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.

Re not being able to get hold of your accountant etc at school run time, complain to them but also their bosses. Yes, wfh is great for them and their work but definitely shouldn’t impact on them being unavailable simply because they want to do the school run. I’d be irritated at that too.

We have a number of days, which are not specified, but obviously people tend to come in when they have meetings, when their bosses and colleagues are in. It's reported into the same system as holidays so can absolutely be enforced if necessary.

If the WFH stuff carries on, Boots branches will all be closed so the whingers will be able to stay at home all they want.

Flexible / hybrid working was more normal in Europe pre Covid however

Exactly - i go in once a week or every two weeks, depending on what is required. If you looked at my computer on my day in office activity this week you would think i did sweet f all. It took nearly three hours to get in, one hour of that was crawling along the motorway, was in for a workshop ( you know wonderful collaboration stuff) i contributed a whole 5 mins to it in the 3 hours it was on. No laptops allowed. Then when i got back to my desk someone else had taken it as desk are a premium so ended up other side of office and having calls with my boss instead of face to face over teams. Could barley hear anything as everyone else around me was also on calls. Took me another 2.5 hours to get home then, tired and sore then when home. Spent two days at home catching up on all the stuff i couldn't do while in the office. People skive at home and in the office, its up to management to deal with that. People will be caught out, in my case everyone is responsible for their work and if they don't do it then things slip so its up to everyone to ensure that its done - WFH has been a game changer for me. It has given me a life actually - time to breath and do things. and more importantly i am in better health. I also wont leave my current employer. There is a factory about a 20 min drive from me looking for someone in my work are ( i get a phone every so often) its been open for 9 months- they don't offer WFH at all, no one has applied at all, i know people who work there and Job is being done by global team a mo - so in another country so can be done remotely - but they being stubborn and refusing to allow wfh. Another friend of mine has just handed in his notice as they mandated 5 days back in office a few months ago, he wants to be at home at a decent time to have dinner with his family, put his children to bed etc. Stuff he can do if working remotely/Hybrid, something he cant do if has to go into office to commute. With WFH people realized what life can be like so don't want to go back to that. You are only a number in a company and you need to look after number one, plenty of companies offer WFH and they are the ones no issues recruiting or retaining staff. Yes i know not very job allows WFH but the ones that can be done WFH the option should be there for their staff

I don't feel sad about train companies losing profit either (I don't even think private companies should be taking profits from public transport) but I am worried that they'll then further reduce timetables making train travel even less attractive/viable for many people. If they reduce our timetable from our local station again my DH will have to start driving rather than commuting by train, which is not great for us in terms of time/money but isn't great for the environment either.

There are very few pharmacist WFH jobs, most are in person only.
Community and hospital in person only
GP and Integrated Care Boards maybe some partly hybrid.
FT WFH maybe be possible in some private sector organisations.

It’s definitely time for people to be back in their offices if they haven’t already made the move. I have zero sympathy.

As has been stated upthread, the employer is Walgreens: a large US drugstore chain with a long history of unethical behaviour. Boots is just a logo and brand that Walgreens bought. What people think of as Boots (the company that used to own high-street pharmacies) hasn't existed for years.

I agree we are only numbers in companies. I can at 5pm log off and spend time with my family instead of being stuck in rush hour traffic crawling home. Why would I want to be in the office every day?

I manage an office and I’m there 2 days a week and work from a place closer to me or travel to sites the other 3. We have some teams working hybrid and some who barely come in at all. I would hate if more people came back in as would make my job harder with more people to satisfy. However it is madness that I can be the only person in on my floor some days. I would say on average we have 3 open plan offices unoccupied (Avg 20 desks in each) which we have to as a minimum heat/cool/ventilate so that does seem a waste at times.

It makes me laugh when people say in support of WFH that the company made more profits in 2020/2021/2022. Yes of course they did, the government were spending billions propping up businesses. This has now stopped, which is why we're seeing redundancies and companies going under.

Return to office is going to happen because so many have taken the piss. Claiming it as women's rights issue just lessens genuine women's rights issues. It's like people claiming they can't go back in for 'mental health', just damages those with genuine mental health issues.

@tfresh My company had some furlough money for 3 months, that is it. I do not know which companies were getting money for years, but certainly not mine.

@BenefitWaffle I'm talking by increasing spending, guaranteed loans, rock bottom interest rates. The furlough scheme in general, programs like eat out to help out. These all flooded the economy with easy money, which is why inflation went so high.

@tfresh the less good staff will be forced to return to the office. The good staff who want to wfh will get another job.
In my sector so many places that insist being in the office all the time say they can not recruit anyone and are now advertising to unexperienced people with transferable skills.
Employers can insist on what they want. They can also deal with the loss of good staff and difficulty recruiting I will not give a shit.

Weird thing for you to say, it’s very normal for different people to have different opinions. Lots of people don’t life working from home for a lot of reasons. It’s shit if you live on your own, for one. Lots have a worse work/life balance as they tend to work on longer. Also your home space is now your work space, which isn’t normal.

@BenefitWaffle You are exactly right. Boots have made a decision around this. Personally I think its a myth that all the best staff will leave for remote jobs, but we shall see.

Lots of people enjoy flexible working, but I for one am sick of the useless remote worker. Woman or not.

Yes that's, err, literally the point I was making... We need people to train in these essential f2f roles, but why would you if the majority of the working world moves towards being able to sit at home on calls?

Boots is a shot bolt isn't it?
Dirty, empty shelves, never any level of service, cluttered messy windows.
Everything you can get there you can get cheaper elsewhere.
Our local shop is closing and I'm betting it's only a matter of time before they all do.

Doesn’t surprise me one bit. Yes Boots is the type of company where they won’t believe you are working unless they can see you 24/7. They also expect unpaid overtime and you to work through your breaks if needed. God forbid you ask for some time back. Best thing I done was leave them. Nasty place. People stooping very low to score points against each other so they can climb to the top. Best thing I done was leave that company for more money, decent colleagues and less drama!

It sounds a terrible company to work for.

Sorry I don’t understand your question? Or rather I don’t see how it relates to what I have said. I have not said anything about anybody being in the office five days a week. 🤷‍♀️

My point is that I don’t like or accept that women need to do all the housework and childcare and I would rather see women up in arms about that than rather meekly accept that we should and then complain about employers that don’t facilitate it.

Agree.

There is no guarantee that a lazy worker is going to be more present just because they’re in an office. I’ve worked in an office and there were several lazy workers and they were unfortunately team leads and managers.

Agree I’ll always remember the guy sat by me that used to play video games from the office.

My point is that I don’t like or accept that women need to do all the housework and childcare and I would rather see women up in arms about that than rather meekly accept that we should and then complain about employers that don’t facilitate it

And how do you propose women do that in a patriarchal society entrenched in sexist inequality? Many women don't even recognise the level of inequality or unfairness, never mind know how to fight against it. And it's all on women to fix isn't it.