Employers hell bent on working in the office full time

[NewDayNewLife25]

Anyone else currently job searching and noticed the same thing?

I'm utterly miserable in my current role which is unfortunate as I've been there for 4 years and use to love it, but a new manager has changed things. I've always worked from home.

Anyway, I've been applying for jobs, mainly remote/hybrid working but also a few office based roles. I always state in my cover letter what I'm looking for, and my address is on my CV too.

A few employers have contacted me, saying that I'm perfect for the role, have all the experience/skills that's required and that they think I would make a great addition to the team. But as soon as I've asked about the working set up, that's it, done. They won't entertain it and decline my application.

I just think it's a shame. I know that they probably have plenty of applications, but surely it's more important to hire the right person, with the right skills and experience. Not just because that person happens to live near the office. Half the time they can't even explain why they need the person in the office. Is it control?

I'm fed up already!

He or she who pays the piper calls the tune. Get used to it!

Moving with the times is actually more and more people are being called back to work in the office

I don’t think so it’s the government that want people back in the office. Think offices spaces that aren’t being rented, VAT on petrol, trains buses etc that aren’t being used, food/coffee shops that don’t have customers. I’ve noticed more and more people on TV recently commenting on how people need to be brought back into the office. There seems to be a drive to convince companies to bring workers back. It appears to be working if my commute to work is anything to go by as there was little traffic after the Covid years, but now it is virtually vack ti what it was pre-pandemic.

There was a good deal of WFH prior to COVID. For many, many years before COVID. What a strange comment.

No, that's just business wanting to go backwards because it suits them. And when all the most talented people go to organisations that aren't wedded to bricks and mortar, when those organisations start to outcompete the stick in the muds because they are flexible and can hire the best people globally - then they might learn that you can't put the chicken back in the egg.

My grandad was a master cabinet maker. He had a little workshop in the old outside loo. Worked from home his whole life. When he got back from building ships up at Barrow in the war. People have always worked from home. The notion it's a COVID fad is absurd. It just isn't good for some people, some business models or some professions. If you want to work from home, build a career where it's possible and highly productive. If you don't, enjoy all the benefits of working in a face to face environment. I just don't get the bun fight!

I've not read all the comment but I’m a business owner and have stopped all WFH/Hybrid working.

Two key reasons;

1. Junior / inexperienced members of the team were not getting the support, growth opportunities and benefits of having a ln experienced team around them to help with development. As a business leader, that’s not fair to the junior's. As a business owner it causes a risk to the business as people are gatekeeping their knowledge, it makes succession planning harder.
2. There has been a significant rise in homeworkers claiming an ‘accident at work’ in their own homes. This in turn has bumped the cost of insurances up for having homeworkers. By having employees in the office you have more control and mitigate risk.

If you spoke to most employers we couldn’t give a noodle where you are as long as the job is done and to the expected standard. But we have to assess what is best for everyone on the team not just Individual cases. We also have to do right by the business and have a duty to protect it and everyone’s jobs.

Times are hard for business owners, really hard, just watch the news. This means we are having to really consider our business plans and make decisions we know are not going to work for everyone.

As for applying to roles that you know are unsuitable for your circumstances, I personally wouldn’t carry you forward as it’s a waste of everyone’s time and quite honestly there are a lot of people out there looking for jobs so the likelihood is someone with the same experience is available.

Wishing the best of luck in your search.

Wrong. I was working at home many years before the pandemic.

She should work in an office if that's how the business runs. Or look for another job. Your employee is there to suit the business, not the other way round.

My partners and I set up a business decades ago and sold it 7 years later for an amazing amount of money,. The way we ran it - besides trying to be the best in our field - was quite simple: we made it fun. We held more parties, arranged more good times than any competitor.

But we expected people to work like hell - and gave them a share which they benefited from when we sold out. It's a pretty good recipe. But it does not let the employee to decide how your business should run.

Same question, it's an office, whether at home or an actual building? X

If it's an office job then surely going to the office is, well, what it entails? Like the rest of us, teach and go to school, Police and patrol, nurses and go to the hospital, sales sp go to the shop, vets sp go the surgery etc.

I really don't get why this is a problem?

There are the same employers who are the same in non office jobs. Mental well being and productivity? NHS, teaching, fire service, police, retail... no one is free from microscopic management. It's everywhere these days and that's with commute, doing a hands on, face to public tough job. 😳

Yep! Being in an office environment means you have a toilet nearby, fridge, kettle, microwave etc all to use during a working day. This sounds pretty good to me, along with not having to face the public. No matter the job, it's computer based so completely different. Tiring of course, as any job, but the extra crap you have to deal with. Xx

This!

What’s stopping you being office based? some wfh people sound very entitled on here before Covid it wasn’t a massive issue it was normal to go in the office now people are like employers are a pain telling me to get back to the office how dare they! it was only meant to be temporary solution employers have the right to get you back in the office for every day if they choose to. It’s what they want a lot of employers want now if it’s controlling so what they pay you to work then get over yourself.

@Pessismistic Employees have a right to try and get better working conditions. If people followed your philosophy, we would still not get paid maternity leave

Absolutely but sometimes the answer is no

I actually had hybrid working that was more slanted towards wfh pre COVID. I had two office days then and I have three now!

I don't want to ever be office-based again. I will be retiring in the next 5 years, hopefully sooner rather than later. I don't want to face the traffic of a busy commute, and to what end? I can do what I do more effectively from home than I could in the office. I can spend the time I'd have to use driving in actually working. I can start fresh without being stressed to the max stuck in heavy traffic.

I work for a multi-site organisation and the team I am in spans 5 different office locations. We were therefore never all together as a team in the first place. Even if we had a hybrid arrangement, the chances of being in the office with a colleague or two would still be low. Plus we go to meetings off-site regularly, so the whole 'team learning from each other' isn't a 'thing' anyway. Teams is actually a tool that brings us more access to each other, not less!

Even if we were in the office now, we'd be hotdesking so literally nowhere near each other in all probability!

People have had a taste of wfh for the last 5 years and see a full return to the office as regressive. Some employers have already reduced their estate so can't accommodate a full-scale return to the office.

If I had to go back, clearly I'd have to do it, but it looks unlikely. It's working for us, so I don't see any need to change it.

I don't know why people are so dismissive of wfh! It makes so much sense! I know it doesn't work for every role, but I am glad that it does for mine.

I think there's a lot of sour grapes tbh...

But it’s not about better working conditions, as most offices/workplaces are good environments.

It’s about your lifestyle choices and preferences. Which is okay to have, but it’s not about working conditions.

I've been in the same part of the same organisation for 8 years. We were never allowed to wfh.

Our team manager has zero emotional intelligence and rules with a rod of iron. Sad because we have a dedicated, hard-working, experienced and well qualified team of professionals that deserves better. I can picture the face we would have been met with if we had ever dared to ask to wfh!!! She has always been majorly into presenteeism, so I think we were all quite astounded that she likes wfh and is content for us all to do it too!

WFH was almost as rare as hen's teeth in my previous roles too.

Most offices are shit environments. Bright open plan offices that are too bright and noisy

As opposed to a windowless office where nobody is allowed to make a noise.

You haven't seen mine!! 😂

Old building, not fit for purpose, too many staff all crammed in on top of each other, no privacy/confidentiality!

It's about a better work/life balance, and surely that is something any decent employer should want to create?

If it was my office, I would love that