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?

We have been told to expect Xmas/v early Jan to return to the office. Before that, from summer onwards, you can book a slot in the office if you really need to go in - but the booking system ensures barely anyone else will be in the office at the same time, there's no kitchen/coffee areas open, no canteen open for lunch, you won't sit at your normal desk area (there are covid hotdesks which get complete deep clean every session - the rest of the building is kept locked up to prevent spreading anything further where it's harder to clean) so with all those stipulations in play, I don't even see the point in booking a room at the office! I have instead met up with work colleagues once or twice for a socially distanced chat at a local park - that has helped enormously as I do miss the general office chit-chat!

I think if 1m is brought in then masks will become mandatory in more places.

I find the work day draining in a way I never experience in an office.

Same.

I find 'interacting' with computer sceens and constantly faffing around with Teams and Zoom to be stressful, and I'm normally pretty laid-back when it comes to work.

I loathe WFH. I hate being the 'same person' all day every day, with no separation between work and home, no casual interaction with colleagues or even the chance to pick out your outfit for the day! I'm a university tutor so we will be going back in at some stage - we've been told around Nov - but that's assuming we have enough students to make our courses viable, which is a whole other question!

I’ve been back in fir weeks even though I can work from home. Our MD doesn’t believe in it, or more likely he doesn’t trust anyone. The bitch of it is I am more productive at home. Social distancing is a laugh and there isn’t anyone to clean the office.

My company are opening in July on a voluntary basis. I was really surprised as we can all WFH perfectly fine! My office is in Yorkshire & most people drive as there’s no public transport near the office, so that’s something I suppose. The office is also quite large in size but small in no of people, so we can spread out!

The London office seems odd though..

The company as a whole are very kind, caring & flexible and they’ve been fab over this period. For example, they’ve allowed my OH to work shorter hours on full pay to support me at home with a 2/3 year old & newborn baby! So they aren’t a shitty employer by any means.

I suppose it’s voluntary which is good.. my OH going to go in a couple times a week as we work with huge volumes of data & even with a reasonable internet connection at home, it’s much much quicker at work! So he’s looking forwards to being able to get as much as possible downloaded there and then work with it at home!

Our MD doesn’t believe in it, or more likely he doesn’t trust anyone.

I think this is a major issue in many workplaces.

We're wfh until October, but are reopening the offices at the end of this week. It's on a massively reduced capacity, so they're prioritising those with poor DSE setups at home, and those who need the interaction, particularly employees living alone.

I usually wfh 1-2 days a week anyway, but would have found this very difficult if our Wellbeing group hadn't set up various coffee mornings/socials etc. throughout the week you can pop onto for a quick chat.

We're starting to have discussions about how things will be permanently, and it's looking like there'll be a big increase in wfh. I'll probably do 1 day a week in the office for team meeting and that's it going forward. We've been much more productive and it's saved a lot of money, so of course our leadership team are keen to see it continue.

Our MD doesn’t believe in it, or more likely he doesn’t trust anyone

Interesting how many employers are happy to employ people they don't trust. A manager who can't manage unless people are in their sightline is not a competent manager but there are an awful lot of incompetent managers in business who reach their positions by connections or the Peter principle.

We work with distributed teams all the time which may be why we seem to have less people missing the office. Working in this way is a little different and its a skill many people have had to acquire under stress. Some companies have also managed it better than others. However longer term there is no need for office based work to be in a fixed place all the time and a lot of organisations have realised they can make significant operating cost reductions by minimising office presence.

I think as with all things Covid it's going to cause further divides and highlight privilege – if I'd had to WFH in my 20s it would have been awful, no opportunity to network, wouldn't have been able to go freelance, which changed my career for the better, couldn't socialise with colleagues or be in town to meet friends, living in a huge houseshare so all of us in each other's pockets all day and having to work in our bedrooms. Permanent WFH for young people starting out in careers is going to be really detrimental.

But for people with established careers who've done all the networking already, don't want to socialise after work because they've got small children to put to bed, and are privileged to have spare rooms/studies to use for work, are going to make out like bandits – DD's nursery is 4 minutes' walk away from home but my office is 1hr 10m minimum, and that's if the Tube is running smoothly and absolutely every traffic light, change, and platform sprint goes my way. WFH is going to make our lives better – no rush to pickup, we can stagger hours to make her day a bit shorter, get the endless laundry done during lunch time, etc; but that's a privileged position to be in.

Dunno what the solution is, though. And I'll miss Pret a bit (though my bank balance won't).

I've always wondered why so many offices are still based in London? I know it's a business hub with transport links but the transport is overcrowded, dirty and very expensive. The office buildings must cost a fortune to rent and most people travel from outside London anyway.

My DH and all the office staff at his place were working from home no problem. For reasons known only to themselves the bosses made them go back in 2 or 3 days a few weeks ago when Boris announced the first bit of lockdown lifting. 😡

We hope they will allow some part time home working permanently as it’s obvious it works but who knows (as they have a tendency to not trust anyone and like to be awkward when they can, just to show who’s boss)

Ordinarily I can work from home one day a week and this was due to increase anyway when I moved into a new role during lockdown. I expect they will increase home working across the board but it won’t be full time.
Our office will stick closely to the government guidelines so as long as BJ says work from home where possible, then we will

DS2 has been told it's indefinite. His place of work are looking at rneting a much smaller building for the rare rimes most of them need to be in. A skeleton office staff will still be required but they are getting rid of most of the individual offices.

DS2 is chuffed to bits.

I'm certain that this is going to drastically change the way cities work.
How can skyscrapers accommodate workers - how will people get to their desk if only 1 or 2 people can get onto a lift?
Coffee shops and bars will see drastically reduced footfall.
Other service industries will suffer reduced custom too.

Personally, I hope to be able to WFH until after the summer hols at least. I have no other childcare option as holiday clubs are not operating. DD is a tween, so not very disruptive to me working.

But I miss the office. I miss the social aspect, the networking. My job involves knowing all the little personal details about our service delivery, which is far easier to keep up to date with if I'm in the hub of it.

I know my employer is keen to get people back into the office for a few days a week if possible, but is mindful of personal commitments so is looking at possibly a 7 day per week rota system.

Fed up too. Can't see why can't go in a couple days a week
If its having a significant negative effect on you then you could ask about it. Youd need a h and s assessment to see if it is feasible and someone would need to keep tabs on who is in when. However as previously said increasing the risk of those who cant wfh has to be considered. If everyone was going in 2 times a week that would significantly increase transmission opportunities.

I am honestly past caring about coronavirus

@EnlightenedOwl

I am honestly past caring about coronavirus

It's still around and people are getting ill and dying. Do you care about that?

I’m back in for 2 days next week.

I’m doing ok wfh now the kids are back at nursery. But previously I was struggling.

Work have said that soon we’ll be out of lockdown (in Channel Islands) and at this point we’ll be expected to be back in the office.

@Artus

I have been told that companies may not wish to go completely work from home as that may mean health and safety regulations around equipment and work spaces, which are being ignored at the moment, may be enforced, costing companies as much if more to bring employees homes up to standard.

I dont know if it's true though.

The employer has to provide equipment, though most work on a basis that for furniture there's a spending limit and agreement that if you leave within certain timescales you'll be responsible for contributing a certain percentage. Everything else is about the employee making sure their work environment is safe and most insist that employees complete declarations and hse approved work stations assessments. So actually, though it may cost in furniture, the biggest outlays have probably happened already.

I wonder if this move towards working from home will significantly affect house prices in commuter towns...

@RichardMarxisinnocent

I'm not really sure why people aren't more grateful that they are in a less risky environment and able to wfh.

I may be at less risk of the physical illness of COVID, but wfh is risky for my mental health. I detest it, I find it hard to focus and motivate myself, I hate not being able to have ad hoc discussions with colleagues, and not being able get help without arranging an MS Teams call. I am incredibly lonely, I have lost my dining table and can never properly leave work as I can see my equipment from my sofa.

It seems whining is all peo8do regardless...

I don't think I would describe people who are genuinely struggling with wfh as whining. Personally I have been in tears at my 'desk' numerous times in the past few weeks. If I am not able to go back to the office at least on some days a week soon, I fear I am going to break.

This sounds quite hysterical! You're not being put in the stocks. Why not focus on the positives?

This sounds quite hysterical! You're not being put in the stocks. Why not focus on the positives?

Very unfair. Not everyone has the right kind of home environment for working, and right now it must be very stressful for some people. Everyone is different.

I think one outcome of the crisis is that the aspiration of working from home will lose its attraction for many people.

This sounds quite hysterical! You're not being put in the stocks. Why not focus on the positives?

Thank you for your complete lack of empathy. Perhaps you can tell me what the positives are?

I'm not the only person in my small team feeling like this, the other person who lives alone is struggling too.

@Redolent

I wonder if this move towards working from home will significantly affect house prices in commuter towns...

I've been thinking about that too. But concluded that even for 2/3 days travel people will still want a decent commute / transport links.

I also think it could have an affect on sizes of houses or layouts. Open plan kitchen / living / dining isn't that great if your using the dining area as a desk / office space. And want to stick the washing on or have kids watching TV.
A small room that will take a couple of desks will become a must have.

My colleague is already looking into one of these luxury garden offices/ shed

We are getting one next week - it's very exciting (we are lucky enough to be able to afford it, it does seem like the most cost-effective way of getting more space). Someone else I know has had one installed which is more like a glorified shed so I don't know how practical it will be in the winter, but it definitely gives you options. The one we are getting can be rented which is good if you will be back in the office eventually.

People who don't like WFH because of space or human contact could look into co-working spaces, they are beginning to reopen.

I am mainly home based anyway but our office is unlikely to reopen to any significant extent until September/October. DH has said the same. However, both are allowing people back in who really can't work from home.

I also agree with the pp who said join networking groups. They can be general or industry-specific and having regular online and face to face meetings when they resume is very good for getting out of the house and getting completely different perspectives on business.