That ship has sailed

[Grooveisintheheartbaby]

My company want us back to the office 5 days a week. As far as I and colleagues are concerned that ship has sailed and we will not be coming back we will leave. AIBU to think that businesses need to accept that things changed in covid forever and they can't reverse it without massive disrest and unhappiness?

What kind of jobs allow people to do all that though? It would be immediately obvious you’re not doing your job properly if you’re admin is behind/meetings are missed because you’re doing laundry and life admin.Surely?
If you can get your job done and fit all that in, clearly you haven’t got a big enough workload, that’s the employers fault.

In my office genuinely hours are wasted chatting about Love Island and god knows what. I’m certainly less productive and out the door on the dot due to the commute, unlike when I wfh.

Wow that’s really interesting. I have found the complete opposite for our workforce. Just goes to show there is no rule that fits all.

I know plenty of people working in tech/software etc who worked from home at least a couple of days a week but went in for meetings with clients or travelled. But the days of having a permanent desk in an office was long gone. If you did go in it was hot desking so faffing about, noisier and not knowing if there would be a space. Not really surprising I guess that those companies let people do it because they are obviously always going to be ahead with the technology.

There are loads of work from home jobs. I have one myself! There are Facebook groups and job pages entirely dedicated to them.

Because I work more effectively from home.

The team I work with is geographically scattered all over the UK. I'm the only one in our team who is based in the city I'm based in. It's totally pointless for me to go and sit in the office, then have to have teams calls from my desk with people who are in different offices.

If my productivity was dropping as a result of working from home I wouldn't mind being asked back to the office. But it isn't.

There are a lot of remote jobs available in the industry I work in. If I was asked back to the office full time I would just look for other another job and it probably wouldn't take me that long to find one.

I don't feel entitled to work from home exactly, I just don't think it would be sensible for work to mandate a return to the office. The option to work from home is one of the things I like about my job. If I stop liking my job I look for another one.

Lots of companies are desperate for their staff to leave of their own accord to save on redundancy pay outs as they take increasing advantage of AI and automation.

Perhaps we need to start voting for parties that will champion a basic universal income lest we return to serfdom.

I recently hired someone who I later found out didn't need the job (part time) but thought it would be "fun" and "get her out of the house."

Needless to say as soon as there was a boring task she wasn't interested in doing she quit. I feel like the whole workforce would be like that if basic income was a thing.

Does anyone know the best place to look for a wfh job ?

I would have thought it’s a hell of a lot easier to get quick queries answered, quick updates on stuff, exchange info on an informal basis, without the need for constant catchups and meetings when you are all in an office.

Unfortunately the minority are spoiling it for the majority. I wfh, and we all know the ones who take the piss and don’t put the work in, but management don’t like to single people out, so I can see before long we will be dragged back in. I think the crap ones should be targeted, and the rest of the team not have to be punished for the actions of a few.

Companies have the right to want people back in tne office. People have the right to look for another job.This wfh is a skivers charter,

I love it when people confidently make declarations like this despite having no knowledge of what the OP does in what industry or in what location.

What exactly makes you think that your company’s competitors have a different policy now? Ie, that they also haven’t gone back to 5 days a week in the office?

The company I work for does 60:40 with a very good level of flexibility but some people just keep taking the piss. Like no one was seen them in three months taking the piss. So guess what? Like our competitors, there are discussions about back in the office full time. Legally it seems, that is easier than placing individuals under sanction.

Friends in completely different industries (some of whom only have to be in one or two days a month and fucked off to live the good life on farms in Scotland/cornwall during lockdown) are finding exactly the same happening.

Can’t fathom why…

Are you able to provide lists of similar jobs that offer remote working? Everything I’m seeing is ‘hybrid’ which generally means 3 days in office and 2 at home.

Your industry must be rife with lazy arses, our productivity is at its best when we’re at home with no office distractions.

You got me there, I work like a fiend but I am two stone heavier.

Yanbu. We’ve been struggling to recruit for some roles as big bosses insist on 4 days minimum in the office, industry standard post-pandemic is 2-3 days max so people are choosing roles elsewhere rather than with us.

At my husband’s company they’ve never really insisted people go back but are
now making noises about people going in 60%. He has a number of colleagues who’ve since moved hundreds of miles to the other side of the country - those people won’t be back so they’re going to have a huge recruitment bill and skills gap if they insist on removing wfh.

@TwoNinetyNine well the distraction at home might be that they’re not where they’re saying they are if you see what I mean.

@Miyagi99 our industry involves actually having to respond very promptly to information, often on shift or on call basis so it’s very obvious when someone isn’t. So frankly you’re wrong about lazy arses.

No people aren’t usually irreplaceable but if you make a. High amount of working in the office compulsory then they will struggle to replace people.

Agree with this- what does your contract say op, or are you bring asked to sign a new one? You may also be used to.more money from being home, ie no commuter costs, no late pick ups if you have kids, less money on smart clothes, make up

It's not for everyone though. It depends so much on work ethic of employees.

When you say "there is no need for them to stay working from home"

Working from home can be life changing for neuro diverse people and people with disabilities. Lots of people with hidden disabilities may have been really struggling to thrive in an office environment, now finally they can work more comfortably from home. Mandating a return to the office is failing to recognise that not everyone works in the same way. Yes people can ask for reasonable adjustments but not everyone will want to declare their disabilities.

The government has been trying to persuade people not to take early retirement and to stay in employment. But people will be much less tempted to stay in employment if they are not able to work in the way that suits them best. I think if a company wants to attract and retain the best talent then it pays to offer an attractive working environment.

We never really implemented WFH as it doesn't work at all with our office systems, so it was fractured to start with in lockdown, and staff returned as soon as we could - there is no work from home now, nor the possibility of it - which is good, a great atmosphere!

This. Productivity here seems to be measured by how much time you are green on teams....rather than on what you are achieving and in what time frame. Wfh has revolutionised the workplace for many women and people with disabilities in particular, what is needed is a balance. No-one is suggesting that people wfh all the time but to insist everyone comes back into the office because of suspicions that Mary is getting her third load of laundry done today and is therefore not getting her work done is outdated thinking. We need to continue to evolve.