to think some people would be weirdly excited if WFH came to an end?

[LoveWFH]

Why do some posters sound almost delighted at the thought of Nigel Farage stopping WFH?

There’s this tone of “that’ll teach them” whenever it comes up. As if people working from home have been getting away with something.

Here’s the practical bit though. My company couldn’t bring everyone back full time even if it wanted to. They’ve sold off chunks of the office space. Whole buildings gone. Desks gone. Leases not renewed. There literally isn’t room for everyone anymore.

Hybrid working isn’t some trendy phase. It’s how a lot of businesses are set up now. They’ve planned for it. Budgeted for it. Recruited around it.

You can’t magically create space that no longer exists.

If you prefer being in the office, fair enough. Plenty of people do. But I don’t get the satisfaction at the idea of other people losing flexibility that works for them and their employer.

Oh i love that book….its absolutely epic!

Completely agree OP and I cant understand why he is taking such an interest in it and how would it even be enforced?

If they really wanted to encourage people back into the office more reliable, affordable public transport would be a start, why would someone pay thousands a year to commute on an unreliable train when they can WFH? Even when my town had a local office (as opposed to me commuting the 1-2 hours into London) parking in the centre cost £600 a year

I'm a grown up and can be trusted to do my job without someone watching my screen 🙄I think its very telling that some people cant comprehend that....

Exactly.

It's obvious that when some critics of wfh talk about it, they think the choice is between a remote worker or that same worker/one of the same pay and qualities doing the same job in person. It very much isn't! Lots of us simply would have no choice but to work less if remote weren't available. Personally I might even have to drop my hours so low I'd qualify for Carers Allowance.

This is the point I think they are missing and I said something similar on another post, it wouldn't just mean everyone went into the office, a good chunk of my team would need to reduce their hours, I also suspect sickness would go up as there are times you feel well enough to log on but not go into the office. I've also worked with a poorly child asleep next to me, when I would have to take parental leave.

My team has people in the south, central London, Scotland and Cornwall - they were recruited purely for their skills not location.

Yeah my work had an official policy of you need to have childcare if you are WFH (basically you can't be looking after a child and working). But in cases where a child was sick from school you could email and basically say either I can WFH or take the day off. WFH would always be preferred - it was an absolute godsend when I was completely overwhelmed with important work at the exact time my son came down with flu. Otherwise I would have had to let multiple people down.

Even if they do, they'll have no idea what to do, panic, go back on 90% of the nonsense they've promised and flail about saying they can't do it because of previous governments.

I won't forget Farage looking ashen-faced after the Brexit vote claiming a victory for UK independence then almost immediately saying he'd move to France if Brexit didn't go well and straight away distancing himself from the £350 million a week (he claimed it was even higher) back to the UK for the NHS pledge he'd campaigned for Brexit on saying 'not sure about that'

Then later said oops, that was wrong, should never have claimed that.

It's really easy to claim all sorts of shit to win votes, especially when you don't have to actually do it.

Unlike Trump, I don't think Farage actually wants to lead a government or expects it.

Trump is a personality, likely disordered, and now possibly demented, that desired that above all else. And will put in the hours - IN THE OFFICE lol.

Farage wants as easy a life as possible with as little work as possible. He's very happy to arse around with his rich friends, not doing very much at all and reaping in the rewards for no actual responsibility.

He'll shit a brick if he was voted into lead the country.

My DS company has employees worldwide who WFH. HO is in Europe. They hire the best in a very niche field. He works from home only flying to HQ a few times a year.

I think a lot of people who moan about WFH (and support Reform in general) are the angry with the world types who just want to see others suffer so they can feel better about themselves. Its a lose-lose mentality. They want you to suffer (as they perceive they did - even if thats not objectively true) because it feels like a loss to them if you have something they perceive as better than they had. In a fair and kind society we would all see that progress makes things better for other people/ the next generation and be glad they dont have to suffer the same way we did. With these Reform types they want others to be worse off than them. It makes them gleeful 🙁

My mother bangs on about WFH even though she retired before Covid and ironically would be in a WFH job now if she was still in work. She HATED her commute, it literally stressed her out so much, yet she still wants to see a return to the office. This is despite the fact that all three of her children WFH full time. Apparently she wants us to have the same awful commute and work/life balance (or lack of) that she had. She would like to see us all as stressed as she was and her grandchildren in childcare longer. Its baffling.

I definitely do not think Dr's should be allowed to 'work from the beach' as it's been reported recently. Not sure they'd be particularly focused on my ailments, while basking in the sun with a laptop in one hand and pina coloda in the other.

Hed make as much money out of it as he could and then clear of to Dubai...

Leaving the people who voted for him out of desperation/genuine disillusionment with mainstream politics even more disillusioned and desperate. I think for all the damage he could do (costing councils money by implementing stupid policies on WFH and backtracking; ruining our standing in the world stage; ruining the chance of ever getting decent trade relations with the EU) that would be the most damaging and the hardest to fix. Countries don't always vote for someone terrible and then right themselves thereafter. Often it's the start of a downward spiral into increasing right wing authoritarianism and popular outrage. E.g Trumps first term and now his second. Hungary. Etc.

Oh yes, and that sort of chaos and increasing public anger at institutions and democracy is exactly what people like Bannon and Thiel want. We know this because they discuss it openly in the Epstein emails. Chaos is a ladder.

given that we dont live in a dictatorship, this is never going to happen

People don't like those who are lazy at work, which is fair enough. Freeloaders in general.

It's not wfh that leads to this, it's poor/weak management and to an extent, that recruitment practices are imperfect. Interviews don't tell you who will never give an inch but take a mile, those who are argumentative for not enough good reasons, for example. Even if previous employers gave accurate references (and could never be sued), they would still have not a great deal of value as some would accentuate the positive hoping the person left.

Agree, WFH has somehow become part of the culture wars rather than just how businesses do the things that work for them. WFH and hybrid working saves money for lots of smaller businesses, public sector and charities. There’s downsides of course, but there were downsides to everyone being in an office, we just never questioned it because there was no alternative. Now companies can hire from a much wider group of people, don’t need to pay London/SE weighting (don’t even need to be based there) and can save huge sums on real estate. Of course people like Farage want to say something about it, but - like everything else that falls from his mouth - it’s utter hypocrisy. How many constituency surgeries do you think he’s attended?

If a doctor is drinking alcohol at work then they’re in obvious breach of contract and professional oath.

I'm probably guilty of this. What I actually mean is that I'm frustrated that in my industry it has been adopted by a lot of non operational staff and the gap between us has widened in terms of their understanding of the limitations of our role. For example policies around reasonable accommodations focus heavily on wfh without recognising that is not an option for all. Sickness policies, which already frustrated me, have not been updated to reflect the fact that wfh offers even more flexibility to those who can already stay in work on occasions we can't (I do acknowledge wfh creates issues around presenteeism but those are related but separate issues, both worthy of attention).

I don't give a shit about my mates wfh in other industries though.

Exactly this. For almost all of 2026 so far I’ve been plagued with various illnesses that would have meant being signed off if I had to travel, but working from home meant I could manage symptoms and still work my contracted (and beyond) hours.

Completely fair enough to want appropriate policy for reasonable accommodations and sick leave.

This is hilarious so you think Farage is interested in children who are 'anxious' about going to school. Doesn't he want life to revert to the rose tinted version of the 1950's where Anxiety didn't exist, women stayed at home, reproduced, cooked and cleaned whilst men worried themselves with the 'real' work? I think it's good for children to see that their parents work. Equally, the salary stagnation over the last 20 years means that it WFH is a way to offset that a bit as there are savings on travel.

That’s an interesting point and one that I think a lot of companies (and workers!) haven’t quite grasped yet. In my industry we have people who have to be on site, people who can work remotely and can’t have flexible on hours, some people who can work remotely and flexibly. No resentment so far as all the rigid roles are quite specialist and well paid but I could see how it could happen.

I’m also supportive of WFH for any industry where tech makes it possible but I do hate calling a helpline for a serious issue and hearing kids or pets in the background (as happened recently when I called HMCTS about probate!) So I think businesses have to set standards and monitor them.

I think a lot of people who moan about WFH (and support Reform in general) are the angry with the world types who just want to see others suffer so they can feel better about themselves. Its a lose-lose mentality. They want you to suffer (as they perceive they did - even if thats not objectively true) because it feels like a loss to them if you have something they perceive as better than they had.

Agree with this. And I suspect there'll be quite an overlap with the people who are frothing at the mouth about weight loss injections.

My work is a worldwide organisation and everyone works from home. We have a small office space that could never have enough room for us all. The government can't change that. My organisation will always be work from home.

I think people who are pushing to get rid of working from home probably have a nice house in the city and a guaranteed parking space. They aren’t the ones who cannot afford a house near work and are getting up at half five to navigate crappy parking and crowded public transport I’d wager

100%

He'll very quickly fuck off and leave a mess behind.

Trump as an 80 year old man will put in insane hours talking madness and having sycophants validate his increasing mental illness.

Farage is mentally competent and will excuse himself as soon as possible to a life in the sun.

Both of them don't care about the damage they do to their countries and the world but Farage will have a much better and easier life.

At least MAGA will continue to delude themselves that Trump made America Great Again.

As you rightly say, Farage voters will feel betrayed and it will cause political and social chaos because Farage will not admit responsibillity and will have some excuse about how he couldn't do everything he wanted to because of X, Y or Z which will stoke the conspiracy theorists

It's the same in the local authority I work for, half the buildings closed down and sold off during covid. You could probably seat about 50% of the workforce now. It's a Reform run council. It seems their leader hasn't a clue what is actually available in the areas they are in control of.

What on earth are you talking about?

Which Drs are working from the beach?

What beach?

Reported where?