to be tired of the jealousy towards people who WFH?

[WFHFan]

No one can post a thread about it without someone chiming in threatening if their job can done from home then it could be given to someone in another country or AI could take it.

Other people saying companies want everyone back in the office. Yes some do. Mine doesn't. They do not have the space anymore. Neither will my job go to someone in another country because of expertise and it does involve some critical face to face work. AI can't do it either.

Then some people getting offended saying if someone is WFH they shouldn't do anything else but work non stop. I can work and I do chores, shopping, school pick up, errands. It does not affect the standard or quantity of my work. I don't doubt it does affect some people's work.

I have won two awards for performance already.

I don’t know if I’d like to work from home. Staying in my pjs would be nice but I’d be lazy as hell, and I do enjoy the mental clarity I get from leaving my home and chores behind and being elsewhere for a bit, but I just work in a supermarket, so gab with my pals for a few hours and go home, it’s a very nice night out haha

I think most of us do get dressed. Just not into office clothes.

Obviously I can't speak for people's bottom halves as we don't see them on camera for meetings, but I've never had a video call with anyone in their pjs in the five years I've worked from home.

I guess it depends on the role I was thinking more along the lines of a call centre work from home job, but my friend works in marketing and she does the business on top, pjs on the bottom thing

I’m not jealous. I can’t work from home (front line NHS) and never have. However, I did have to shield for a while & my mental health has never been so bad. Working at home, alone, would never be my choice.

That said, I do think accepting your shopping delivery or picking the kids up during your WFH day is an absolute piss take. You’re being paid to do a job. Unless of course your hours are flexible.

I work in the NHS and am definitely not jealous of WFH. I love going to work, seeing my colleagues and then coming home as for me it draws a line between work and home. I'm rubbish at not switching off from work so I need that physical difference. I'd feel isolated too. So not everyone wants to WFH and they will still be attracted to those roles in the NHS and teaching etc

Except the edficiency of the CS is under Labour scrutiny and it's been a long time coming.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/688851800175683/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

I spend a lot of my day in leggings and a hoody. Financial services here. But I change from my PJ's into comfortable clothes that are acceptable to be seen in on my WFH days.

I found over lockdown, when we started WFH for my organisation, that not getting dressed just meant my mental health went all to pot. So I work from home but I still get up and "get ready for work". Even though work is in the same place.

Why is it a pisstake? When I do go into the office, I am not working solidly every minute I am there.

Yeah so you remember how it was and understand how it is for those of us that can’t work from home.

It was only a few years ago so of course I remember. I wouldn't go back to the office full time. Fortunately my organisation has lots of WFH jobs as well as office based jobs.

I’m glad you acknowledge it. It annoys me when people act like it doesn’t give you an advantage in terms of housework and life admin.

What some people can't seem to fathom is that some jobs require flex. I work from home 3.5 days and in the office 1 day a week. Sometimes on a Monday (my quietest day) I do a food shop at lunch and a bit of cleaning, so only do 6.5/7 hours work instead of 7.5. But then on Tuesday I have a call with Japan at 7am and work through to 5.30pm and Thursday I need to log back on at 8pm for a call with the US. 3 times last year I worked abroad and did 14-16hr days. It's way more important to the business I can attend those out of hours calls and onsite visits, than I work exactly my contracted hours every day. WFH allows more flex each way eg in quieter times I work less and do more life admin/chores etc (within reason) and in busier times I work instead of commuting. I keep a good work life balance and the work gets done. When I was in the office 4 days and WFH 1 day before covid, we all used to take our full 1hr lunch each day to eat lunch, chat and do the crossword. That's at least 2.5 hours a week I have now to do chores/errands etc, without a change in hours worked as at home I just have a quick 20 min break for lunch.

That’s life!

Opening the door to take in the shopping takes 5 - 10 minutes, if that.

What’s your point?

Meh…I’ve done both. Working from home is absolutely a cushy number. Too right I’m jealous, but that doesn’t mean I would want to do it all of the time. Having to be in work gives me a better mindset and even as an introvert, is much better for my mental health. As my frontline job can involve significant risks to my personal safety, I don’t think you can begrudge my envy as you sit sipping tea and putting on the odd load of laundry.

This.

I work three days and usually they're set. But sometimes there's a meeting that I'm needed at that's on a non working day, because of other availability. Or, because we have someone off sick at the moment, on a non working day or a Saturday I log on and deal with the referrals from my non working days, to avoid delays. Sometimes I log on at 7 and work solidly til 6 because we've got a deadline to hit and we're a bit under it.

At some point I'll take that time back. Probably once the deadline has passed. Maybe when I need a bit of flex back.

Not all roles can do that, because they have customer or clients contacting them and need to have cover at set hours. But the difference between role requirements is the same whether you're in an office or working from home.

I've done all of it. I've been on site and no flexibility. I've done WFH with no flexibility in my hours. And now I'm technically hybrid but mostly WFH with a huge amount of flexibility (both ways).

I can appreciate how "lucky" it might seem to people in the other kind of roles. But equally, this was something I wanted for my lifestyle, so I worked for that. That's not luck, that's deliberate. You want a senior, flexible role where you can WFH? Do what you need to to get one then. You want the job you have which requires you to be on site? Accept that's the requirements of your role.

Those advocating WFH as a norm (as opposed to having a little flexibility to do it occasionally) still haven’t addressed how you build morale, mentor young people effectively, support young people who either live with their parents or have to work from home in small flats.

If course it is great if you are middle aged with family, spontaneous pub outings are a thing of the past and you no longer need meaningful support or a mentor.

It is just a way of pulling the ladder up from under you.

Point being, if you’re working from home you explain that to your visitor, not invite them in, then complain!
Get my point now??

Nail on the head there. Young/new workers are screwed now when they’ve no one to “shadow” in the workplace, unable to pick up on the societal/organisational clues from older workers around them. Formal training courses are no substitute for being around experienced workers doing the job where you can listen to conversations, phone calls, etc. watch how they do things etc. WFH is fine for older and experienced staff but it’s yet another way that we’re letting down the next generation.

Wfh is here to stay.

The government want more parents and peoplr with neurodiversity/mental health issues working.

Working parents largely can't afford to buy housing in the bigger cities, its very difficult to manage childcare pickups around full time work with a commute.

However, the government also doesn't really want to do anything that would make housing prices fall either.

They need people working, employers won't want pay levels higher to make work more attractive so then the only route is to look at other ways to make work possible/attractive.

They will obviously reduce the money available to those who do not work, this is already happening. But childcare costs are so high that for working parents there needs to be such a big incentive to override that.

I agree wholeheartedly.
I've been WFH for many years but it came at a time where I was where I wanted to be professionally, I was well established in my field, the pros of the flexibility it allowed me far outweighed the cons of not being in the office, I could work independently w/o input from a manager.

There are other ways of mentoring, not just face to face. WFH also doesn't have to mean you never see the team face to face. We have people on fully remote contracts who come down for our big team meetings, for presentations and so on.

We also have staff at several different offices across the country. We get together at regular intervals by booking away days at hotels or event spaces or whatever in different areas of the country, often in the middle.

People come together for "coffee catch ups". They have regular virtual catch ups. There's induction programmes and mentoring programmes.

Then there's the upside for careers. I work in a role that 7 years ago would have only been available in our London office so either not for me or I'd have had to move or have a really long commute. Today it's open to candidates across the country. Good for development of career and good for the business to have a wider talent pool.

It's about working differently. I'm lucky to work for a company that is willing to nurture people regardless of their location. But more companies will have to do that or they'll lose good talent by not being able to nurture it.

In my organisation, the majority of people have office days. On those days are when we have team meetings, socials and other events to help the young people or new staff get to know everyone.

New and young staff are assigned a mentor so they have the opportunity to learn and develop.

We have a young intern in my department that has gone from strength to strength in the time she has been with us even with lockdown and hybrid working. She lives in a small flat.

If the structures are there, then it can work well for everybody.