To think that Boots move to 5 days a week is a step back for workplace equality

[Vistada]

Boots HQ, a predominantly female workforce - has been told they are to be back in the office five days a week from September with no debate and no real solid reasoning (in my view)

https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/boots-to-end-hybrid-working-for-office-workers/

I think the move to hybrid working is amazing for everyone, not just women, in terms of helping to achieve the work/life/parenting balance that has eluded us for so long, but we can't deny women shoulder this juggling act more.

I think this move, and any move back to 5 days in the office (where its really not needed) is a huge step back for workplace equality - and for a male CEO to enforce this just shows how out of touch he is.

This thread is so depressing. For all of you who took the piss working from home, thanks a bunch for making things difficult for those that need it to work and always give your all.

It’s a shame that we always have to fall in with the lowest denominator isn’t it?

Because you do those jobs because they’re vocational. How many people of those occupations do it for the money? I work in a vocational role and don’t get paid a huge amount. There are thousands of jobs I could do for more money and work from home, but it’s not what I want to do.

No, no you do those jobs to earn money to live. I have one of those jobs. I definitely do it for the money, believe me. DH is a nurse. Also does it for the money. If the pay and working conditions get any worse he's considering packing it in to be a dog walker.

Of course they come into it. What I’m saying is, with the kind of careers you’re talking about, which require long term training, people rarely enter them on a whim. There’s usually at least some level of interest in the field driving the decision.

I get that people might decide to go for an administration role rather than a sales one because they don’t like travelling (for example) I think rather fewer people umm and ahh about whether to be a surgeon or a secretary.

It's borderline lunacy to assume or, worse, make changes to your life on the basis that pandemic legislative enforced changes to working practices would survive pandemic

And?

Now I get to put my kids to bed 3 of the 5 working days.

I get to see them in the morning.

I get to do my washing and cleaning and food collection mid week so weekends are spent with my family.

just because women DID do it before Covid, me included, doesn’t mean that the change to hybrid hasn’t made life much easier and better

if my company changed their stance, I’d quit and I’d find another business which values giving employees balance

in fact ask most recruiters. The top question now asked when hunting is “do they offer work from home” then moving on to other benefits.

Everyone's argument is always "well pre-covid you were in five days," at what point do we drop what was the norm FIVE years ago? We used to behead people in the street, should we bring that back too? Or did people just collectively move with the times and accept that change isn't always a bad thing.

For a lot of people (myself included) they can't really afford to go back to the office 5 days a week, especially those with a longer commute. Petrol/Train fares/General living costs have all skyrocketed in the last 5 years and wages just haven't kept up.

In 2019 I genuinely thought 30k was a decent wage for someone working full time (As someone on barely over minimum wage). I earn a good amount over that now and we still have to be careful.

I've changed jobs in the pandemic but my train ticket for the journey I do now used to cost around £20 a day (with a railcard), I now pay £34 a day for the two days i'm in. I used to be a buy a coffee in the morning/grab a pret at lunch type. Both of which have now got too expensive so i've ditched both (As have many others). Do these businesses really think that if people are dragged back 5 days a week people will suddenly be able to afford their extortionate prices on top of everything else?

Well, kindly, if you aren't able to earn more than you do in one of those roles then you’ve lucked out by earning the best you can whilst also having a rewarding job. But generally they are so poorly paid for what is expected of you, it’s not usually the money that attracts or keeps people in those roles.

The genie is out of the bottle, and women have seen the truth.

It's borderline lunacy to assume women would go back to the ways of working first introduced by a man (Ford), for men, at a time when women were expected to be chained to the kitchen sink.

We have to keep moving forwards and make this world a better place for women, rather than keeping the status quo for men. We don't want to go back.

My job could never be WFH so maybe I’m jealous but I do get hacked off when I’m talking to someone and can clearly hear their child in the background. Sounds unprofessional and I don’t get the impression they are fully listening to me.

I agree. It is a retrogressive step but then the American's thinking, in terms of healthcare and work/life balance, is decades behind the rest of the world and although they cannot enforce it here, it doesn't stop them trying.

They must be saving money in stores! As you struggle to find any staff unless on self serve tills. Or a tiny couple of manned tills. Zero customer service they are understaffed.
Shame the women in the stores can’t do the school run.

Women are great multi-taskers, so please don't worry.

I love being in the office and do 1-3 days/week in person, but I’m considerably more productive and less distracted at home. I love the buzz in the office, take advantage of being able to work collaboratively and spend time with colleagues, both discussing work and deepening my connection with my network. But I get loads more work done at home. I flex my days depending on what I need to get done

I really hope that Boots doesn't go the way some posters are gleefully wishing it - I don't want 52,000 people to lose their jobs

What about a situation like mine where the "full team" works out of 5 different locations? What's the point?

I do think it's difficult for younger people in the early stages of their career. That's when you pick up so much from colleagues etc and that's much more challenging when it's remote.

I would have loved to be able to WFH when my kids were in secondary school - not needing any attention but just for me to be in the house. My elder two were coming home to an empty house together at 13 and 11 and I wasn't keen on that but had no other option.

I'm at the latter end of my working life and WFH suits me perfectly. You get better engagement on a Teams call than you did on a phone call - which is what the majority of my interactions with colleagues used to be.

Yes, I worked FT in the office pre-Covid, and no, I have no desire to do it again. I think it would be a retrograde step. Fortunately my role lends itself very easily to WFH. I'd do hybrid grudgingly but it would be utterly futile.

If people are taking the piss, then you have a manager problem. Employees should be measured by output, not how many hours a day they are green on Teams.

Another Boots HO worker here. Hi @custardcreamed

I'm also getting my ducks in a row to leave. This is the final nail in the coffin for me and I just don't trust them any more. I've worked here over 15 years and have seen so many perks just be taken away one by one.

We're all very disappointed.

I guess everyone's different and I'm in the minority but I hate working from home. My office was/is in the City centre though and on nice premises, I used to see people much more as I'd be out and about for drinks straight out of work. My bills have also been huge this winter as in all day, and I never had commuting costs as cycled to work.
I think the pro wfh crew tend to be middle class mothers who aren't worried about having the space to homework or bills that need to be paid, and whose concerns all centre around whether they can pick their kids up from school

My local sandwich shop in my village gets a lot more custom now - and I’d rather spend my money there than in the Tesco Express next to my office.

You're indeed fortunate if you have an employer who is content for you to be caring for your children while working. Many employers don't accept it.

We managed without electricity before too, should we go back to not having not again now too?

I work in an office that has embraced hybrid working and will never go back to pre-covid times. Productivity is up. Morale is high and Teams is our friend!

People don't take the piss. We appreciate how good we have it. We work hard. The days in the office are my least productive days. I can get way more done at home and often work at hours/times outside of 9-5 as it works better for me and my family.

As long as the work is done and done well does it matter where and when you do it?

Offering hybrid working means an employer can employ the best person for the job rather than the person who lives closer to the office.

There will always be people who take the piss. Anyone takes the piss where I work doesn't last long. It's all about attitude and values.

Boots and other employers who demand their people to go back into the office are very short sighted. They'll lose a lot of good people.

I do calls with lots of people in different countries. Almost none are back 5 days in office! There is no need.

There are so many people that take the mickey nowadays.
My job has always been very flexible, way before COVID, which to me meant that if I needed to see a kid’s play, go to an appointment, wfh from time to time it was no issue at all. I remember saying I’d never work somewhere that didn’t have this flexibility. Equally, if I started work late eg, or went to an appointment, then I’d always make up the hours that day.
Nowadays, I’ve observed that people equate flexible with “can take time out to do the school run”, whilst not making up that time, and “have my kid at home with me after school while I’m working” which is against our policy (people ignore it) and means that people are not giving 100% after 330pm - not to mention not good for the kid. I also observe that Friday afternoons people seem to do very little work.
Young people who started during covid at my place lack basic social skills and we will see a huge lack of talent as they move up through the ranks.
Companies like Boots probably trying to prevent people from taking the piss.

I'm going to sound really harsh but I think it's fair enough. When many/most of their employees signed their contracts it was in the basis that they would be in 5 days a week and they are paid accordingly (e.g. higher wages in London no doubt to account for travel etc). Some companies believe office based work to be better for production, discussion, creativity.....They may lose some employees by cutting wfh, but lots of businesses are going the same way. American companies also care a lot less about employee wellbeing.