Turn down job offer that requires 4 days a week.in office?

[Greenbootgrass]

Hi All

Offered a new role at a different company, salary increase and better pension however....

I currently wfh 2 days a week, new job only allows 1 day a week wfh

Am I mad to say no to this?

Really enjoy my 2 days a week at home, comfy clothes, no commute ( hour each way) and doing errands etc at lunchtime.

For me, the flexibility of more days at home is worth more than the extra money. I no longer have to book annual leave because I'm exhausted.

@ruby1957 "Most of you posters seem to have such high opinions that your jobs are so vital that employers would be so lucky to pay you to take an easy working life." for some people like my friend yes, I suppose it depends what job you do and whether it truly is important. During Covid they needed extra staff and because people were forced to work from home they were happy to to recruit from all over the country to get the Covid related job done.

I don't know why you think working from home is "an easy working life" when there are back to back meetings and deadlines, performance monitoring etc. For some it means that commute time can now be used to do housework, not during work time, during the travelling time. If that is 2 hours a day then you save 10 hours on the weekend. Why can you not see the benefit of this?

It was proven that lots of jobs could be conducted this way with maintained or even higher performance as people aren't fucking knackered from their commutes. Not everyone is in good health. You can be young and have shitty health like I did when I stopped working before my body completely gave out.

OP I would try to negotiate less time in the office but if they hold fast at 4 days then I would reject it and tell them exactly why you are rejecting it.

😂

😂😂😂

well said - the whole not being so tired all the time is life changing for me

This seems to be what a lot of people post-Covid seem to want, had it not been for Covid working in the office would still be the norm.

Mmm, not sure about that. The trend was for an increase in remote working and we'd seen that over a number of years.

The ONS discuss this further here, in their report based on 2019 stats.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/coronavirusandhomeworkingintheuklabourmarket/2019

Bear in mind the 1.7 million employees who worked mainly from home, the 4 million who'd done so at some point in the last week and the 8 million who'd ever done it will have been concentrated in specific sectors, since obviously there are lots of roles where it can't happen at all.

What lockdown did was accelerated that development. However, March 2020 was nearly half a decade ago. In a parallel world with no covid, the tendency would likely have continued and it would've become more and more common in those jobs that allow for it. Because that's the way the wind was already blowing.

😂 wow impressed you’ve checked how hard everyone who ever works from home works

While I don't agree that WFH is lazy - I mainly WFH and am certainly not lazy - I do suspect many people prefer it not because of how they 'work' as such but because they can walk the dog, pick the kids up from school, go to Tesco, be in for deliveries, put a wash on etc.

So, basically, all the things that aren't related to the actual 'work' 🤷‍♀️

I'm certain there will be a sea change where more companies will want to see staff back in offices, with those employees so-doing looked upon more favourably than their remote counterparts.

People will complain about that of course. But it is, what it is.

In my job it would become very visible very quickly if I spent my WFH days slobbing around. I've got the sort of job where things need sorting very quickly, and I wouldn't get away with it. I wouldn't want to.

Pre COVID, in my organisation, the top brass already worked from home quite a bit, it was starting to trickle down, in some areas more than others, but as a previous poster mentioned, COVID speeded everything up. Had it not been for COVID/hybrid, I would have gone part time by now. The long commute and feeling trapped by office hours was becoming too much.

I retired 5 years ago eight months before Covid hit, from a job in which I had no choice but to go to the office five days a week. How things have changed. I had an easy 25 minute commute by car - bit longer on the way home - which didn’t bother me that much. How things have changed. The organisation I worked for was all for flexible working in theory but not do so much in practice.

I recently moved to a mandatory 4 days in the office job. When I started I quickly realised that in reality no one does 4 days unless necessary. Most people do 3 days.
Only downside is that I can’t plan anything for my days at home as I may be asked to go in at short notice. On the other hand, I am lucky because I never get pushback if I request extra WFH days for appointments etc

I wfh and the benefits for me completely out weigh any increase in money, especially 10%. I'd not take a job that involved me being in the office more than twice a month .

If those two days at home are important to you then I would not accept the offer.

Didn’t you know the requirements before you applied for the role? Thats something I would have discussed upfront before it got to any offer stage.

If your new employer is imposing this then they don't deserve good people. For 10%, with just the commute, not taking anything else into consideration, I would decline. And tell them why.

Thanks everyone

I have turned the offer down, there is no flexibility on the 4 days a week in the office and that doesn't suit

I also worry that 4 days might become 5 at some point

Although I can some weeks do 4 days a week in the office if needed for training etc its not the norm and 4 days of leaving home at 7.30am back at 7.30pm I'm tired especially if there are tube issues etc and I'm back later

I'm no spring chicken any more !!!!

good on you. I would have done the same! Not worth it in your circumstances.

Sounds like you made the right call. Did you tell them it was due to the 4 day requirement?

You have made the right decision. Good on you and I hope you can continue to enjoy your current job.

I can’t speak for you but a 10% increase wouldn’t be worth the loss of 4 hours of free time per week for me.

Sorry op, just seen your update. Think you made the right choice.

I turned down a offer that was a pay increase but less than I wanted when coupled with the fact that the benefits were not as good as my employer- and although it was only 1 extra day in the office it would have been an hour commute on a busy unreliable train rather than my 20 min drive for 1-2 days a week I had.

Roll on 7 months and I am with my employer but got my promotion for a 40%pay rise and with the excellent benefits and easy commute- glad I stayed! Plus my new salary means I have better prospects if I did job hunt as I am already at the senior level.

I think yabu as 4 days in office is still good. Says me who is in school 5 days a week! I’m not bitter…🤨
Things may change though and you’d be daft to not consider a promotion or to negotiate.

I spoke to the recruiter and explained that this was a big factor for me and I wish I had known earlier in the process

Recruiter said they want candidates to fall in love with the company before they get told about the 4 days ...or words to that effect

Recruiter is talking out of their arse.

They’re counting on candidates having a sunk cost fallacy or being indifferent to higher attendance.

They know hybrid is a hook. Fall in love with the company my arse.