5 days in the office - rant!!!

[DonnyDoris]

My company mandated 5 days in the office a couple of months ago, which in principle I have no issues with. However, my commute is just over an hour on motorways that have long term roadworks, so massively tedious and today I have no meetings so absolutely no reason to be here other than presenteeism. Could have got so much more done and also all my housework if I could've worked from home 😖Just needed to get that off my chest!!!!

Oh come now, everyone go easy on @NatalieW1907 the workhouse place was very different when she was born 118 years ago after all!

Ffs. This is why I miss the laughing response!

Not entirely sure that's the case - given that many people appear to understand the lack of commute / lunchbreak in the home allows for housework rather than being stuck in a car on the M62 - just saying

Honestly can no one air their views on here without being bogged down with sarcastic comments. I take it these comments are coming from people who wfh.

Azure cats so you worked in the workhouse too, what a daft comment. Just my view like that was yours. Too near the truth you probably wfh too.

It wasn't me who originally mentioned cleaning up then it was crossed out.

This is the best case scenario but most people were doing it before covid. It's much harder if it's in your contract.

Home shirkers 🤣

I wish patients were given the choice as to whether they’d rather postpone the appointment than have someone coughing and spluttering over them.

Well duh, you can be watching a training video, a town hall, a webinar while walking on the walking pad with a standing desk above you. You can cut vegetables, peel potatoes while doing all these things

wfh means a 1 minute commute walking 12 steps downstairs into the home office

while on a work phone call, you can dust the blinds, sort sofa cushions and put the bin out.

Oh c’mon you crossed out the phrase ‘getting my housework done’ as if to say you could be doing that whilst working at the same time nowhere did you state I could get my housework done instead of having the trouble of the commute or doing it in my lunch break. we are not stupid we know what you meant.

Anyone who says they don’t get their washing done whilst WFH are either lying or massively missing a trick 🤣 I go into the office 3 days a week and my washing machine is on all day on my wfh days! I don’t know many jobs that requires you to be glued to your laptop for 8 hours, mine certainly doesn’t and I’m in a mid/ senior HR role! I do far more than is expected of me and needed of me, yet have the flexibility to step away from my desk as and when I need to! I’d be feeling EXACTLY the same, 10 hours a week in the car could be spent in far more productive ways! I’d be looking for a more flexible role personally this isn’t sustainable IMO x

She could have done her house work in the two hours commute time though.

People have started to think working from home is normal. I'm terrified of tge social skills people will have 20 years from now.

Also work for a global company with leadership in San Fran and I cover the EMEA Geo.

Fully WFH contract but we have ‘we work’ offices in London. I go in to see clients ad hoc.

I am constantly available - at desk 8am but on slack/email before then via phone if needed. WhatsApp chats with colleagues. Come 5pm my San Fran colleagues come online so ad-hoc calls and continual slacks into the evening. It’s simply not a standard role when you work in a global corporate.

I quite openly do tasks in the middle of the day and have zero issues telling people. I often work through lunch and I’m constantly available. I travel out to the US 4x per year so luckily not too much.

While I work far more than a standard 9-5, the flexibility and time management is something I would not change. I love I can do what I need to like pop into school etc.

However it really is working and not shirking. My cleaner comes once per week and my son is in after school club/with my mum until I finish.

My whole company is this way. I simply wouldn’t work anywhere that forced me into an office (I also work in the tech industry so remote is the norm. Would be easy to move elsewhere and largely WFH).

The issue is people doing exactly what you said. Doing housework when geing paid for job. If you are in office you need to work your paid hours

Totally agree. I’m in a mid-rank role, I do more than is expected whether i’’m in the office or at home, it’s just that on my WFH days I don’t need to commute and therefore have extra hours to spend (if required) on housework etc. My outputs are still the same, it’s just that the day is more flexible. A lot of people pretend not to understand this.

Dh and i work from home

he makes a cup of tea and does things like putting the washing in while its brewing, he quite often takes work calls at tea making time as well

i get 1 five minute break in the morning, and i can do the same

the lack of a commute means i can do some of the housework, dh can also clean during his lunch break if he wants to, and his break will fit around his calls and meetings

It's not just me they want in the office - it's all 170+ of us, with only 45 car parking spaces......Maybe we were all taking the piss.........

45 car park spaces ? sweet holy Jesus that's carnage straight away
bet there is not enough desks or meeting rooms either

Nightmare OP, you are not being unreasonable!

Exactly - so when you've been stuck in traffic for 90 mins, then you get here can't park and can't sit at a proper desk with screens etc it does feel a bit pointless!!! But obvs i shouldn't have been taking the piss by putting the washing machine on during the day!!!

Maybe we were all taking the piss

Maybe you are.

Your employer's decision certainly suggests they believe there is a problem and they are probably right. After all, everyone who has read your OP knows that at least one of their staff sees "working from home" as an opportunity to get all their housework done.

If I was your employer I wouldn't trust you to work unsupervised. They know you better than I do and they obviously don't trust you either.

🤣🤣🤣
it's going to be a fucking nightmare
it Will actually reduced "collaborative work" and productivity because you will be spending half the time trying to find a meeting room and a desk

Leaving aside the practicalities, human beings are social beings, having people work separately from others from behind a screen is just weird and not good for mental health. Virtual meetings are just not the same without face to face interaction and tech failure doesn’t help. Get back to the office and stop whinging.