To be so glad WFH became a thing (and to absolutely hate anyone who tries to curtail its availability)

[Designless]

It's just life changingly good

As a mum of two kids and having a long term health condition, I agree with you 100%. The articles that appear in the press sometimes (these lazy people who work from home and do nothing apart from life admin etc) make my blood boil. I work my butt off, and I’m so much more productive and work longer hours than if I had to commute to an office. I’ll never work somewhere again if I cannot WFH.

Let us know how much more you're willing to pay for fully in person staff in both the public sector and the private sector services you use. Unless perhaps you're recommending a full command economy. Might be a bit of a faff to sort out though.

We give new starters a comprehensive induction, part in the office and part remote. We also have team chats to ask questions and get support. It works, despite 'what I watched on Netflix' not forming part of the training program.

What additionally annoys me about those articles is how often they're written by journalists working from flipping home! Hypocritical click hunting bastards.

Very wide assumption....my WFH space is a small desk in my bedroom which is the smaller bedroom of the 2 we have. I have to sleep separately from DH due to his medical issues but still be near enough to be on call in the night. He can no longer work due to severe medical issues. Not exactly a privileged household here.

I think the whole point of the thread is that those who don't WFH keep banging on about how everyone else should go in to the office. They're the ones making assumptions and trying to tell people what is what, and telling them they don't care about anything. People who WFH are doing none of that, only talking about why it benefits them and what suits them. Please don't lecture me as someone who grew up in abject poverty and slept in my mum's living room as an adult due to being unable to afford to live anywhere, and is now in a working situation that I worked damn hard to get in the first place and continue to work hard to maintain. I've made no assumptions about anyone, but god knows plenty seems to have been made about me.

Were you aware that some young staff now have access to many more jobs because of remote working? Young people doesn't just mean the ones who live within commuting distance of the office. You don't feel much of a team if you can't get a job in the first place because of your disability, caring responsibilities or social isolation. Young or otherwise.

👍👍💕

Yeah is brilliant for people who no longer have to move to bloody London to do interesting work

Earlier this month, we were unable to work in office due to issues with lighting.

Those who were unable to WFH - either because it’s their OHs WFH day, having work on the home - too noisy. Another civil service department, in the same town, offered desk space. I think about ten colleagues worked from the different office.

Absolutely. As a non-Londoner, I now have access to much more in the way of training opportunities. People starting out in my sector now who are outside the south east can now benefit so much more from expertise being available online.

And it goes deeper than that too. People who are just looking for any office type job but who live remotely, or in towns where there's nothing much, also benefit.

This. It is a huge bridge divider, I would never have been able to afford to move to London or a bigger city. But I was able to eventually get the career I wanted due to WFH

I think hybrid is brilliant. My role requires a lot of in person meetings and relationship building so I probably he to work from home one day a week if I am lucky, but I still appreciate the flexibility.

I do see some downsides - going back to 100% in the office is not the answer, but I have listened to countless of the number of times I have been told people don’t know who is who, who to ask for something. Things that were resolved with a quick chat at a desk now seem to take ages.

we need to use the technology better so people actually connect with each other and know what is going on.

but still a huge fan of hybrid working

I used to work for a Whitehall dept well before COVID and I remember there weren't enough desks so you had to pre book your office days and if you tried to come in more than that there was nowhere to sit

I imagine things are no different now but try letting that stop farage etc

And then there's the question of who can afford to do fairly important work for civil service pay in zone 1

And? That’s life. People with money will have a more comfortable life in a lot of ways, WFH is one of them.

When we saw the tide changing with home working we couldn’t afford to upsize in our area so we took the decision to relocate to a cheaper area where we could afford for me to have an office. Obviously still a privilege to be able to make that choice, but again, such is life. Would you stop all home working because not everyone can do it ‘comfortably’?

Yes, and now some of us who can’t afford to buy in a big city can look at home ownership elsewhere. That’s another benefit wfh has brought to me personally.

Definitely. In a country as metrocentric as the UK, that really matters.

The thing is, it's not really about money. I don't have money. I'm quite low income, always have been - hybrid working is one of the things for us designed to make up for that. There's only 'space' in my house (rented) for a desk because I live in a disadvantaged area where rents are lower. Or, were lower when we moved here - my rent hasn't kept up with others in the area and I will be screwed if and when it does. There's no privilege in housing insecurity.

We work hard at ensuring that staff feel supported and connected.

we do it in an different way to how it’s done in-person.

our staff surveys show that our staff rate is very highly on flexibility, wellbeing, inclusiveness and feeling supported by their managers.

we have rarely have to recruit because our retention is so high but when we do we are inundated with excellent candidates and we can recruit from anywhere in the country and are not limited to a small geographical location.

if you just try to replicate an office culture remotely you will fail. Wfh is different and you need to nurture and support that difference

Certainly it's no more about money than working in person is/was, anyway. It's always been the case that people with resources could exercise more control over the sort of surroundings they worked in anyway. If a plush office was important to someone before the remote work era, they had more chance of accessing it if they had in demand skills and could afford to live near somewhere where such organisations are found.

If people want to raise the issue of money affecting access to working environments, that's fine, but the majority of workers are still in person. Meaning it makes more sense to start there.

I hate working from home. I feel isolated. I don't have the space either.

However I live in Cornwall and without remote working I wouldn't have a job like this. As jobs like this are not available in this area and I'm stuck here for another few years (DH armed forces)

If I couldn't work remotely, I'd probably be a seasonal cleaner or a seasonal pub worker due to the lack of opportunities in the entire county (even Devon lacks opportunities so that's approx no jobs for me for 100 miles!)

I am therefore very grateful and love the fact I am making a difference to the economy by being able to spend and save. And save for my pension

Anyone who begrudges someone from earning well from remote working is a bellend.

It’s brilliant for parents and carers. And just life in general. I think a mix is great and wish bosses could all embrace

Good to hear from people in your position, and hopefully your higher disposable income is helpful for your local area too.

I'm not sure some posters realise that in many cases, it's not about whether an employee would be better off in the office. Because there are some people who can only do the job if it's remote.

I’m not saying that home working should be stopped, I’m just pointing out that it isn’t ideal for everyone and isn’t a level playing field. I’m only pointing out the class divide.

I have a member in our team (not one I manage directly) who is only 40 but so stuck in the past. For him work is his life so I do see he’s been negatively impacted, but all of my team (except 1) are parents and value the hybrid working (mostly from home). I’m a manager who measures work on outcomes not presenteeism.