When do you think we will be allowed back to offices?

[Ethelfleda]

I have done a search but couldn’t find anything

I am posting as someone who is working from home, and has been since March (and usually does a couple of days a week) but who is looking forward to going back to an office!

Does anyone else feel the same? I keep reading articles saying that we will never return to office life and I find it quite depressing.
I can be just as productive at home, and I know the bigger picture here is far more important than my lamenting on office life...
But do you think the government will lift the ‘work from home wherever possible’ plan before there is a vaccine?

My work hasn't said when we are coming back to the office. I work for a large organisation spread over several sites, which is being restructured and they will take this opportunity to save money by closing down some offices. There is no talk about getting the offices Covid ready. Presume they don't want to spend money adapting them. I am really missing working in my office. Miss my team and other colleagues. But as someone said earlier, it wouldnt be the same - no going over to others' desks to talk about work, no conversations in the kitchen or corridor or toilets. I'm grateful I still have a job (at the moment) and can work from home but do not want to do this 5 days a week. I am working from a table in my bedroom and resent the intrusion of work equipment and files into my personal space. Everything takes longer to do on one small screen using home wifi .

I was living with serious mental illness before this started. Having to work in an office was damaging my mental health, being freed from that has been transformative for me.

I've spent years being told the business would suffer if my needs were met and that if I couldn't endure the totally inappropriate office environment I would have to leave (but good luck finding another job because your mental illness is incompatible with business needs).

But I don't really see anybody giving any fucks about how much suffering enforced office working caused to people with mental illness. I don't mean mental wellbeing issues, I mean mental illness. We do actually deserve to be able to access employment and live decent lives too.

Sitting in an office having flashbacks and having to pour your energy down the drain all day just to survive, so you are in pieces by the time you get home, spend your evenings shoring yourself up for the next day and have no life outside of keeping hold of your job.

Which as it turns out wasn't because it was business critical for you to be there but because the decisions were being made by the people who wanted to have a natter and enjoy noisy spaces rather than having flashbacks triggered by them.

At least have the decency and humility to recognise how selfish and privileged it was to force that on people before you complain that your mental wellbeing is no longer being prioritised at the expense of other people.

All the people who keep shouting about how WFH is bad for (their) mental health - what is your plan for all the people who've been fucked over by office working to prioritise your mental health in the past? You didn't give a fuck about us, and were happy for us to suffer for your benefit, why should we prioritise you now? Why are you still excluding us from these conversations?

Stop using "mental health" as some kind of trump card to try and get what you want without thinking about anybody else. I am so fucking done with the sheer hypocrisy and lack of empathy on display lately.

Yes it's the whole work intruding into home life too
If I'm at a different place I can walk away from all that

Civil Service here. They are saying after Christmas to return to normal! Military are doing one week in the office and one week WFH but they don’t have to go in either or do the full week in the office. Of course, some personnel are working in roles like initial training so they are still going in as normal.

Civilians have been told at the moment, they can only go in if they have to be there. It needs to be signed off by line manager and head of establishment.

Nobody I know who works in offices is going back in just yet. One financial services firm is considering one day a week in the office after consulting with staff.

The only exception is a friend who works at MoD main building who has been moved to a Covid role for the past few weeks. He’s going in two days a week but says he has no health issues or dependants so he’s happy to go in.

In Ireland, not til phase 5 in January 2021. Quite mind boggling. I hope it's sooner but I've read it in black and white.

@Brunionfire

"Social distancing measures are in place so they say we must come back despite current government advice to continue to wfh wherever possible."
Are you in a union? Could you seek advice from ACAS? The Govt advice trump's your company's demands.

@joan04
Bloody hell. That sounds like a nightmare. You have my sympathy.

It's really difficult working from home when you don't have the luxury of a home office or even a decent sized dining table. Many modern houses are tiny and it's really impractical. I've been having to use a laptop when usually I use a desktop with two screens. The split screen on the laptop is rubbish and I just don't have the room at home for a proper setup. Tasks are taking double the time for all sorts of reasons. Can't wait to get back to the office.

When transport is safe .... seems like they want us to avoid it despite they’ve offices In big cities accross the country. We’ve been doing well really even been praised for making more money than expected so I think they’ll try to keep saving for a while in overheads whilst they can

Our office is covid planning but reckon only 60 people per floor rather than 200 for social distancing and hardly any meeting rooms ....no tea/coffee/kitchen area ... not sure how many can get in a lift or how to socially distance a fire evacuation...
I'm glad they are taking it seriously.., and they will be asking people who wants to come in ... and try and prioritise them...
Lack of public transport is an issue though as 90% use it...

Hopefully people won’t be “allowed” to return to offices until there’s a vaccine. Because you can guarantee as soon as it’s “allowed” companies will push employees to return, even though it isn’t safe. I’m much safer while DH is working from home, if he was told to go into the office then of course he’d have to go, but he’d be putting me at risk (I’m high risk). Yes people are getting sick of working from home, but just because you want go go back to the office doesn’t mean it’s safe to do so.

All the people who keep shouting about how WFH is bad for (their) mental health - what is your plan for all the people who've been fucked over by office working to prioritise your mental health in the past? You didn't give a fuck about us, and were happy for us to suffer for your benefit, why should we prioritise you now? Why are you still excluding us from these conversations?*

I totally agree with you.

I've been going in to one of my jobs, since day 1. None of the other staff are there, just me and my boss at opposite ends of the office. It's been great.

It makes me very angry to think that people aren't going back to work. in some offices, not all, they could they just need to reduce staff, rearrange things a bit and they could have half? The staff in?
I don't understand the opposition.

At least have the decency and humility to recognise how selfish and privileged it was to force that on people before you complain that your mental wellbeing is no longer being prioritised at the expense of other people

@user1635482648 I think we’ve spoken about this before. I suffer from mental health problems too and have said repeatedly that I believe this should be an opportunity for a more flexible, compassionate mode of working, so that those who are much happier wfh should be helped to continue but that it shouldn’t be mandatory.

My DH wfh 3 days a week before all this started and was much happier. And I was delighted that his company made that happen. Whereas for me, wfh is absolutely not good for my mental health. This time is very hard for me as it’s bringing back memories of my severe postnatal depression two years ago.

I don’t think anyone’s mental health needs trump anyone else’s and I don’t think anyone should be excluded from the conversation. Just because I say I don’t cope well with wfh doesn’t mean I don’t care about you or want you to suffer.

We've been told that only those who have to be in the office for their jobs or their mental well-being are allowed back in before September, and that will have a cap on numbers.

After September, everyone is likely to be able to go back, but at about 25% capacity, everyone else will work from home. In practice, about 1 or 2 days per week in the office for the foreseeable future...

[quote NotEverythingIsBlackandWhite]**@Brunionfire

"Social distancing measures are in place so they say we must come back despite current government advice to continue to wfh wherever possible."
Are you in a union? Could you seek advice from ACAS? The Govt advice trump's your company's demands.

@joan04
Bloody hell. That sounds like a nightmare. You have my sympathy.[/quote]
@NotEverythingIsBlackandWhite no union am afraid. I looked at ACAS info online & don’t think I have a leg to stand on but maybe I should call & have a proper chat with them. Work say we can’t wfh as effectively as being in the office as their justification for bringing us in.

Our company has said September at the earliest. DH company has said they won't be going back as productivity is better from home.

Mine is still open. I'm going in once per week (Only work 2 days). We're a small team and staggering going in.

I am very lucky that my employers view will be "come in if you like, stay at home if you prefer". We had a conversation recently, about how some people will have ongoing childcare issues and a long commute they are happy to avoid, and others are missing the interaction of the office. I am lucky to work for a company that recognises that both positions are fine.

With schools (Scotland) going back part time in August, I'm expecting to be at home until the end of the year, at least.

Following on from others people should have choice in the future where available.

I enjoy wfh but hate open plan offices. I also accept people hate wfh whether it's because of lack of space, kids in the house or because they're very sociable people. As others have said in normal times it's the introverts/social anxiety sufferers that just have to adapt.

@MadameMarie I totally agree. I think since this has proven that so many office jobs can be done remotely then people should definitely be given the choice. As I’ve said, wfh is not a positive thing for me, but it would be a wonderful step forward if the legacy of this was an element of choice being introduced.

@AgentCooper It would be great to have the choice. An example for me is working in an office all week exhausts me as a socially anxious introvert and I need the weekend for downtime. Wfh I've got the energy to then socialise at the weekend, so it would be sods law that when things go back to normal I'm back in a cramped office all week, as socialising is currently impractical with the restrictions. At least in terms of things I'd normally do.

@MadameMarie reading threads like this has helped me understand a bit more how introverts feel out in the ‘real world.’ DH is an introvert and has social anxiety too. He is much happier wfh.

It’s strange how it works, isn’t it? Some of us draw strength and recharge through alone time and others from the opposite. I hope the world can be more accommodating to people’s individuality after this, especially at work. I remember giving DH Susan Cain’s Quiet book and he said great book, but I still have to deal with being in an office and doing presentations. We sometimes struggle to empathise with each other but I tell him to imagine spending every minute of your day with other people without a break - that’s kind of equivalent to how lockdown with so little human interaction feels to me.

In Ireland, not til phase 5 in January 2021. Quite mind boggling. I hope it's sooner but I've read it in black and white

Phase 5 in Ireland begins on August 10th.

But I don't really see anybody giving any fucks about how much suffering enforced office working caused to people with mental illness. I don't mean mental wellbeing issues, I mean mental illness. We do actually deserve to be able to access employment and live decent lives too

Lots of jobs don't involve any time in an office, ever. If working in an office is making you 'mentally ill', then obviously you need to seek a different work environment. You can't be 'enforced' to work in an office.

All the people who keep shouting about how WFH is bad for (their) mental health - what is your plan for all the people who've been fucked over by office working to prioritise your mental health in the past? You didn't give a fuck about us, and were happy for us to suffer for your benefit, why should we prioritise you now? Why are you still excluding us from these conversations?

This is incredibly rude. Some people find WFH lonely and isolating. They are allowed to say so. Nobody here knows who you are, so how on earth are they responsible for your situation?

I have to say I miss my commute more than I thought I would. I have a comfortable 35 minute train journey to a major London mainline station (always get a seat from my station) which gives me some 'me' time to listen to podcasts or read, which I don't have much opportunity to do at home.

My organisation has become more pro WFH though as a result of this. Hoping for a 3/2 split either way once this is over.