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.

I’m a doctor so work in a hospital. Would be gutted if wfh stopped as it would make commuting traffic even worse! I don’t want everyone back on the roads

Why 'weirdly' excited? It might seem weird to people who are happy at home, have a nice house or supportive partners and family etc. But some people have valid reasons for wanting to get out of their house or away from their partner, or just to meet other people. Wanting to go in to work wouldn't seem at all weird to them.

That doesn’t follow - that a job wfh with limited human interaction is one that is ripe for AI. I wfh with limited human interaction and most of what I do AI can’t. It’s a solitary, thinking, creative and planning job. It’s the jobs where people say they are on calls or meetings all day that puzzle me. Unless you work in a call centre, when do you actually do any work?

Good to see the point being made about investment. We don't do that, when it comes to customer service. We also didn't do that when we were still making most people in these roles come and do them in physical premises, and shockingly enough there was always rapid turnover and recruitment problems. Even back when we had an economy where there was more competition for 'low skilled' work.

We've had call centre recruiters on here before explain that they'd struggle even more to fill vacancies if they required in person work. These aren't jobs with many perks, so removing one may not be sustainable.

They presumably wouldnt apply for wfh jobs then? It is weird that people seem excited by it when it's not their job, their workplace or really anything to do with them, but they want people back in the office, because they once saw a person taking the piss or have some weird warped view of one type of wfh situation and therefore they think it applies to all industries and all jobs.

There is a Scottish government body that I deal with quite a lot in work and since COVID their service has gone to absolute shit. There is a lot more home working within the body but it's too simplistic to say that's the cause. There's an acceptance in many areas of much poorer standards for customer service and that's the case whether it's someone answering the phone in their house or standing behind a customer service desk. It's been the case for a long time that many organisations make it as difficult possible to contact them and to get a straight answer or resolution. I don't know why people think hone working or flexible working is the problem.

Great, they don't have to make us all do that too.

I think a lot of it is jealousy. I do hybrid and it’s fits so well with my life but I know others can’t and that seems to bring out a jealous streak.

This is an argument for balance where it's needed, not for everyone to go into an office by default. Why does it matter to you what my work agreement is?

Those daft enough to believe he can enforce that, are the same people that envy people that can wfh

Working from home was a thing way before Covid. I wfh and there’s no office space to occupy so even if I didn’t like it , which I do, I love it in fact, there’s no other choice.

Agree, that’s what I’d be concerned about. Also when jobs are WFH they are more accesible for people with disabilities, caring responsibilities etc and there’s no reason why customer service jobs can’t be done just as well by people who would otherwise struggle to get to a call centre.

Confused. How would Farage stop WFH?

Tell him lots of people have weird beef with workers who clock off at 3.55 pm every day 😏

Why do you think office working should be the default?

And who has suggested that WFH while caring for children is the norm, or acceptable?

Plenty of jobs are on a screen all day whether that’s at home or in the office.

Plenty of jobs that can be done from anywhere are enhanced by AI, but not replaced by them.

I'm public sector and worried about this. My office is central London and an hour away by train. I go in about twice a month and with train ticket and parking, it costs me £50 a day. I'd have to leave if I had to go in every day.

Public sector salaries are generally lower than private sector equivalent roles and it can be hard to recruit good people to certain roles already. I think there'll be a flood of people leaving the public sector and who's going to want to replace them for 60-70% of what they can earn elsewhere? It'll have to be less experienced or qualified staff. There will be big gaps in service provision/lower quality work.

WFH, once it becomes more established, will be fantastic for social mobility. Growing up in a deprived area where the only jobs are paying minimum wage, or a remote area with few jobs at all? That won't matter in future. People can live by their family and friends, keep communities together, better prospects, more money into economically disadvantaged regions, great for society and individuals. Eg, Cornish villages could stop being taken over and destroyed as real communities by wealthy second home owners if local youngsters could access decent careers.

It’s jealousy with a dashing of
ignorance. Pure and simple.

Such an important point about disability. Remote working has been incredible for workers who are disabled and have health conditions. I'm not sure the people who want it reduced understand how much it would fuck disabled workers over. People often say it should be allowed in certain circumstances, but the fact is it's better for people who need remote work if it's a norm rather than an adjustment, something that has to be asked for. It's harder for an employer to discriminate if they know non-disabled applicants are just as likely to want remote work as disabled ones.

But why did you take a job with such a commute if you couldn’t do it? I’m always slightly baffled when people talk about public sector jobs and lower salaries. Public sector jobs are hugely in demand because of the generous pensions at least. They are very sought after. A friend of mine is losing her public sector job, and similar private roles she is applying for pay half what she was on.

She doesn't have to do the commute though because she works from home. That's the point.

If he was PM he could try to stop it for civil servants, and I believe he’s already tried to stop it at Nottinghamshire County Council (where Reform have control).

But beyond that - well he can’t.

DH has a small business and Nige has no control whatsoever about stuff like that!

As someone who seems to spend 80% of my time in meetings, the answer to when the work gets done is in snatched bits of time in between meetings so everything takes 20 times longer than it should if I had fewer meetings. It’s exhausting! My team should have 10 people on but due to cuts only has 3 so there’s nowhere to delegate too either. It does make the days go fast though.

Work in a cafe or library? Meet up with other WFHers? Don’t go for a full remote job?

I also would hate 100% remote, but there are many hybrid or office jobs around.

This Farage situation is like in COVID again, when people were begging for more lockdowns. Erm no, you just stay at home then!😂

Agree, I’ve had visually impaired colleagues before who worked mainly from home and occasionally in the office. For obvious reasons the office was much harder for them / travel and moving around - but also they felt ‘different’ because of their screen readers or sitting position and it made them feel different. At home, even on video calls, there was no way anyone could tell they had a disability and they were treated the same as anyone else. Obviously ideally we’d treat people equally wherever they are but, until that happens…

This is a very limited view - there are massive recruitment and retention issues in the public sector, especially in regional and local government. About 80% of councils are carrying long-term vacancies. Pensions are often better than private sector but low salaries and inaccessible locations as well as having to carry those vacancies are not attractive enough to make people stick around for the pension.