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?

The crying baby is a bit annoying when you are trying to discuss intricate details of a mortgage on the phone but can barely hear over the "shoosh now here's your bottle" I must agree.

That is annoying, but the problem isn't people working from home, it happens because some people work from home without proper child care arrangements.

How often is your doorbell ringing? And to be fair the telly does not call me, because I'm working.

I don't get the push for in office working when companies have downsized their infrastructure of offices, investment in real time office working lead by management which is improbable due to the fact they also benefited from the distribution of network talent they did not have previously, e.g recruiting outside of a lower paid salary geography because it didn't matter. Hence noone is in the same location anyway and it just seems to be pockets of people on calls next to each other who literally lose travel time to the office, morale of being in the office with a few other colleagues on calls. None of these people are ones who "try" and look after their children in the working day at home. It's other people who have sailed that ship because when you are at work be it in the home or office you cannot look after young children whilst doing your work. It's very simple and for some of us obvious. You need someone else to care for you child when you are working, regardless of location.

Sounds like my ideal day!

I don't understand why you don't want to go into the office. A change of scene and actually being with people is stimulating, if only part time. I'd have hated to work from home.

I always find responses to these types of threads strange. There seems to be so much jealousy of those that wfh or those that stick up for themselves. In my industry, people demand what they want, a lot of companies will agree to it because they need the skilled labour and if a person is good enough, they’re worth it.

My company recalled us for two days a week but it is flexible. I was pregnant so they agreed I should just wfh as it was easier and when I return I’ll wfh for 6 months as I’ll be pumping still.

I find it bizarre that people think companies, predominantly the big ones, make this call based on productivity and not due to the leases they have and real estate they need to encourage people back to. Lots on Reddit with evidence for this where people have more intellectual discussions on the matter.

I get at lot less migraines working from home - more control over triggers like perfume etc so works well for me. My team mainly live in other states anyway so we just end up chatting over teams from our respective offices.

YANBU. I'd never go back to 5 days in the office, no matter how much they paid me. That was 10 hours a week of my life wasted travelling back and forth, then more time wasted sitting for an hour at lunch with nothing pleasurable to do. WFH gave me an extra 15 hours a week to use I see fit. Much better work/life balance for me.

I think employees overestimate their power to change or influence this, or the ability to walk into an alternative remote opportunity. We have had the policy change at our workplace to great frustration from practically everyone - but I don't know anyone who has actually left because of it because it's happening industry wide and hiring isn't great right now.

it is a really difficult adjustment to make once more - hopefully hybrid working will be sustained in the years ahead.

As long as people are sat in front of their laptop and not skiving

I think you've made my point for me here. Since covid, nobody ever answered their phone, you'd have to leave a message, wait for the call back, and ask the excuses.

What they didn't realise was that I could see exactly what activity levels they had on their laptop / computer.

Unfortunately, it wasn't. To be fair, the company I worked in was a peculiar place, however many of my friends experienced similar.

This 💯

Productivity seems to fall when people are fitting work in between dogs, children, laundry, etc. Strange that

Stick to your guns OP. WFH is the only way to have a reasonable life.

I thought she meant distress and just mis-spelt.

I suspect the company know some people may leave, but if they want their staff back in 100% then they come back or leave. I do think 5 days is a lot, unless you’re in your first 6 months but I think that 2-3 days is optimal, gives me a chance to catch up. But if your company don’t want to continue with hybrid then back to the office everyone goes, and I guess they will see what happens.

This we have to go in 1 day a week. Invariably the least productive day, we have an open plan office as well, so unless you stick your headphones on the interuptions are almost constant. Whereas at home I have an office with a door that closes and a physical set up which I have designed to maximise my efficiency.

In theory I do agree, personally I’m much happier and more productive with a hybrid model and my company (big global corporate) has no plans to send us back in full time. BUT if they did then I’d have to suck it up or move on

What I would say is that I have been looking for a new position lately and roles that are full time in the office are paying a lot more than some of the hybrid ones so at least there is some recognition there.

Nobody distracting me with a question. That’s part of the reason companies want people back. The people who have been there years don’t think what it’s like to be a young person learning a job with 1-2 office days per week. People on ‘do not disturb’ or don’t answer when they phone for help. Just hearing work chat in the office is what helps someone to learn their role and their industry. Yes people taking the P should be tackled, just like it should in the office if they are constantly away from their desk. But managing a team who work at home isn’t easy and you don’t get the most out of a team who are all working at home all the time. Especially those who refuse to put cameras on, it’s no wonder companies want their staff back 100%. Its for a combination of many things i’d say why it’s not working and not all based on whether people hit their target.

Speak for yourself, I’m at my desk for calls at 8am when I’m at home and apart from lunch I’m normally still there at 6pm.

Well I was looking for a remote or hybrid role with atleast 3 days WFH when I started looking for work after a break of a few years where I had two children and took some time off. I found a job but it was not as well paid as the one I previously had, I ONLY accepted the job because they said 4 days WFH and 1 day in office, I calculated the cost of bf club, after school club, parking etc on my day in work and found that even though the pay wasn’t great atleast I had the flexibility to work from home the rest of the time, and I could save that money and hence took the job. Now if they made me go in to work 5 days a week, I would lose out on nearly £850 monthly on bf clubs, after school club and parking. That would make my job even less attractive as the pay is already low compared to corporate, I currently work in the public sector. So yes, I would quit and to those saying it is hard to find a job and not everyone will quit, I have already been head hunted and had a job offer when I wasn’t even looking, just through linked in. But I declined as I had just joined. So I would definitely look and I am sure find something in corporate with a better pay and yes possible hybrid or remote.

In London the trains and tubes are back to pre-Covid levels at least three days a week. The motorways in the South East are as busy as before too.

WFH is great for the individual but not always best for the company or shareholders.

I don’t think it’s great for kids who are often left to be minded by the iPad nanny. Too many don’t have suitable childcare or are hosting play dates while working.

The great return is real. I’d start to look for a WFH job as there are not that many of them.

You only have to look at these threads to see the posters who say how wfh benefits them because the can do the laundry, walk the dog, pick up the kids from school…

I’ve even seen posts recommending automatic mice so it looks like some is at their computer while they’re baking a cake…

I wfh full-time, and I am fully productive. In fact my job is such that it’s not something I would get away with. But it’s naive to think that because you don’t take the piss, that there aren’t others who do.

I found out this week when a new office day rota when round that someone has their child at home with them one of their working days. They have been told that this is against company policy. Fine for an hour after school but definitely not pre schoolers at home. This person is fairly new but the manager (also fairly new) didn’t realise that this wasn’t allowed. When i said how is she going to get her job done whilst looking after a toddler and she then said ‘oh yeah’. This is another big problem with WFH. People trying to save on childcare costs.

I think it varies. My employer sold our offices so I am wfh for the foreseeable and love it.

My sisters employer tried to get everyone back in but had to backtrack massively when the resignations started piling in. They have compromised on two days in, but some staff are still leaving as they don’t want to do it and in our sector it’s really easy to find wfh roles

Theres a PP who must work at my company- people using dogs as a reason for not coming into the office. From a HR perspective it isn’t my problem!