Going into the office 5 days a week!

[Honeybunnny]

Hi

Im REALLY struggling with a good job offer which would probably kick start my career as it requires me to be fully office based. The office is a 2 minute drive so will have practically 0 commute but I have worked hybrid for a few years and I just love it. It changed my life so much and I am so much more relaxed at home, and more productive in general. It was a game changer for me.

The thought of returning to an office 5 days a week makes me feel queasy and I just can't shake it off.

It would be a shame to turn down the role purely because I can't bear to be in an office, they do not offer hybrid at all.

Any thoughts or has anyone gone from remote to office work?

Thank you

I'd say YANBU if its a 45 minute commute like my workplace was, but as its only two minutes down the road, YABU. Have you got any medical conditions that could make it a reasonable adjustment?

I wouldn’t take a job that was full time in the office. We need one of me or DP at home every day for nursery pickups once DC starts in Jan!

I'd assume it’s not a very progressive company / potentially controlling culture if they don’t trust employees to work from home like adults.

To echo PPs - surely a 2min drive = walkable??

A two minute commute is nothing. It’s more of a mindset thing I think because with that short a drive you can pop home for lunch to do the sort of thing you did while WFH. I’d take the job for sure - you won’t get a better commute than that!

I wfh 3 to 4 days but don't mind going into the office. Hate the hour + commute though, so in your shoes, with a great job and zero or minimal driving in, I'd snap it up

Believe me, many employers are aware they need to offer more than just a competitive salary.

Indeed. I work fully remotely and have young DC, there is no way I could work and look after them at the same time and I wouldn’t want to try!

Hmm for me it wouldn’t be the office work itself, especially with that commute. But why is it full time in the office? I assume your job can be done from home (since you’ve been hybrid until now), so are they old fashioned? Inflexible? Focused on presenteeism?

Full time in the office makes me question the management.

I don't do childcare and WFH at the same time. But WFH allows me to do the school run and use wraparound care that I wouldn't be able to if I was a full day in the office.

E.g. I can start at 8.45 after normal school run but if I had to commute after that I couldn't start till after 10. And I can leave DC in after school club till 5.30 having worked till 5.15 but if I left the office at 5.15 I wouldn't be home till at least 6.30, an hour after ASC kicks out.

I agree. This is the main reason I work from home.

I've worked several. Sorry you can't imagine anything you haven't personally experienced yourself.

In any event, with any job there comes an end of the day even if there is more to do the following day- why is 8 hours the magical cutoff point for you to down tools? Because some guy in the 1920s decided so?

Very convenient for disabled people. I agree. Would you prefer I not work?

I can understand your perspective but more and more jobs are requiring full time in the office. Unless you are really happy in your job, WFH full time employment is getting harder and harder to come by.

Disability

2 minute commute sounds bloody dreamy.

Indeed. I’m an NHS Consultant and my day consists of planned appointments and meetings. I wouldn’t be doing more if I was in the office. In fact it’s often harder to get things like admin done then, because people are always wanting to chat and discuss things. I’m far more effective WFH.

That’s different then and not the scenario that the OP is suggesting. I hope that the change in work landscape from COVID has really helped disabled people have greater opportunities to work in an environment that works for them.

Id take the job, it sounds perfect.

I work from home 95% of the time, my office is about a 45 min drive away.

But if my office was only a 2 minute drive (10-15 min walk?) I would go 5 days in the office in a heart beat. I think it’s good to separate work and home, have a change of scenery everyday.

I agree with this - shows unnecessary inflexibility. I wouldn't work for a company like that unless I had just graduated or was in need of a job asap.

Do you think that a mandatory enforced 5 days a week in the office across the board with no explanation greater than "because the employer said so" is really going to help disabled people have greater opportunities to work in an environment that works for them?

I'm a solicitor in private practice (although on holiday today) it would be ridiculous and unimaginable that I would only work on and complete a specfic number of files and not look at anything after that.

I can imagine however that somewhere like the variuous public agencies that I have to interact with that one might get away with only dealing with say 6 cases a day rather than working the contracted hours, and ignore the back log piling up.

Your point about the actual hours is irrelevant and you're missing the point- unless of course your jobs were "make a 100 widgets per day in however long or short a time it takes you to make 100 widgets" in which case fine- make your 100 widgets as fast as you can, then leave or stay, make more and ask for a productivity bonus.

the only downside I can really see are having to make lunches (but you're that close you could go home for food), and needing to wear work clothes 5 days a week!

Take the job , I wish all my jobs had had a 2 min drive to and from work. I doubt you will notice the difference in terms of home life and with prospect of career progression is a no brainer.

Unpaid overtime (as and when required by role) and 45 minute (minium) drive to and from work has been my norm.

I have noticed an increasing number of friends and colleagues having a lottle slip of the tongue and referring to their wfh days as their "day off". If I'm seeing that, employers are too.

No, I was answering a specific person who said they wouldn’t take a job that wasn’t WFH even if it was next door and I asked why. They said they were disabled and I said I hoped that they now had more opportunities because WFH is accepted across a lot of employers and certainly more than pre covid.

You have totally misunderstood the comments.

I feel the same, worked from home for a few years, thought I would loathe being back in the office but I actually much prefer it now, it’s the demarcation between work and home that I really appreciate now, I don’t have that dread feeling when I pass my old office at home which is now a lovely dressing room for me! and I get that Friday feeling when I get home now, never had that when I walked down the stairs after finishing work.