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.

At least she knows there'll always be plenty of body lotion in the bathroom.

But…if the company was founded by someone who lives in Norfolk then of course it’s based there.

Im currently looking for a new job (Scotland) and am finding it almost impossible; even 5 years ago there were jobs all over, now they’re concentrated in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and I can’t uproot my teens for that.

It’s really tough and we need good jobs to be dispersed throughout the country so we don’t have huge swathes of the country with low unemployment and only minimum wage-level work available.

What a stupid post. Should everybody of working age live in London or a big city?

Bizarre post.

Job doesn't suit you due to location....it's not their problem either.

There are plenty of jobs across the country I could do but I don't slate them for not having an office near me!

The OP has disappeared.

I turned down a job a few weeks ago because the hours didn't suit. Should I have started a post about how daft they were not to change their entire organisation in order to tempt me and my 'niche' skills?

Exactly. Loads of people in my workplace have to stop overnight once or twice a week. They're not even that well paid in many cases.

I really want to know where it is!
I grew up near Norwich.
Is it in North Norfolk? 30 miles takes you into the sea if you go East. SE and S takes you info Suffolk or nearer to London.

The train takes about 1hr 45 from London so that's not too bad, but then the journal to North Norfolk (?) is another hour.
I suppose if you could do 2 days in the office and stay there overnight it would be doable.

My head office is in Hong Kong. Thankfully I don't have to go there often!

Presenteeism is when people feel compelled to attend work despite being unfit to do to. It doesn't mean not working from home.

You're right. Everything should be in London.

Any company who bases themselves in Not London only have themselves to blame when they fail.

These deeply cryptic side comments about the Travel Tavern have made it number one on my list for a visit. I’m not even going to Google, I should just ask someone to book it for me and rock up for the surprise.

Absolutely.

The definition of presenteeism isn't "leaving the house to do your job".

It’s 30 miles outside of Norwich! Totally agree that jobs shouldn’t be London-centric, but if you’re located somewhere with no transport and a very small local population, it doesn’t bode well for your ability to plan successfully.

Reality is if they can't attract the talent they want locally, they either need to:

• accept a lower level of expertise that might be available locally
• pay more to attract someone
• offer more flexibility

Im a big believer in having more company HQs away from London but this isn't even in Norwich, its 30 miles away. Being located nowhere near a major city is always going to limit your pool of talent.

I get the impression it's something that shouldn't be Googled!

OP says the office is based in town 30 miles from Norwich, not that Norfolk is a random little town.

But what evidence does OP have that they are practising presenteesim?

There is an abundance of reasons why it's positive to have face to face time especially in a new company/role.

Many people would use this for the start of a conversation- eg, I'm happy to be in the office from 10am -4pm to allow me to travel back in time for bath and bedtime. Or - I can consider this with a relocation allowance, or if the company provides travel and accommodation expenses so I don't have to commute both ways on both days, or to make the travel palatable I will be looking for X salary or Y additional annual leave days or zero flexible working arrangement (eg compressed hours).

This.

Londoners can keep their life in a sardine can. Endless hours wasted slowly going anywhere be it work, supermarket, weekend excursions, due to being so densely crammed in together.

AHA!!!!

It seems to be two extremes -I agree with the posters that say its good to have offices outside london but of course it would make far more sense to have them in other cities or towns rather than completely in the middle of nowhere.

It sounds like it's less that the company isn't in London specifically that's the problem but at least if it was in Norwich itself (or Leeds or Exeter or swansea) there would be comparatively easy public transport from London or anywhere else in the country.

The reference to Norwich suggests that's the closest city - to be half an hour away again from that does suggest quite a trek and rural public transport is so shocking that a half hour drive could mean multiple buses and a long journey. A direct train of under 2hrs from london (or anywhere) to the centre of Norwich could be quite doable twice a week for the right job particularly if you could work on the train. 2hrs on the train then a further hour and a half on 2 buses each way is probably not doable, neither is a 3 and a halfhr drive.

Linton Travel Tavern. A proper legend. Back o' the net!

This is the thing. Once upon a time I would have. But employers loyalty only goes one way. The organisation has just gone through one round of redundancies and seen the need to branch out into this area. What happens in 2 years time when they decide it’s no longer a priority? Or if they can’t offer me career development?

I am then in a niche business area looking at having to move again.

The company is clearly managing to operate successfully despite being located in "the arse end of nowhere" and requiring office attendance, so if the OP doesn't like the way it does things, it's probably no loss for either side.

Right. So the job clearly isn't for you.

I'm sure many if not most of us have interviewed for jobs which turned out to be unsuitable, for whatever reason. Just as employers have interviewed candidates who turned out to be unsuitable. What exactly is the AIBU here?

So arrange to go in and stay in the town - is it Thetford? Good transport links to London by rail, dual carriageway on A11, A14 and M11 to the M25.

Stay overnight. arrive at 10, work till 6.30, go in at 8am next day and go home at 4pm. Cut your lunch short. It is doable.

They need a reality check. The reason they can't find anyone is because their terms are unreasonable.