunting, especially if it's also your first real job, your first time living alone, etc etc. Making friends with people at work is pretty much essential until you find your feet. It's definitely the young who are affected most by everyone else WFH. But then again, that's typical of how people treat the young - i.e. the "I'm alright Jack" mentality of older people who've pulled up drawbridge after themselves so that the next generation don't get the same benefits/advantages that they themselves enjoyed.