Nigel Farage calls for an end to working from home

[sally037]

Nigel Farage has doubled down on his attack on remote and hybrid working, calling it “a load of nonsense” and saying people are only productive when working face-to-face in the office. He argues we need an “attitudinal change to hard work” rather than focusing on work-life balance.

AIBU for thinking this idea is just bonkers and totally at odds with how most of the workforce actually wants to work now?

I can only think it appeals to the "pull the ladder up" generation. Don't give two fucks about anyone else as long as they are comfortable or those that are unable to wfh and want everyone else to be as miserable as them.

People are voting for Reform, @SerendipityJane, and saying they will vote for Reform at the next General Election, so I would say yes, there are voters falling for Farage’s vile brand of politics.

As he's not often seen in Parliament or his constituency #theclactonphantom should maybe do what he preaches first before telling others what they ought to be doing.

Just remember it's a cold day in hell when turnout in a general election constituency gets above 69%.

In local election it struggles to reach 25%.

For obvious reasons (although for £100k I could provide a report that contradicts this) it's hard to gauge what effect people who do not vote have on the outcome of an election.

We'll see. People say all sorts of things. Things like "Brexit will put £350 million a week into the NHS".

If your party is made up of people who are heavily invested in the Commercial property market, then that's why you have to get people back in the offices!

Farage loves a nanny state

And people voted for that too. That's the problem.

I’m in the Civil Service. We offloaded a lot of our Estate .. it’s 3 people to a desk, what does he want us to do, sit each others knees ?

gurrrrrrrrrrrrrr......... thats given me the ick

Our fire alarm at work isn’t working well. Told to go home at 3pm and WFH. Colleagues could either take Flex Time if they have any or book 2 hours annual leave.

WFH tomorrow.

exactly - that promise of more money into the NHS persuaded people of vote for brexit & look what a mess that has caused for the majority of us (though not for Johnson & Farage I daresay)

I think WFH has hugely benefited employers. Over the years there have been several instances where we have all been sent home, any sort of illness they will not allow us in the office, there have been several covid outbreaks and we have all been asked to stay at home. Even had a few problems with the building where we either work from home and keep the business going or stay in the office and work illegally. Where car park maintenance has been taking place we have been asked to work from home where possible. Obviously on normal days they like you to do your fair share in the office which is reasonable. Some comments suggesting people only want to work from home so they can take time out to do their own thing are really unfair. If you work in a call centre for example you are being watched as much as if you were in the office. If you dare to have a 2 minute toilet break they want to know where you are.

I work hybrid so get a nice mix of both, personally I enjoy a few days in the office but like the flexibility a couple of days at home gives me. It works both ways

In the beginning there was a nuclear power station called Windscale, they had a disaster so they renamed it Sellafield. There was a ferry operator called Townsend Thoreson, they had a disaster so they renamed it P&O Ferries. Then you had a so called political party called UKIP and, yes another renaming. Just saying.

Isn't that a bit rich coming from a person who can only be arsed to turn up to work half of the time (if that)??
Nigel is a massive stirer and this is just one of those times.

It would be if 2026 was just 2016 for dyscalculics.

However 10 years on, a lot of Brexit support has (literally) died. Meanwhile a whole new generation - unable to vote in 2016 - have come into being. And they are seeing Brexit in action. And their ranks will grow as the older ranks decrease over the next (say) 3 years. Whether that is driving the whiff of hysteria from the media and some political actors is for much smarter folk than me to contemplate.

People believe every word The Daily Mail says. Should never vote again

The fact you can’t see how it’s relevant is exactly the point!

So you have never worked in an office?

Yes, this. I gave up trying to chat with anyone at HMRC. It’s crap, quite frankly,

I doubt Farage will do anything about the private sector, that’s up to them. But the public sector is a different matter.

This quote from the IFS suggests productivity in the public sector is not yet back up to pre pandemic levels:

“Panel A shows total public service productivity. On this measure, UK public sector productivity has seen three broad periods of change since 1997. It fell gradually between 1997 and 2009 (by an average of 0.2% per year), followed by a marked increase between 2009 and 2019 (by an average of 0.7% per year) and a sharp drop during the pandemic (falling by 14% in 2020). Despite some ‘bounceback’ in 2021 and 2022, initial estimates for 2023 and 2024 suggest that public sector productivity is stagnating and has not yet recovered to its 2019 “.

And I have to say that I know of public sector workers who are truly taking the Micky courtesy of the tax payer. One of them is a relative of mine who is not very motivated because afterall, his boss isn’t working very hard, so why should he? Apparently his boss is often not available to chat on the phone because he he is skiving. Another was wondering whether they can somehow still claim the cycle to work scheme allowance despite not going to the office.

Not everyone is a bad actor, but if public sector workers want to get a strop on with anyone, they should take it out on those abusing the system, and report it. It’s not on. And before anyone gets a gob on about the private sector, I couldn’t give a rat’s arse, because my taxes aren’t paying for it.

And I don’t even like Farage. I think the system stinks.

https://ifs.org.uk/publications/outlook-public-sector-productivity

I really hope you are right and I am wrong, @SerendipityJane - I’d never have been happier to be proved wrong.

About a woman leaving a voice note? No I don’t see how it’s relevant to my comment, I’ve never done voice notes as part of work, I don’t see how that connects to wfh at all? I talk to my managers in real time.

I’ve worked in both but the vast majority now in wfh companies.

Why?

I've noticed that he is worshipped on Nextdoor, it would be hilarious if it wasn't so worrying.

Another key takeaway from strategic thinking (see 2016 is 2026) is to understand structural as opposed to ephemeral shifts. This is often seen when a company tries something. It fails. Then another company tries a few years later and succeeds because something fundamental shifted.

A lot has changed - irreversibly - since (say 2016). What that means ... well time will tell.

Well he's an old white man. So of course he thinks that way. The world has changed but the old white men at the top cannot get their head around it. Much like my granny was with a video recorder in the 90s.

Sorry but I was a civil servant and I was required to attend an office 3 days a week but MY team were spread all over the country and so I didn't get to sit with my team, I was Billy No Mates in the office and if anything it made me feel more isolated. I still did all training/team meetings by Teams. It was a waste of my time and the unpredictable time I spent travelling to and from work, was working time lost to me because when at home I worked through it.

When I had a bad cold, I continued working from home whereas if I was expected to be in office I would have to call in sick so I didn't spread it.

I would take that flexibility over a bit of extra money at a job elsewhere any day. But I have colleagues who are single and live on their own and rely on going into the office for people contact and a social life. That I will admit I miss when working from home, friendly chats with colleagues and an ad hoc suggestion we all go out for lunch. But my job sees me going into an office with hot desking and I never get to sit with my colleagues as they are based in other parts of the country and never get the same civil servant (from another team) sitting next to me from one day to the next and that is quite lonely sometimes.

There are swings and roundabouts in all roles.

The argument you have made is all role dependent and it doesn't apply to all. Civil Servants can go in 5 days a week if they want, I however appreciated the flexibility of hybrid working.