When will the work from home advice change?

[TabbyTat]

I hate working from home. I genuinely can’t do it and I know for as long as the advice is “anyone who can work from home should work from home” the office will stay closed. Do you think there is any sign of things changing this summer?

To add, my workplace (NHS) is currently working to make our offices suitable/safe for us to go back to, and once they are we can hopefully either book the odd day in the office, or have a set day or two a week when we go in (if wanted - people can continue to wfh full time if they want). My commute is a 15 minute walk, so no extra risk there.

Dh's office are being reorganised to make them more Covid secure. They now have to have 'clean desks' at the end of every night they have one way systems around the floors, and lots of procedures in places they are 'allowed' 50% of staff on a floor at one time, as of the start of July IF their floor has been passed as secure. It will be monitored and if staff begin to get lax with procedures they'll be closed down until sorted each time.

So as of next week dh will be in the office 3 days a week, and working at home 2 days. They are envisaging this to last for the rest of this year, though I know dh is looking forward and hoping it can be jack to full time in the office sooner. They've prioritised those who,can't easily work from home first, and many of those are now back in whereas dh is currently only in once a week. He tries to arrange client meetings on other days, though they are mainly taking place in gardens.

I have to say they've really taken it seriously and got in board with getting everything ready and sorted. They've spent a fair bit of money getting things in lance, purchasing masks and moveable folding Perspex screens to see clients more safely, etc.

Dh can work,from home, but he prefers the office. He misses the social side of seeing colleagues, etc.

I'm retired and DH is wfh and it's a damn nuisance, no sign that he is going back anytime soon. He is now upstairs in the spare room, which I do use a lot for clothes and storage so not really spare but is constantly on meetings, shouting at the laptop, a bit like when people shout down the phone, he was in the dining room originally and that was even worse. Wfh only really works if you have dedicated office space.

DS, who doesn't live here is working from his kitchen table until at least September.

We spend most of our time on client sites and they are largely full time WFH. Non client facing work is also all WFH. We have special approvals process where clients have asked for staff on site.

None of this is going to change soon. Our clients, having finally implemented the digitisation necessary for mass WFH are now reducing their office footprints and having 2-3 days WFH as the norm.

There hasn't been a hit on productivity - no reason why there should be for ofice based work unless you have poor comms or business processes. When we do start bringing people back into offices I'll be looking to prioritise my juniors who miss the social aspects and who tend to be in more crowded accommodation.

Those of us who have been able to WFH have generally had the easier part of lockdown even where home circumstances are tight. Seems only fair that we continue for longer to reduce the wider risks of mass interaction and crowded transport systems.

Depending on where you work some places have already started to offer some workers 1 day a week where they have the option to work in the office.

Our company (London-based) has already announced that all offices are shut until at least the end of 2020. I think that it's a good move as it helps people to plan. However, they will be opening at some stage for small groups if people find WFH difficult. Personally I love it as it's gives me back my commut time (2+ hours/day).

What do you find difficult about it OP? If you list out the problems could you try to solve some of them?

This has a very interesting piece about office working

english.elpais.com/spanish_news/2020-06-17/an-analysis-of-three-covid-19-outbreaks-how-they-happened-and-how-they-can-be-avoided.html?ssm=FB_CC&fbclid=IwAR0Kr5DNvGnWgyO4i6AiVRXoRD3mg1Zapmo2JvCPL6KHgutUNsK4-2mlWSk

Work is planning for us to be back in two weeks time, with everyone back by end of August.

I am not sure which stage of the plan I am in. I have very mixed feelings about it.

I feel for you OP because at the start of my career I loved going into the office, loved the camaraderie and social life that went with it. Even now I work from home most of the time anyway (even pre Covid) but still liked going in now and then. I’ve been on mat leave and loads of new people have started since I left- I’ve met them via zoom but you don’t get to know people the same way. I do know of a few offices that are getting people back a few days a week so hopefully if they change the 2 metre rule you’ll get back before too long. I imagine it might be a case where for a while those who want to stay working from home can do so, to reduce numbers, but those who’d prefer to go in at least some of the time are encouraged to.

I think as government advice "work from home if you can" will be one of the last things dropped, not just because of interaction in the office with others but because of the woefully under resourced public transport.

If they say offices should be open as normal that will mean people packed into small, poorly ventilated areas with too many things that people need to touch that can't be cleaned often enough.

If the virus is still unchallenged in terms of vaccination at that point it will definitely lead to peaks in transmission.

I can see the general easing of restrictions meaning that some office spaces get re-opened but only where it benefits the company.

I'm happy to work from home...but working from home at the same time as my husband when we don't have a spare room to use as an office is incredibly difficult.

If wfh becomes the norm surely people will need to buy or rent houses that are suitable for this, working on the dining room table is surely not suitable for long term wfh.

In the late 90s studies were very popular as people had PCs with towers and printers but since iPads, phones and small laptops are used at home a lot now the home study has disappeared, maybe they will make a comeback.

Where i work is allowing a very small number back in now, those who need it for their mental health or those that need to be in for key pieces of work.
We're looking at at least September before more people will be allowed back and i think they will be reducing desks and allowing anyone to wfh full time that would like to.
I'm looking forward to getting back 2 or 3 days a week, i miss my dual monitors and talking to other people!

DH has been told not to expect to be back in his office until October at earliest. DD has been told 2021.

I know some workplaces are working on how their offices can be opened up for a small number of staff who find working at home difficult for whatever reason. If you are the only one in the office its not going to help much on the social side. Also the commute maybe the bigger problem.

I agree with PP that this will be the last thing to go. If people can do their work from home then it's an easy way to reduce potential transmission.

This has a very interesting piece about office working

Yes its a good article and particularly shows the effect of people together in enclosed spaces. The 2m rule for out of doors could probably be dropped without a lot of impact but reducing to 1m indoors is effectively a return to standard office configurations and crowded transport which are exactly the conditions for higher levels of transmission.

We've been told not before August but i think it will be longer. From the chat they are being so cautious in their approach that I think we'll be lucky to be back before the end of the year. I hate WFH, I'll seriously be considering a job change!

I can’t see wfh being dropped for a long time especially if schools are only back part time in September. Also you’d be a brave (or reckless) employer to drag back anyone who is shielding (even if the government does drop it as a concept). Lots of big companies preempted lockdown and were working from home well before they were told to.

As someone who thrives in office environments, who loves to take off my “mum” suit and be more executive every day, this is the worst news

The company I work for has now decided to close permanently

I am a great advocate for WFH, have been doing it for 16yrs myself, but can see this would be hard for new starters, esp school leavers/graduates, to become part of a team and learn from elders, as a pp said.

My DS did a placement year in 2018/19 and he cannot imagine how he would have managed it without direct interaction with others.

My mental health has taken a hammering working from home

Me too, even though I have always loved WFH, sometimes only going in office 1 day/wk, but I am really missing the office interaction. We are just starting a new batch of projects and not being able to discuss problems face to face is really hard.

@RichardMarxisinnocent - I too have been in tears, something that never happened before lockdown when I WFH regularly. It’s the permanent state of WFH and, as you say, not getting help without setting up a meeting.

I am in the fortunate position of being able to take early retirement, but I really don’t want to finish in, and specifically because of, lockdown!

I know it is for the greater good, but once hospitality opens, then surely offices can open with staggered attendance? One day a week, with immediate team members, would be enough for me.

I'm going back to work in an office environment from 2nd July but only for 2 days per week UFN. Can't wait!

I was hoping the speculation about the 1 metre plus thing/ reducing 2 meters needed for social distancing would allow offices to open sooner.

It could do, I think it's hard to predict what the government will say. I mean, in terms of risks/benefits, asking people who can wfh to do so has far fewer downsides generally (not necessarily to the individual I know) than closing schools and businesses. And there are big benefits, keeping public transport clearer for people who need to be on it for example. Packed commuter trains/buses are really not ideal at the moment and if I was someone who physically couldn't wfh I'd be a little irritated if I had to get on a crammed train full of people who could perfectly easily wfh.
But equally they may decide to open up offices as a way of getting kids back to school. Firstly if people aren't wfh they'll need their kids in school, and secondly it stops the argument of "well if offices aren't safe, how can schools be".

@LovingLen

If wfh becomes the norm surely people will need to buy or rent houses that are suitable for this, working on the dining room table is surely not suitable for long term wfh.

In the late 90s studies were very popular as people had PCs with towers and printers but since iPads, phones and small laptops are used at home a lot now the home study has disappeared, maybe they will make a comeback.

My colleague is already looking into one of these luxury garden offices/ shed. I am so glad we had our very small garage turned into an office/ utility room last year as it's been a life saver with both of us and 4 teenage kids working and studying from home.

Fed up too. Can't see why can't go in a couple days a week

I work at two different sites. One focused heavily on getting people back within two weeks of lockdown and the very overcrowded open plan office now has the addition of perspex panels between each person. It doesn't work, no one has room to do anything (if you raise your elbows they touch the panels) and the shape of the space means one way people traffic is impossible. It's very tense, not helped by a manager who now monitors what everyone's doing from his computer all day (reading emails/CCTV /dual screens etc) as prowling round the office is no longer possible. Anyone still working from home is presuming they'll lose their job by not coming in. The other site is great and has on an online rota system fo limited spaces where people can chose to come in if they want or need to round the clock. There's a rolling list of requests for scanned documents, post checking, IT stuff etc that gets fulfilled by who ever is in and the building management have added rota systems and registers for communal kitchens etc and put in handwash stations everywhere. Works like a dream.

Thistime and OP I completely agree with you. I am less fit, less focused and less productive at home, especially if the kids are here. I love going into the office and being my career self and I miss it a lot, I get so much energy from others and I find zoom calls just don't give me back the energy I get from being around my colleagues in person. I find the work day draining in a way I never experience in an office.

Some of my colleagues are fitter, healthier and more productive at home during lockdown. I don't think it's any coincidence that they have older children and/or facilitating wives.