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!

That's a fair point and even more reason that it's not a one size fits all solution

From my own experience I disagree that going back to the office is going to be the norm.

I think the Norm will be hybrid working. My workplace have said 2 days a week or 40% of time in the office. Which I think is a healthy balance.

They’ve also reduced office capacity from 4000 to 1800 so we definitely can’t go back full time in the office.

Talking to my friends their employers are even less rigid in that they’ve been told to go back to the office x days a week but that isn’t really enforced.

I get this is just my own experience but wfh is definitely here to stay.

In your situation I’d be speaking to occupational health and asking for a workplace adjustment to work from home more if your workplace does start to go back.

I plan to do this (currently on maternity leave) when I go back to go in one day a week (working four days). As I have mental health issues which mean working from home is a safer environment for me.

I think my ND OH values the WFH so much he’ll happily move companies if it were to be drastically reduced. I do agree he’s less ‘visible’ at the workplace generally. He doesn’t care as he’s so much happier and plus he’s much more available as a father.

OP, panicking won’t help ofc but keeping the CV up to date now and listening out for new opportunities will only help to prepare you… can you offer a consultancy service?

There are plenty of jobs that will remain fully WFH as companies can't get the staff and many will want to retain good ones. So you'll be able to find one somewhere.

My story is a bit more drastic, started my own business (did freelancing on the side until the main business could fully support me), and everything is on my terms now. Did wonders for my anxiety as I can choose specifically who I interact with and it's in my control who I spend any time with, virtually or in real life.

I didn't anticipate so many replies ☺️

Trying to reply to them all but will have to revisit this a bit later!

I'm wondering if anyone has conducted any research on neurodiverse people and WFH, because I think it's a significant issue.

I left my last job in 2022 and have recently been in touch with former colleagues - barely anyone is going back to the office there and two colleagues (one diagnosed with autism and the other not diagnosed AFAIK, but very sure he is on the spectrum quite markedly) and they really haven't been back in at all, nor can I see how or why anyone really should expect them to as long as their performance is fine.

I work a job that could be done entirely remotely, but I go in 2 days a week as a) we do have a genuinely nice office and b) I would never get to know people otherwise and am terrible with names and faces. It's actually a very well-attended office - real estate business, so quite a sociable face-to-face field - and has achieved this without any forcing of the point. i think neurodiverse people in my workplace would probably be supported if they didn't want to come in, but it won't be the case everywhere.

Exactly. We are doing our young people no favours if we don’t give them opportunities outside of home. Even in ‘office jobs’.

I work in HR and I can say with confidence that the world is not going back to how it was pre-Covid. Employers can huff and puff all they want about it but employees are showing a very very clear preference for organisations which are flexible about home working, and those that aren't are losing out on good candidates. It's so typical of employers to say "oh we have X employee who we suspect isn't doing any work when they WFH, therefore we have to bring in a blanket policy for all employees" and it makes my blood BOIL. It's such terrible management - no one wants to actually performance manage the problem employee. I'm constantly banging my head against a brick wall with this issue with certain clients stuck in the dark ages who point blank refuse to offer home working and then moan that they can't recruit. If you don't move with the times you'll get left behind.

Luckily I've been self employed since 2019 so have no need to ever return to the office ever again. I have literally no interest in it whatsoever. DH works in finance, in a very traditional 9-6 corporate environment, where pre covid there was basically no home working at all except in emergencies. Post covid he only has to go into the office twice a month. Hasn't affected his career prospects, pay rises, bonuses at all since.

@themusingsofaninsomniac *I'm not on any medication - ADHD medication can flare up the autism side more, but also there is a shortage currently lasting until April time so I don't want to be reliant on a medication that has the risk of being unavailable for such a long timeframes - I feel like that is a recipe for disaster for me!

There isn't any medication for autism that I'm aware of. I do want to try and build healthy coping mechanisms and lifestyle changes. But I feel like I'm working with a brain that's continually battling against me on this one*

Are you under the care of a psychiatrist who specialises in ASD as opposed to general psych? You do know that ASD generally has significant components of, and/or comorbidity with ADHD? The majority of people with ASD would have ADHD to differing extents, in addition to other co-morbidities such as GAD and OCD. It’s not normal not to prescribe ADHD meds to someone just because they have ASD. You may want to revisit some of this with someone who is an expert in pharmacological management of ASD (as not all prescribers are created equal, that’s for sure).

While it’s true that there is no medication indicated for ASD, there are many meds that are indicated for symptomatic management related to ASD, such as ADHD meds, anti anxiolytics, antidepressants, mood stabilisers and antipsychotics (the last being mainly off-label , however one of the molecules is indicated for management of agitation due to ASD).

You may want to seek additional opinions from clinical experts in this area as you seem to be making a lot of broad assumptions that don’t necessarily hold true, and taking a lot of the table that doesn’t need to be taken off and could be considered with someone who is an expert in this area (key opinion leaders are always good, essentially they are sub-specialists that the others look to for guidance and management of particular sub-groups). They may also help you to understand better as there is not a black and white line between ADHD and ASD.

This is so true. I know someone who left a job because of management like this and will be a real loss to them.
Because they don’t trust one person they want everyone in! Totally missing the point.

Oh FGS. If you have heavy periods you need to be close to a loo THE WHOLE TIME to avoid leaking everywhere!

So the journey to work is the problem. Therefore the reasonable adjustment is to allow 2-3 days a month working from home to avoid the journey.

I am somewhat aghast that I need to spell this out,

And lots of people do Teams calls in the office because (gasp) not everyone is in the same office as they are and so they need to talk to them by a mean that isn't face to face.

other examples - my DH had a cold this week. Not that bad, but he didn't feel like the 90 minute commute to work. He was able to work from home.

I have always suffered from headaches. If I had to go into the office every day I'd miss a lot of days sick. Being able to work from home means that I can lie down for a bit until it goes and work the rest of the day.

It's actually a very well-attended office - real estate business, so quite a sociable face-to-face field - and has achieved this without any forcing of the point

Mine is the same (law, not real estate) except Fridays.

It isn’t either/or. If you work from the office you could still ask to wfh that day if you have a headache. It would just be an adjustment rather than the norm.

I think making your office an environment employees WANT to come into, if you're so keen on having them "in the office" is key - forcing people to come in X number of days a week is counter productive and generally just leads to resentful employees who don't really care about either their job or the organisation. However, I think it's really difficult to achieve. I've seen so many employers be all "hey guys, to incentivise people back to the office we have free fruit!" and always suppress an eye roll with great difficulty. No one cares about free fruit. Most people would rather work from home than come to work for a slightly bruised banana.

I suspect it works better in teams working in sales or other similarly social jobs, because those teams will naturally have people working for them who prefer to be around other people. That doesn't mean those who don't should be demonised for preferring to WFH. After all, those who wanted to be in the office at all times have had it their way up to now, so why should it not go in the other direction?

Companies usually quickly work out what offshore works and what doesn't. Some roles just do not translate.

I work for a global software company. They were equipping staff with the technology to wfh long before the pandemic and already closing smaller offices and having people wfh. I was already wfh when the pandemic hit. They have continued down that route reaping the positives, with relatively little negatives.

So I think in the end, some companies, in some industries where it can work well, will certainly continue this route.

Thank you. This is reassuring to hear, I need to start looking at jobs properly even though I have no plans to move just yet.

My job is thankfully transferable to many industries as it's somewhat a common area, it's just the industry I'm in at the moment is a bit more niche - for example focusing on building something like an app/game portfolio and then once setup the company will have achieved its mission. It's a bit like that.

I do agree though I have found that many managers do like the remote work, many of my company choose to do this and they can't all be neurodiverse!

I was referring to your response to me when I pointed out that you might have to vote with your purse. And what you've written actually makes me think I was right, because it still doesn't sound like you're willing to accept that. Sure, your costs have gone up. Doesn't mean the people you want to work in an office setting are willing to do it for the money you want to pay them. Yes, that means you might well be paying more for a poorer service.

Also, you seem to be under the impression that if there's worker shortages in jobs that have to be done in person, like care etc, that means there aren't worker shortages in roles that can be done remotely. It doesn't work like that. Nor does people being pissed off because they can't have the sort of service they feel entitled to at the price they want to pay mean anything. You can be as annoyed as you like, doesn't fill the in person customer service roles. Paying more might. If you're lucky.

Thank you, it's exactly the latter point.
It's easy once you're in.. or easier, less so when you're at a new company. Hence why if I could, I'd just stay put here for the long term!

Thank you this is good advice, may be sensible to switch on to what local employers around me are doing and tailor my approach somewhat

I completely agree with you, it's so hard to explain the impact to people who don't have to deal with it on a daily basis and the effort and energy it requires.

I hope you are able to get a diagnosis soon - the struggle of doing so is a whole other issue and point of contention in itself!

I didn't say it automatically will, I said you've more chance if you're willing to pay for it. Which is true, because that's how the market works. If enough people were clear that they wanted eg call centre employees who were not only in the UK but all in the office and were willing to pay the necessary premium to fully and reliably staff such posts, those services might well come to exist as a selling point.

Whether the employees hold the power in a particular dynamic will depend. Some jobs are sufficiently attractive or oversubscribed that employers do, in other jobs it'll be the employees. It really depends. But we do have a general labour shortage, and the fact is that customer service roles aren't that well paid. In some cases, people might not even be able to afford the things they need to work in person any more, like commuting.

In terms of two tier, yes some jobs need to be done in person and others can be done from anywhere. Some employers will be able to enforce the latter group being in offices for the wage they're willing to pay, others won't. Flexibility on location is simply part of the package, just like wages, holiday, prospects etc. You can call that two tier if you want, in the same way that some people being on NMW and some people being paid much more than that is multiple tiers. Again, it's just the way the market works.

My role is very involved in projects and at the centre of the organisation so I'm very glad that's not an issue at my current work place. As for those in a wheelchair if it works to for them to come in and the office is accessible that's great - it's a different issue I guess. Just because you're in a wheelchair doesn't mean you may necessarily struggle to work in the office if the office can adapt to your needs. Equally you may do so, and if you are neurodiverse you are more likely to do so.

I don't hate many things but I really do hate some of these employers who penalise people getting promoted because they are remote for reasons that are justified. Thankfully it's not been my experience so far and I'm so glad that there are less narrow minded employers still out there.

Thank you I hadn't heard of this, will look into it for current and future roles.

I'm so glad you were able to negotiate reasonable adjustments, this is really positive and motivating for the rest of us to hear as we see so much of the opposite 😊

I could go the tech route with my role.. although it's certainly not my preference. There is a bit of a link there with what I do - but I cant say I enjoy that aspect! But if it means more remote work in my future then possibly I need to learn to enjoy it more 😅