Anyone surprised at how long they will be wfh?

[reallythislong]

DH's company finally ordered some office equipment for the staff, delivery date in 8 wks time! He & I never expected to wfh this long & lots of our friends have been told they won't be going back till the NY.

Anyone else in the same boat?

Why would it impact women more than men? When we do have a baby in nursery it’ll be so much easier for me to do drop offs and pick ups without an hours commute at each end of the day which previously would have meant I’d have to shift my 9-6 working hours.
Personally I’m very much looking forward to the added flexibility we’ll have in our lives if I wfh 3-4 days a week permanently

They are telling us now they are looking to make working in the office the exception rather than the rule. Works for me.

@Bflatmajorsharp
I hope that organisations to a balanced risk assessment taking into account individual circumstances before they issue blanket 'wfh for the foreseeable/until 2021' directives

I really hope so too. It seems ludicrous to have buildings sitting empty. It really fucks me off that mere lip service is being paid to the social and mental health aspects of this.

We haven't been given any dates but we'll be the last ones back as they have to completely overhaul our offices. We can't work at a safe distance from each other currently.
We are all WFH and my team is particularly busy because it's research related finance work, we have over a thousand projects ongoing, and any that have paused still need dealing with.
So whilst we're able to work there is no rush to get us back in

Our company have extended furlough to October and have already decided that they are going to get rid of the office and run it virtually so no more office ever

I work for the local authority and a lot of our services are stopped now so we either need to come up with a way to deliver them from home, or return to the office. I popped in last week and perspex screens are there ready to be fixed to the desks. I don't think we will all be back at once and anything that can be done from home will be. I'm hoping it paves the way for me to be able to work more but with no extra childcare! I'm lucky in that I've been working on new projects and training so I'm optimistic that it could lead to a better yet more flexible role in the future.
I could really do without hubby being home all the time, but again, his office can't handle social distancing so he may be doing a bit of both for a long time.

A friend bumped into an old colleague who works in Canary Wharf - he's been told they aren't expecting anyone back in the office until January! I work for a local authority and no word if when we are going back. We have told things will be very different, no hot desking etc and we will still be expected to work from home for at least half of the week.

I work for a massive company and we haven't been told anything yet, well I haven't anyway! But the tone of emails we are definitely expected to return in the next month or so... that's what I thought anyway!

This buzzfeed story is about ALL Twitter workers will NEVER return to an office.
www.buzzfeednews.com/article/alexkantrowitz/twitter-will-allow-employees-to-work-at-home-forever?utm_source=bestforbritain.org
This is the last paragraph from the story
Quote
In his email, Dorsey said it’s unlikely Twitter would open its offices before September, and that business travel would be canceled until then as well, with very few exceptions. The company will also cancel all in-person events for the rest of the year, and reassess its plan for 2021 later this year. Finally, Twitter upped its allowance for work from home supplies to $1,000 for all employees.
End Quote

See that...
$1000 every year for all supplies!
Interesting

I work for myself but rent a desk in a shared office space, they're re-opening 1st June! Although they've had to make so many changes - half the usual people allowed in the office, half the desks, only 2 people in the meeting area at a time, social distancing at all times (obviously), no one can use the kitchen, staggered working hours, and everyone has to clear everything from their desk space and take it home each night..Maybe doing that for most offices would be too much hassle/expense?

Also depressing working environment, I think I'd prefer to work in the pjs for a bit longer....

Weve been told we are unlikely to return to the office this year, if at all. We have fortnightly webinars and when staff ask the question about when we are likely to return, the response is " not yet and it has now been proved that staff can work effectively from home so maybe to continue to do so indefinitely" I dont mind, I am quite a content wfh but I will have to purchase a desk and maybe get out of my bed and PJS at some point.

It’s all part of the new world order and I have no doubt that any of this is unexpected by all governments (Right and left)...
I’m only surprised that very few people are able to see what is happening and that there is no real debate about it at all.

WFH is only one consequence. People smugly saying how excited they are about their organisation getting them new IT equipment don’t actually realise what we are applauding.
Food prices are already up and tens of thousands of redundancies will follow and very few people willl have any power at all in their everyday choices pretty soon.

Just what I think.

I wfh one day a week before lockdown and now do my four days at home (off a Fri). After the first few weeks struggling with it I now absolutely love it and I'm dreading if I have to go back to the 4 hour a day train commute. I feel so much better physically and mentally, my anxiety is almost gone and my depression has actually been so much better too. Didn't realise how stressed I felt all the time. Plus I feel a renewal in interest in my job, log on earlier in morning etc. No interruptions and office bitching all day long I'm sure is helping me mentally too. Definitely put a lot more into work, more focused as can work in silence. Plus eating healthier too as have time and energy!

I worked for many years at home with visits to clients for a big FTSE company. It worked well for some but a sizeable minority took complete advantage of it.

They were never around when there was a problem with a client ,children screaming in the background during audio's, often they declined audios and told others to take a note of the actions and pass onto them. When you did they never replied so you ended up doing it yourself.

Very very sadly they were always women. One person told me she saved a huge amount on childcare. Her children were 1 and 4!

We are essentially being forced back into the office as off 1st June (in Scotland so completely against the guidance).

No consideration given to childcare issues & boss is becoming a bit of a dick as I have pointed out flaws in his non-existent risk assessment.

9 employees & all associates office paraphernalia in a room which has approx 100m2 floor space!

My employer has already started people going back but there are strict hygiene rules and social distancing in place. I won’t be returning until my daughter returns to school. Whenever that will be!

I fully expect to be working from home until New year. Getting used to it now to be honest and don’t mind it. It cuts out travelling time and it’s a better work, life balance for me personally. I work in a building that has over 1000 people in it, on a floor that I need to get into a lift with other people in order to reach, so I’m in no rush whatsoever to go back.

They will all be back, at separate desks, no assemblies, no harvest festival, no nativity play, no Christmas decorations, no Santa, no school clubs... poor kids, I’m so pleased mine is older as I couldn’t bare it if he was an infant.

Sorry wrong thread

I would say about less than half the staff in our building are actually at work, most of the working mums are wfh. The majority of the work can be done from home bar a few things

And because we haven't got loads of work coming in, people that are coming in are being loaned to other teams and we've all been told to take 10 days of our annual leave this month

I was furloughed on 31st April because I was struggling with my back wfh and no proper workstation. I have OT and physio reports as I have 3 prolapsed discs and they were very good at providing the right equipment for me in the office but this couldn’t be replicated at home so furlough was my only option. With Boris’s announcement last week that you could return to work if you can’t work from home I asked to go back, yesterday was my first day. It’s surreal- normally over 40 people in the building, 12 yesterday and majority weren’t there all day and only 8 today. I have been given key worker status and will out and about from Tuesday. It is really eerie, being the only one sat in a room that can have normally up to 50 there, we are very much out and about so not normally all there at the same time but to be sat there alone is weird

It will all depend on productivity. If firms see a drop off then it will be back to the office when rules allow. I work from home a day a week anyway and I know that I am only as productive on those days as I don’t have the travel. I take plenty of breaks during the day. Some people will take the piss if working from home permanently.

It’s good you are all still working!
I’m worried s lot of jobs will go as the economic contraction starts to bite. Some jobs wouldn’t be affected at first, or by a short shutdown. This looks like deep scarring to me. A lot of senior/middle managers may get the chop by the new year.

I work for a fairly small company and my employer long put it notice (when lockdown started) for the offices and we will be working from home indefinitely. My employer has more than enough room for a massive office for himself in his home but unfortunately for myself and my two other colleagues, have had to work from our bedrooms or sofas. We’ve not been been provided with any printers or anything. Have to use our own computers and company issued mobiles phones which we’ve always had anyway. Don’t know know I can personally cope with it wfh indefinitely

See that...
$1000 every year for all supplies!
Interesting

It’s a one off thing. Facebook & a few other tech companies gave all staff $1000 back in March to buy whatever they needed to WFH, so the other tech companies are just matching that.

The tech companies have been very upfront that permanently WFH and relocating to a cheaper cost of living area will mean your salary decreases. You won’t be able to work from deepest Wyoming on a Silicon Valley salary.