If employers were mandated to allow employees to WFH unless there was a clear reason to need someone physically in a workplace

[OptimismvsRealism]

All the trains and buses at commuter time would be so much less hideous

Infections would be down

Diets healthier

Work life balance more serene

Why do humans always work against their own interests?

Well, it's been shown that people understand and retain less information when communicating electronically.... ;)

Well for a start, trains would be more expensive to cover losses.

Diets wouldn't necessarily be healthier, nor would people. Sitting in your house all day isn't good for mind, body or spirit.

As for infections, we'd probably become so feeble with not being faced with germs every day that we would die of a cold.

Your ideal world sounds horrible to me OP.

Because people like to interact with other people. Chatting in the office you bond as a team. Stuck in a small room in your own house not meeting other people your mental health and physical health will get worse. Sounds awful.

I am definitely healthier when in the office as we have a gym onsite so it takes me about 30 seconds to travel to it compared to 30 minutes to my home gym. I wouldn’t have time to go if wfh every day

For all that some people skive when WFH there have always been plenty of people skiving in office based roles.

Companies frequently make decisions, issue blanket policies, not for any logical reason but because it suits the personal whims of the person in charge. I had an MD who didn't believe people worked unless he could see them sweating. Issued a blanket policy that everyone had to be in the office 5/5.

Then he got a puppy.

Could not agree more WFH has been a revelation for me. We are in the 21st century and people should be able to choose. When it suited employers for people to WFH it was allowed now when it doesn't we get ordered back into the office.

I would be interested to hear what jobs allow people to work from home full time as I am soon going to be in the position of needing to find one.

During Covid people with young kids were given a lot of leeway and would often have to duck out of meetings etc. all fine. But that has continued and it’s not acceptable to combine childcare with wfh.

it can’t be good for the kids either!

When it suited employers for people to WFH it was allowed now when it doesn't we get ordered back into the office.

Well yeah, if it does't suit an employer then they will expect employees back in the office.
They have a business to run 🤷🏼‍♀️

Covid had millions of parents on their knees and employers needed to understand.

Trying to ensure children didn't fall behind with school.
Trying to entertain and provide stimulation for pre-schoolers.
Trying to work.
It was relentless

I honestly don't know why anyone would do that by choice especially not preschoolers and work. And I honestly don't believe it can be done without neglecting either the job or the children or probably both.

Working from home should only be allowed part time.

It is an incredibly divisive and antisocial idea which suits those who are middle aged with large houses. Residential areas are primarily for living, not pseudo offices. There is always tension between those WFH and everyone else, be it other family members or other houses just enjoying their young children in the daytime making normal noise.

In addition, I do think it damages productivity, if not short term then long term. You cannot mentor someone effectively if you can’t have a proper face to face meeting and after work drinks are really useful to bond different generations. And, of course, there are at-home skivers.

I do suspect some of the productivity research was done by WFH employees who, at least, had a subconscious bias.

A little flexibility for WFH is a good idea, but one to two days a week should be the maximum.

Exactly, it's ridiculous! Dread to think how many companies would go out of business if this did become law

When it suited employers for people to WFH it was allowed now when it doesn't we get ordered back into the office.

I don't think it ever suited employers, they did what they had to do to keep their business a float!

Cloud cuckoo land thinking
Why should people just expect the world to revolve around them? being part of society means doing stuff that doesn't satisfy all your needs all of the time.
Sometimes, you have to be a bit 'out of your way' to make life work.
Or let's mandate that nurses and police have the option to work from home, and if you need an ambulance, just pop round to the nearest paramedic working from home.

OMG you have no idea about running a business!
You are just playing us now aren't you

Any excuse to be lazy then

A lot of businesses have done this.

As the quality of different sectors rises in those markets it'll happen more and more. I don't think working in an office will save you from that though.

I think it's about balance. I am looking for another job to avoid 💯 wfh as I need to see other people not move from just working to cleaning the toilet between meetings lol and

I work for a local authority who refuse to give us an office space so work exclusively from home. I wish everywhere possible was a mix rather than one or the other

I have friends and leave the house every day to see them and family. If you have these things the office is a huge crushing drag.

The disgusting toilets in my office are one of the reasons I don't want to go in. Shit-coated from about 845am without fail.

In France this is the law 😁

I am not sure if the government should be able to facilitate how a company operates in terms of office based vs. WFH.

Although, I absolutely love working from home and my company is extremely flexible with the whole hybrid/office based/WFH.

You can pretty much work from any of those bases anytime you like, as long as people are achieving targets then they have no issue with where you choose to work. I choose fully remote and it works for me, I find myself much more productive WFH and more relaxed.

There does seem to be a lot of hate towards WFH and I really don't get it, my company is flexible and that's great for me. I would hate to go back to working in the office, WFH is great for my mental wellbeing and I do have a social life so I am not a total recluse!

I don't usually quote an OP, but these are all also reasons why wfh might not be a good thing.

• We need to be exposed to build immunity

• I don't eat better at home. With the fridge nearby, I eat far more than I do at work.

• for serene read boring and isolated, not good for everyone

Personally, managing a ream which includes large numbers of young new entrants every year, my business reason for "needing" experienced staff in is so that that experience can rub off on the youngsters, just the way that they benefited from he experience of others. I don't care if you do think you're more efficient at home without interruptions, you're skipping an important part of the job, one that is really important to the future of the business.

Luckily you don't rule the world so you don't get to dictate what companies offer and how everyone should feel about it.