Anyone surprised at how long they will be wfh?

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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?

It just occurred to me that many employers would rather wait for us to get down to stage 1, rather than make any changes to their workplaces which could be impossible to do.

So it will be extended furlough, extended WFH or redundancies.

Civil servant here. Pre iously we weren't allowed to wfh, manager said it wouldn't be possible. Now whole dept wfh, we've been told 12 months to never going back to the office. I hate it, on a practical level no desk space for dp and me, and no where to put one, and on a personal level I need the buzz and stimulation of a large office environment. I find it mind numbing at home, and bum numbing too as no office chair...

Nothing official here yet but they are providing equipment where necessary and getting help for those who are struggling to cope so we won't be returning anytime soon. If we do reopen the office it won't be for everyone.

Our office is technically open as we are a manufacturing site and some people have needed to attend throughout - R&D, HR etc supporting the manufacturing area. For the rest of us it’s officially end of June minimum but unofficially the huge majority of us will probably not return full time ever.

They will take this opportunity to completely revamp our environment and remove many desks. I don’t mind particularly, but some people will. They’ve already indicated they will enable people who want to return to do so where possible though.

Been told I won't be going back to the office until new year.

We think no proper return to the office this year.

@Rainbow12e my own view is that current employees won't have their pay cut but as we come out of the immediate crisis, jobs (in many sectors) will be offered at a lower salary than currently. This will be, in part, because of the expectation that the employee will WFH.

No update on when our office will open we have several sites across the UK and are all WFH with offices closed they have supplied us with company equipment and are in no rush to get us back into the office I'm pretty happy wfh

I absolutely loathe working from home and my mental health is in tatters. I need the stimulation of an office environment to be productive!
The only available working space I have is in my bedroom. Luckily my boss has hinted that we’ll be back in the office within the next month. Fingers crossed.

I just don’t get it. What happened to 12 weeks and flattening the curve?

I’m not expecting to be back in until 2021 and we are looking at our real estate portfolio. There may we’ll be offices we never reopen.

There’s a big difference between WFH in lockdown and WFH in more normal circumstances. A lot of the innovation, collaboration, social benefits of being in an office can be gained when lockdown lifts by meeting up at Costa, discussions over lunch, or using flexible meeting space. I think there will be a big shift from fixed costs (rent) to variable costs (paying for whatever space you need as and when you need it, or using space that is communal).

At the local authority we've been told another 6 months

Yes looks like we’ll be wfh until at least January 2021

Looking at Facebook & cutting pay on one hand in makes sense as salaries are very inflated as Silicon Valley is so expensive however Facebook will save ££££ on maintaining their office.

I love working from home and ideally in would like half and half. But I live in spain and work in Gibraltar and there are all sorts of regulatory issues with wfh so we have been told to expect to be back in the office with no wfh option for spanish based staff when state of alarm ends in 2 weeks. Hoping they get an extension so I can at least see the school year out while wfh.

Been told today that until going back it’s safe. Not only office but transport. We are around 150 people but only space for half so would be rotating with time In between for cleaning. But can’t see it happening for a while.

In Canada - college instructor - teaching online, just been told next semester will also be online :) Absolutely loving not having to commute, and online lessons are just as productive (if not more so) than face to face.

Struggled at first but now loving it. So much easier to concentrate and be more productive than in the office. Have bought a desk and employer provided office chair and laptop riser so I am working in our bedroom while DH has the (dark) study downstairs. Once my youngest DC (6) goes back to school it will be perfect as others old enough to study independently.

Nope. Going back 1st June. 1 week WFH, one week in the office.

I work in huge C London building with massive open plan spaces so not expecting to be back before 2021. I was wfh 2 days per week before think it will be 4 days in future.

I have dh and dd2 working from home. Dh has done this very often over the years and has a comfortable office and is very happy here. Dd2 is still living at home but in her first job after university and was loving office life and the next step. She is back at her old desk in her bedroom and definitely missing the office experience and seeing colleagues face to face. I worry for her and how her career will be from now on. She’s lonely and is uncertain if she will be surplus to requirements soon and will be job hunting again.

Dh has a few staff back in the office for personal reasons, difficult home environments etc. My view is that many people just don’t have the space for a home office, maybe even two or three working at home and it’s a big imposition to install the equipment in a domestic setting permanently. Also starting a new job and not being able to meet your colleagues properly is going to be very strange going forward.

I'm surprised as our company are looking at putting in measures to return to the office as soon as we can?
H&S going in to the building to check it out first. With potential for July return!

Also starting a new job and not being able to meet your colleagues properly is going to be very strange going forward.

I’m in that position now. I’m a consultant and started a new project on 30th March. Not met any of my colleagues F2F. It’s REALLY hard.