If your head office is in the arse end of nowhere that’s not my problem

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I’m based in London, do a highly specialised job. I’ve been contacted by a recruiter about a new job, and it seems absolutely amazing. There aren’t many people working in this sector yet and I have been at it for 15 years.

The company want someone in the office 2 days a week, but their office is in the arse end of nowhere in Norfolk.

Now I’m happy to go into the office as a when needed. But if you are going to go for presenteeism and require people to be in regardless, AND want to start recruiting for specialised technical roles, having a head office in a small town 30 miles from Norwich and 100 miles from London is a bit fucking stupid.

The recruiter has phoned me twice asking me to reconsider the offer. But they won’t budge on the 2 days a week, and I am not up for uprooting the family.

It’s a shame as I really like the team and the job. But they just seem unrealistic. They can’t find anyone else apparently….but with that office location I am not surprised.

Agree, I’m not in a super specialist job but I have quite a bit of sector niche knowledge.
I could work nationally but organisations don’t seem to have a planned approach to what ‘in the office 2 days’ etc means.

Before you let it go, is there any value in calling the company yourself to talk it through with them directly?

It obviously doesn’t work for you and your family right now, but I suppose it depends: there’s every chance they’ll alight upon somebody who’s been mulling on making a move from London but not thinking it possible because their profession is London-centric and requires them to have some office presence there. There are those people about: my company has satellite offices in Brighton and Ipswich and has recruited several senior roles / internal promotions from the London office who’ve opted to take the opportunity to relocate.

Agree with previous poster about contacting the company directly to establish whether it’s negotiable, if you’re keen on the role.

I disagree - the corporate world in the UK is far too London/SE centric. It's why towns in other areas are becoming run down, public transport outside London is a joke, we have areas with high numbers of economically inactive people because there are no jobs. I applaud this company, whoever they are, for having their HQ in 'the arse end of nowhere'. If you really want the job, move nearer to it so you can commute; if you don't, focus your search on the plethora of companies who have London offices.

YABU. More workers in the country live away from London and the SE, so having a head office in Norfolk is just an inconvenient for most as having a head office in London.

Nail on the head. Personally, I'm impressed that NFU insurance has kept its head office in Stratford Upon Avon rather than relocated it to London. We NEED more firms to keep and relocate head offices and other branch offices out in the regions to help stop the obsession with centralisation in London which is sucking the life out of the regions.

The thing is, you could uproot and move there but then what? In 2,3,4 years time you want to change jobs and then you have to uproot the family again?
How do people actually manage this? There probable won't be another similar job anywhere near, and this is why people tend to live somewhere they can commute in to London or one of the big cities.

Norfolk is lovely. Move. Have little or no mortgage , live by the sea. Sounds great tbh. London isn’t the centre of the universe!

You got offered a job but the location was a deal breaker. Hardly news is it?

Outside London needs growth and opportunities. If you don't want the job don't take it. I doubt you're the only person who can do it.

ETA it's in a small town, not "the arse end of nowhere". How dismissive you sound.

Yep, works the other way too. Lots of people in the regions can't accept London/SE jobs because they can't/won't relocate to London/SE.

The issue is that most of the highly qualified, super specialised talent is generally located in or around the big cities, often London.

So, they can have their offices wherever they want. However, if they expect people to actually go to said offices twice a week (as opposed to working remotely), they will have a much harder time recruiting people if they’re based in a random little town (however picturesque). As evidenced by the fact that they’re still struggling to fill the role.

Yup "dismissive" indeed, typical of the London-centric type of people.

Everyone seems to be missing this part of the op Now I’m happy to go into the office as a when needed. But if you are going to go for presenteeism and require people to be in regardless

The problem isn't the location, it's enforcing attendance when it isn't needed. It sounds as though they can't recruit for the role under these terms so they need to consider being more flexible if they want to fill a specialist niche role.

I agree. If you don't want the job that's fine. But being 100 (+) miles from London is not "the arse end of nowhere" - it is the majority of the country. Fed up of the fact that the majority of investment is always in London and the SE. Personlly, I wouldn't live in or near London if you paid me to. That's my choice. The OP can do "them" but I hope to see more businesses recognising that the rest of the UK is not "the arse end of nowhere" and that there are huge benefits for them and their employees in not being in or near London.

YANBU for declining a job offer because the location doesn't suit you. But you seem to think the business is being unreasonable for not having a Head Office in a location that suits you, which is a bit of an odd take. This one doesn't work for you and your family, it might suit someone else.

There are a few tech startups in that area and I think it’s cool. I’ve been in tech a very long time and bored of the US dominance and all of the UK ones being on the M4 corridor. Compromise, stay up one night a week do two days?

Norfolk isn't a "random little town".

It's got a population of just under a million.

Other major employers within the town and broader area are Aviva, Marsh, Virgin Money, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Swiss Re, BAE Systems, Rolls Royce, Bespak, Greene King, Lotus Cars, Bernard Matthews Foster Refrigerator, British Sugar, etc etc, so not only financial services, but also manufacturing, foodstuffs, and design/development.

Without knowing what the industry is or what OP does, her assessment of whether attending an office is “presenteeism” or not is subjective: from the perspective of the business, it may actually be an integral part of their business model, and part of their commitment to operating within the community they’re based and staff visibility being part of that commitment.

I like the regional offices

I too work in a niche role. I was offered a job. I’d gone through the whole recruitment cycle and then got the offer and holiday was 24 days a year. In my sector (financial services) the standard annual leave is 28-32 days, with the opportunity to buy more. There was categorically no way I was going to take the role. Neither has anyone else as 3 years on it is still being advertised and the firm will still be using very expensive consultancy firms to cover the work I would have done for them. They said the holidays were set internationally and they couldn’t budge. That’s fine, but I’m not going to work for that little leave if I don’t have to. No way.

Some recruiters have no idea how to recruit.

So you're the only person in the country that can do this particular job and any companies employing people in the provinces need their heads seeing to. Likewise any company that actually expects their employees to turn up for work. Does that about sum it up?

Life exists outside of London, who knew?!

The tone of your post is arrogant and dismissive. If it's indicative of your general attitude to life and work I'd say they have dodged a bullet.

Are you saying that all companies recruiting for specialised technical positions should be based in London or be prepared for everyone to work remotely?