To ask why employers will bully, stomp and bribe with lunch vouchers to make staff go back to the office

[Everythingisnumbersnow]

But won't in any way make the office a nicer place to be?

Hotdesk serfdom is real.

Just give people a space and treat them like humans?

Hybrid the way my organisation does it is the worst of both worlds. Hot-desking, very very few whole team in the office days ( and there’s ALWAYS someone who “can’t” due to childcare. Mainly because no one has childcare anymore.
I suggested after school club to my manager, who “couldnt” come to the office and he baulked at the tenner it would cost for 2 kids, as he normally collects them from school during working hours and pays nowt.
It’s funny how when I was a lone working parent I had childcare, and emergency childcare, set up because I had to!
I miss my own desk, with a drawer and a plant. I miss actual real life meetings, and the ability to actually get work done at speed instead of endless teams meetings. I hate staring at a screen constantly, which I still end up doing when in the office.
A lot of the younger staff do attend the office daily, and I’m pleased they do do social things together, but the middle aged like me rarely come in.
I wish we had a mandatory 2 days a week when the whole team was in but I’m certain half of them are too fragile now to manage it.
I don’t mind a couple of days WFH but I genuinely don’t think it’s healthy to have work encroaching on your real life, in your own home.
Also, the traffic is so much worse since COVID, and it’s ALL DAY! I only ever get in my car on WFH days, to shop at lunch or whatever. I get public transport to the office, like most people in a city.

Yes, and I find it bizarre.

I'm pretty high on the introvert scale but frankly we have to manage these situations and build up a resilience. I have worked with some very difficult people over the years, but I learned to deal with it. I don't believe that just ducking out of things you don't like is always the ideal option.

I have no problem with WFH either, but you seem to be taking the view that being expected to work in an office is unreasonable and it is you who are dismissing people who are e pressing reservations about this position, and pointing out the downsides.

I worked for a couple of companies and know a few more companies that tried that.

It's nice to know that not everywhere has people with the skills, plus there are data location issues ruling off shoring to some countries.

Bruiser?

Or maybe they will learn resilience, and will have the support of senior co-workers who will help them gain the confidence to manage the occasional difficult colleague or stressful situation.

You sound like you work in the SAS!

Ooh would be nice if they did that for non office jobs!

Indeed, I don't get the whole hiding away from the world thing. Well I do a bit now I'm getting older but rarely spend a day just at home. Whole new world of not leaving the house, deliveries online, the posts about people not setting a foot outside the door for weeks. Yes, very sad and an unrealistic bubble which will continue to shrink amd leave feeling lonely.

Pension companies have huge investments in commercial real estate, which affects everyone with a pension.

So if my pension is invested in alcohol and tobacco companies...?

The days before Internet technology socialising was huge! X

It's very outdated to imagine this can always be done for tiny wages too. Guess what, people who can work remotely abroad for a UK company have internet access, spoken English and useful skills. That gives them a lot more options than just British companies who apparently haven't noticed their staff were working remotely for the last half decade, but are going to make everyone redundant as soon as they wake up.

Hotdesking makes sense, what’s the issue with it? Why do you need your own desk.

I would not want to be in the office everyday anymore but I do see the benefits of being there sometimes so I think 50/50 is ideal (my work requires 3 days per week in the office or at clients).

Luckily my employer has quite a sensible approach. Hybrid working is fine, but minimum 2 days/week in the office. As the organisation is growing we're starting to run out of desk space, so the new policy is that those who are in the office an average of 4-5 days/week have their own desk, while those who are there 2-3 days have to share. Of course there were complaints from those who now need to share, but it seems like a reasonably fair way of organising it to me.

I am currently seconded elsewhere and it's a really noticable difference. Lots of people WfH 90+% of the time. Great for them, but as a newcomer who is in the office most days it's horrible.

Which excluded some people, of course.

I'd hope we all feel equally sad for people who missed out on the beers after work because of caring responsibilities, long commutes, feeling uncomfortable in a pub due to religion or addiction, needing to rest or multiple other reasons. It wasn't without downsides.

If everyone is fully at home you miss the random coffee machine discussions/ bits before and after meeting. These are useful for building relationships and having the more sporadic discussions that can often result in great ideas.

I also think working at home can be great for experienced people but not so great for the younger/newer employees who need lots of coaching . Getting it all remotely doesn’t have the same results.

Absolute monsters indeed 😂.
Bet ops really glad she doesn't work under the NHS.
What's a free lunch?

Very true but because some people missed out doesn’t mean that all should. You’re never going to find social events to suit everyone so the key is having a range of different events so that everyone has some that they can attend.
May my work we send out surveys asking what events people want and you see from the responses that you can never please everyone- for example half of the people want them at the office so it’s easier to get to/can get home quicker whilst the other half want them at external venues as they can’t relax properly in the office

Right? Maybe the problem was the type of lunch. No one wants sandwiches when filet mignonette could be had. I mean really. Unless of course you are a vegetarian…..

Why would working in the NHS deserve a free lunch? Clearly you are paid hundreds of thousands, work onky 7.5 hours a day, have plenty of breaks, never work overtime or take additional shifts, get parking for free at work, have zero stress (especially in the very quiet months of winter) and are treated well by management and patients. Maybe you should downgrade and work at the OP”s place.

I'd say the key is to accept that not everyone wants to or can participate in out of work socialising, and to try and minimise the impact of that within the workplace. That is not something that always happened prior to covid. There are plenty of posts on here from people who've talked about how they got to know superiors at work drinks etc. Sometimes this sort of stuff had an impact on prospects, which obviously was bad for the people who couldn't take advantage of it. It's no bad thing that this is less common now.

Interesting; how did you measure those things, what metrics did you use?

This is another example of how people who are disadvantaged by in person work go unnoticed. The young people and newer employees you're talking about are clearly those who are able to access in person work. But actually, there are and always have been young people for whom that was a problem, and who have more opportunities now remote work is more available. They're young workers just as much as the ones who like being in an office and are easily able to access one.

And this is why employers want to get employees back to office! Too much p* taking. I know people who have cancelled childcare as they WFH???????
I've met people at allotments/hairdressers and nailbars all whilst WFH
And for those who say 'we get the job done', surely the majority of people are paid for a number of hours.
Has totally divided society and further cocooned the privileged workforce

Not true and I really don’t think you can speak on behalf of your entire generation. During covid for example the gen z”Ers in my team were the first to go back by choice and wanted to be back in the office more than others.

That goes without saying, the conversation was about the trend that as a society many people would go out more.

No it doesn't. It actually needed saying, when the post you replied to described it as a sad thing.

Because hotdesking is rarely implemented well. Never enough desks, for a start.

Also, people aren't robots. I find it very disruptive.

Interaction. Networks shrank; the number of both strong ties and weak ties reduced. People who joined during COVID still had much smaller, weaker networks two years later. Manager time with their people plummeted. Interactions between different business areas did too.