To wonder how we ever did 5 days a week in an office?

[OptimismvsRealism]

I work hard and love my job (legal). Spent a day in the office today for the first time in months and honestly feel sick. The people flu! I couldn't go back. All those blokes in the City saying WFH was an "aberration" are deluded.

I get that some people love it and there's enough diversity in this world for everyone to find their niche but Oh My God am I glad I don't have to do the daily traipse any more.

Horses for courses, l hate working from home find it so dull and lonely but l like my colleagues x

I would be wary of "literally" not being able to work in an office again. A friend of mine, after 4 years of wfh in a job that can easily be done completely remotely, is now being phased back into the office along with all their colleagues. The plan was to remain at home permanently, then management fairly suddenly decided to do a phased return to the office (1 day a week, gradually increasing to 5 over time).

WFH has changed my life.. I can take kids to school, once I finish I can start on dinner rather than an hour commute. Laundry done during lunch hour, no distractions from colleagues.. I am twice as efficient at my job and twice as happy. If I had to go back to the office 5 days a week honestly I would be distraught.

Same here, except I don’t have children. With hindsight, I was struggling pre-COVID. A demanding FT job, with a one-hour drive in each direction. I was out the house from 7.30am-6pm, 5 days per week and it was getting too much.

However during lockdown, and working fully from home for 18 months, I realised it was the travelling I struggled with, not the job. We now do hybrid, I go into the office twice per week, and it’s perfect. The best of both world and it’s saved my career. I really enjoy my two office days, I get my people fix, and on my WFH days I really get my head down. I am in my 50s and hybrid will prolong my working life.

I suspect a lot of people will leave?

Well of course teachers can ask their employers to be flexible so they can teach while sitting in their spare room or GPs can run a surgery from their kitchen

Fair enough that you have a work life balance that you like, I do too, but I am not selfish enough to not realise that it’s a privileged position to be in

I wouldn't be surprised, friend is looking for a new job and they're only on 1 day a week in the office at the moment.
I can't say it would be bother me, but their office is in a busy city centre so I think it's the rush hour commute that's a big issue.

It isn't privileged! It's a basic expectation in certain sectors.

I know it's a risk but I would leave. Rubbish for your friend I hope she finds a way past!

@LetTheCardsFallWhereTheyMay great minds😁!

@OptimismvsRealism I'm genuinely interested in whether or not you are so financially secure that you could just merrily leave your job if you felt like it?! You don't seem to have any understanding of the fact that people need to pay the bills?

Fair enough, I do see how it could be an issue on many levels, especially if you have a long/busy commute!
Personally I think wfh is a no brainer if the job can be done remotely, staff are happy and productivity doesn't suffer, as it's keeping costs down, but I've noticed a few companies now wanting a return to the office for some reason.

@OptimismvsRealism you sound utterly insufferable and rather unpleasant in your smug boasting

…. Don’t be dumb about this, OP. It doesn’t ‘work’ for everyone, some people just don’t have the choice. And saying you ‘quite literally couldn’t’ is bullshit. Of course you ‘quite literally could’. If you had to you would have to. Let’s not make up imaginary illnesses like ‘people flu’ to pretend we couldn’t. The long and short of it is that you just don’t want to. It’s really poor form to speak to people as if their life is the worse thing you can imagine.

Did no one have a short, cheap, enjoyable commute before Covid? 😅 I love going into the office - fresh air, brisk walk, time to read or listen to something on the bus or train.

Me too, it’s my idea of hell. I’m in the office 5 days a week.

I also couldn’t wfh, I love the office I work in. My colleagues are more like friends, we chat as we work. We celebrate birthdays and share food and we work as a team.
Not only would I feel isolated at home and bored but I would be mega distracted by chores. I’m fairly sure my productivity would fall.

I don't get the phone answering argument.

All our traditional handsets have been removed from desks anyway. All phone calls come through teams.

My computer is a laptop which goes in a dock.

I don't know how anyone would be able to tell if I'm in the office or at home as the equipment is identical.

I travel 3 hours a day and work until 10pm 5 days a week. 9-5 whingers make me laugh.

There is a difference between going five days to an office and five days to a place of work in my opinion. There are jobs where it is necessary to be in a place of work, and those where part of the week it can be done well at home. Where I think some companies have got it wrong is basing such a decision on presenteeism or just simply what the senior manager prefers.

The times where it is better to meet face to face if planned properly do not need five days in an office in many cases.

If you can't give people a pay rise, at least give them some time back by a saving on commuting. And let's face it, I'm fortunate in my present job that I have people I like working with. I recognise that some people are difficult to be with, or are just different in some way without an ounce of malice in that.

Im also legal.

Pre covid firms hated home working. Just why?

Now I WFH full time.

No 2-3 hours of daily commuting. Flexible hours so I start work at 7:00-7:30 (early riser) and I’m done by 16:00.

No distractions, or constant interruptions, I can sit with my dog, cook at lunchtime, or have a nap and work the evening instead.

Doesn’t even feel like work tbh, I love my job!

I hate wfh so I'm happy that I'm in the office full time.

We work with a lot of trainees and their entry into the workplace would be much poorer if everyone wfh

But nurses, police, teachers can't work from home! We have to commute and go in and work long hours whilst the rest of the world swans about at home, picking the kids up and preparing dinner and getting laundry on.
Just makes these essential jobs even less enticing to go into. And we wonder why no one wants to do these jobs when the other option is working from home!

I do about four days in the office. Love my day at home but am finding more and more meetings are now in person.

I do get much more out of meeting people in person - my work relies a lot on relationships - so a lot of chats in coffee shops and catching people in the sidelines of meetings and at conferences etc. couldn’t do it 100% from home.

but it is great to have a bit more flexibility - and I notice that much fewer in person meetings are scheduled for Fridays.

my work in a minimum of two days in the office and this feels like a good balance.

Is that something you're happy about??

Did you actually read my post you were replying to?

Why? I still do my job 100% working from home, why would the people whose job it is to reply to these messages specifically not because they’re not sat in an office?

I could not go back to 5 days a week! My company currently have a rule of up to 2x a week but getting the sense they want to increase. People are clearly happier having the flexibility to WFH and I really hope it does not change. Amongst all the chaos COVID brought, the WFH hybrid working was one of the best things to come out of it.