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.

Yes - it's brilliant!

Coming up to 50, I'm finding working full time and commuting to be increasingly exhausting. WFH 2 days a week is all that is keeping me in a full time role (aside from money obv). They want us to work till 67 - we will need more flexibility, not less.

None.

It's now over 4 years since covid - if those organisations haven't managed to sort things so that employees can take calls and answer emails from home, then the WFH isn't what's wrong here!

Or, more likely, the lack of response is nothing at all to do with WFH (but if people are willing to believe it is, it will be trotted out as an excuse)

If people like WFH (and most people do - if nothing else it means the only hours you spend on work are the hours you're working, not a significant amount of extra time travelling there and back) then in the long term jobs which offer WFH will be easier to recruit for and careers where WFH is less common will attract fewer people in to them. This will affect how much employers have to pay people to get enough people to do different jobs.

Employers are pushing hard to have people do what I do back in their offices again. I see the same jobs being recruited for for months. The funny thing is - I am looking around for a new job right now (done all I can in current role really) and I wouldn't touch an office based role with a bargepole and presumably that's a common feeling. There's no need for me or anyone who does what we do to be in an office. Yet I have 25 years niche experience and could offer a lot to many of the roles I see - but I'm not even applying as I won't go into an office. Employers can keep trying to shove this back in the bottle but it isn't going.

I'm a teacher so not a chance. My daily "office" is with 30 loud children!!!

I mostly agree, but I have my price.

If an employer really wants me in the office and as a result is willing to pay a lot more than those who don't, then I'll go in the office.

I used to be a nurse but retrained prior to the pandemic and now work from home in a completely different sector. My quality of life is incomparably better now. I agree though jobs that don’t have the capacity for WFH like nurses, teaching etc will become less attractive career choices and we will continue to see shortages in these industries.

The government will need to pull its head out of the sand and improve the pay and conditions for these essential roles. I have lots of nursing friends who are realising the benefits of having the opportunity to work from home especially if you have caring responsibilities and actively looking for career changes.

Not an option in my field but I can never understand people saying things like they're 'three times as productive' what? What on earth were you doing before?

If you were that unproductive in the office I'd not expect you to have the kind of work ethic that would result in major productivity outside of it.

It makes no sense.

Mad how it's so different for everyone isn't it, pre pandemic I worked 9-5 in an office, then went WFH, and did this until September last year. It completely decimated my mental health. I put on weight, I dreaded every day and the weekends weren't much better because I would work from a desk in my bedroom so being in my room which was always a sanctuary just felt like work. It was also so much easier to start earlier if I wanted things done, and then finish later if someone asked me to do something. I left and have entered the education world and am retraining to be a teacher. It's completely changed my life for the better. The positive routine, seeing people and having my own identity outside of being a mum at home etc. Getting ready for the day etc. I just really enjoy all of it now and love the job , would never return to WFH. Whereas my dad has been self employed since before I was born, is a writer and has never worked in an office in his life, don't know how he does it. OH is the same, since pandemic never returned and doesn't need to, although it does bother him slightly and he has added a few days into his week where he works out of coffee shops etc to just feel like he's getting out. I think it's positive we are all different though and that we can all find a way of working that suits us all!

Carried on working.

OP, the reason I feel irritated whenever someone tells me how fabulous it is to work from home is because I am fed up of poor customer service that seems to be a direct result of people wfh.

Yesterday I was on the phone to our local council. It was a work call about SEND support. I reached someone who said she couldn't help me but would 'send out a message to see if anyone is available to speak to you.' A few minutes later she said 'sorry no one has picked up my message. It does go a bit quiet at school pick up time.'

It's not a one off because this sort of thing happens a lot.

And people all over sm laughing about how they wfh but can get away with watching Netflix or going back to bed - no idea if true but certainly out there, particularly on TikTok.

100% wfh for lawyers - in my view - is not ideal for learning and development. No more overhearing conversations and learning by osmosis. Maybe that's a valid trade-off, though,

i am not sure i would be entirely happy with my offspring wfh, the lack of social life, the posture concerns

In what way? Do you envisage desk phones ringing out in empty offices? I work for a similar organisation. We havn't had desk phones for about 15 years. I have a number that reaches me via MS Teams on my laptop and my mobile.

I'm not that dramatically less productive in the office, but it's far more distracting there.

I often end up wearing noise cancelling headphones to block out colleagues chatter, which nullifies the whole "learning by osmosis " thing.

I'm not great at multitasking and need to concentrate on my work. I never can understand how some people can yap away and still produce good work. I presume they do, but it's not something I can do.

I'm sure there are people who benefit from being there, and not everyone has the right home environment to be productive WFH, but for me hybrid is perfect.

This. Living in a decent house with an established family/group of friends? Fine. But not when trying to network, socialise, make connections etc.

I'm an administrator and I do one day a week at home. Would love to do more. I get so much done interrupted and am also starting to present with health problems which are so much easier to cope with at home. My little old dog passed away last year amd once I can move into a full time WFH job again I can get myself a new friend. I know I'd be so much happier and healthier as do my final 10 years appriaching retirement.

*UNinterrupted

if the people “working” from home are picking up the kids, putting the laundry out etc their house hone won’t be answered even if it’s connected to a laptop

I work 2 days in the office and 3 at home, which is the perfect balance for me. There's an informal rule of minimum 2 days office but it's quite flexible...and I have a short commute so sometimes I do more out of choice.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with WFH full time and I'm an introvert so thought it suited me. What I would say is that when I started to go back in, my DH noticed a real change in me for the positive in terms of my mood and mental health, and I now see it too...but only after I've returned. I'm terms of your post, I absolutely agree that for those who can work from home it's now hard to picture being back full time with the travelling and distrctions etc. But your post reads like you struggled with it for one day, which would ring alarm bells for me.

ETA I think what I mean is that there is a difference between enjoying and appreciating the positives of WFH versus it having such a fundamental impact on you that you can no longer function very well in an office environment with other people but havent recognised it. I don't mean this specific to you, OP. I just wanted to add it as a reflection for others reading, based on my own experience.

If people "WFH" are doing all that, they're taking the piss big style.

I love wfh. I am adhd/asd and i have massive sensory issues being in an office. Wfh has enabled me to work and I'm bloody good at what i do. I was in permanent burnout when i worked in the office full time (undiagnosed at the time)

Wfh is a godsend for quite a lot of disabled people.

I work for a local authority and my team never returned to an office post-covid as the LA sold our office. We meet once a month and WFH the rest of the time.

I love it. If our public sector calls don't get answered, it isn't because we are WFH. It's because our staffing has been cut 34% whilst our demand coming in has increased 150% over the same period.

Well good for you. Not so good for people entering the workforce nor indeed the economy, or people who have to wfh in unsuitable spaces or with aggravated mental health issues or domestic violence but hey as long as it suits you.