Nigel Farage calls for an end to working from home

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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.

I vote Nigel comes to his end.

@Lifeomars this is already happening on a local level. A year and a half in and Reform are discovering it's not as easy as it looks and they will in many cases have to raise council tax. But are obviously blaming whoever was in power before them. £75k spent on flags in notts and millions spent on a waste consultant in leics! They know how to spunk money up the wall.

If the likes of Amazon and Boots and Stuart Rose's companies are finding that wfh policies aren't working for them, then that is purely and simply an internal management failure. Either they've agreed to wfh contracts without ensuring the work required can be fulfilled properly by staff working from home, or they have been unable to effectively manage their staff. Their apparent incompetence should have no bearing on how another business chooses to operate though.

Presumably employers who don't like wfh don't offer it as an option.

I work for a Reform run local authority and there's no way there'd be anywhere near enough office space across all the buildings that are left in the council's ownership to house everyone ordered to return to full-time office working. There's quite often NO space available for my Team when we try to book desks for regular in-office days as it is.

@Tabitha005 how did this pan out for you? Was there a call to get everyone back in the office 5 days per week, and then management realised there simply wasn’t room? So did they back-track?

He wants a US style system where employers practically own their employees.

That way the rich get richer and men like Nigel get more totalitarian control.

I can see how WFH wouldn't suit you if you just live in one room, nor would it suit others in your position.

But not all young people are in this situation. We have junior staff in my teams, and they all like the hybrid model that allows some time to work from home.

But also, why should WFH be scrapped for those where it is preferred and suits their lifestyle. It can have equally negative impact on MH if people suddenly lose 10-15 hours a week and spend more money because they have to commute and spend of fuel/train tickets.

No i wouldn't ban it. But for younger people starting out i think its absolutely shite.

My company (private) decided to enforce a strict return but didn’t do the maths and we didn’t have enough space, so now they spend millions each year for a floor at WeWork for a couple of departments 😂😂 So clever

Totally agree-my DC is mid 20s and living in a house share. He can WFH two days a week and loves it-gives that bit of extra flexibility and work life balance. Most of his friends at other companies seem to have a similar arrangement-I think it’s a good thing. He can go for a run in the mornings before starting work at 9 rather than spending an hour sitting in traffic or on a train.

Amazingly enough it turns out that reform don’t expect their own workers to follow this policy.

Those who say they don't want to socialise with colleagues ... one of the huge problems in today's society is we're living in bubbles, increasingly no longer exposed to different people, who think differently to us, come from different backgrounds but STILL are often very nice and personable. It's good to realise someone who's much older/younger than you, votes differently etc etc is a human being just like you and you can rub along with them. Obviously it's ludicrous to ban WFH and won't happen but working with colleagues is so important in learning how to get along with others. Having said that, Mumsnetters generally don't believe in talkign to strangers, getting to know their neighbours, answering the door (maybe because a lot of them WFH) - so this won't wash here.

yes I think the young grads, especially during lockdown, had a terrible time.

They do need that time in the office I think, as PP have said above.

I'm the opposite case - I have a garden office with everything I need - and have been 100% wfh for ten years with no issues at all. I plan to see my remaining working years out wfh all the way, if possible. It does have downsides, but I'm grateful to be wfh and would choose it every time.

The woes of people invested in city centre office real-estate are not mine, and if that's who Farage is trying to help out here, at least that makes sense to me. A policy to help out his rich mates and donors is quite logical, and a better reason imo than just stoking up resentment.

Guy's an absolute chancer likes, but then we all know that.

See also Kent Council who have admitted their UK style DOGE failed to uncover any major savings

I did not say you made claims.
I was speaking to somebody else who made
the claim and I asked them and then you chose to butt in the middle with your personal anecdote that I never asked for nor have any interest in.

Yeah, the piss-takers do exist, and they really annoy me because it damages trust in those of us who wfh and can actually be trusted to do our jobs. It doesn't affect me directly (work for a fully remote company, been there years and they know I don't swing the lead - I'm on annual leave this week, before anyone comments that I'm on MN at 10.30 a.m. 😄) but it damages confidence in wfh as a general concept.

Nothing you have posted has suggested the policy was a failure though.

I mean who did you think it was mean to benefit ?

Amazon has notoriously poor work practices. I also don’t get your argument which worships employers as gods.
A lot of employers oppose unionised workforces would you argue this means unions are inherently bad?

Spending millions on renting space at Wework suggests a bit of a failure.

Since it's a truth universally acknowledged that there are too many cars on the road (rush hour where I live is insane and it's a mid sized town), WFH was suggested as part of the solution to the country's creaking road systems. That seems to have been forgotten now though in a rush to get people back in offices.

Since public transport is problematic in a lot of the country, which isn't going to change any time soon, why has this big positive for WFH been put to one side?

They can go into the office. Ever since this model started I have known plenty who have gone into the office.

Interestingly however not one of the graduates I have seen over the years has volunteered to be in 5 days.
So not all younger people “think it’s shite”.

He forgets that all the beer drinking gammons that support him are probably held up by wives beavering away on spreadsheets and zoom calls at home! What a joke!

It suggests a company wants flexible working space and doesn't want a rigid contract. Redundancies on the horizon.

Agree. This is illjudged. 40% of the workforce at least partially WFH. If the price for some vague promises around immigration is a return to the office 5 days a week, I'm thinking maybe a few of the 'concerned' about immigration may become less concerned.
I think someone needs to explain to Farage the difference between a good idea and the things that pop into his head and fall out of his mouth.

I am not a fan of nigel farage but I agree with his stance on this. My opinion is influenced by the number of people who I know who are 'WFH ' who are taking the utter P*