Do you think the government will change the ‘WFH if you can’ advice before there is a vaccine?

[Ethelfleda]

I personally can’t see them doing so. If people are able to work from home then there is no economic need to tell people they can go back to an office.

I ask because I am starting to feel depressed WFH. I work in the same room as I sleep and it’s starting to have a massive negative effect on me. Our house isn’t really big enough to change this right now but I guess if I knew I would have to WFH for say, another 12 months then I would do something more permanent to rectify the situation.

Our employers have had certain people back in offices this week but have made it clear it is only a select few - I think probably people who don’t have proper screens at home or computer chairs etc
And have said they will follow the government advice for everyone else the whole way.

I’m trying to come to terms with the fact that my current work situation may not change for a very long time but it is hard to get my head around!

Anyone know what the advice is in other European countries??

We have been told office opens in August but up to us to decide personally I think the government will say wfh as long as you can

Have you spoken to your work about how you're feeling about WFH? I know that at my work, they're not planning on us returning to the office any time soon, but have said when they do, they will bring in a small number of people to begin with, and those people will be selected based on their need to be in the office, which includes those that are struggling to WFH, be it because of lack of suitable space/equipment, or because of the impact on their MH. So if you speak to your work, you might find that you could be included in the small number of people returning to the office sooner.

I think it’ll be work from home forever.

Government will handover responsibility to the companies so they can be blamed if they don't use their common sense.

I think it’ll be work from home forever.

Could be.

I think this has been a real test of whether WFH more is possible and that many companies will continue with it regardless. My husband has been working from home before the lockdown as they had at least one case of CV in the office in early to mid March. Their team is working really well and they will be the last back into the office.

There are many advantages. He would spend 3 to 4 hours on the road every day and obviously that adds to the pollution levels. He can roll out of bed at 8.30 and do a bit of gardening or whatever at the end of the day. If just a small proportion of the population can work from home then that's got to be a good thing on balance.

The extroverts in my husband's team are less happy with WFH.

I think WFH will be around for a long while yet so it makes sense for everyone who can to think about how they can make it work longer term. If you have kids, it's possible you could have periods of having to work from home if bubbles are sent home to isolate.

In my twenties I lived and worked from one room for several years and you should not underestimate how hard it is or how much it can effect mental health. Easy things that I found helped were: moving furniture so that there was some physical barrier between the bed and desk (e.g. in one room I moved a bookcase so that it screened the desk but you could also hang a curtain or get a free-standing screen to place around the work area) In one place I lived I got a bureau style desk so that work was physically shut away at night; If you can, work out a schedule that means you are not just sitting at your desk all day without a break. I used to get dressed and have a short walk each morning so that I wasn't just moving from bed to desk and would then get out of the house again at lunchtime if I could. At the weekend I would sometimes just cover the whole desk with a blanket!

I think it'll reach a point soon where the responsibility will fall back onto employers, rather than be government guidance.

I'm permanently WFH. Our company was really resistant to it pre-lockdown but now realise it's fine. They are trading the big office in for a tiny one and letting everyone WFH. There are downsides but it does make nursery and school pick up easier. I enjoy having no commute.

Honestly, just put the long term WFH option in action. I was really reluctant to as didn't want to have to suddenly change all back/buy a desk but I am soo glad I did. I can't explain how much it improved my mental wellbeing.

Most office policies I've seen expect to go back in spring, with some very limited returns in groups from October for those who aren't coping well at home. Is there any other option than the bedroom for working if you make some adjustments? I like packing everything away at night if I can't shut the door on it, so there's no visible sign of work. I don't know if your toddler is in nursery full time (maybe you don't remember me from breastfeeding threads, but I promise it's memory not stalking!), but if not you can take advantage of it with a random walk scheduled in the morning, a family garden play break in the afternoon etc, trying to see the good points of not commuting. If you're lonely then try to schedule more interactions as video-calls with colleagues who you like, and take the time for off-topic chat. If anything that's more important than usual, but people can forget and dive straight into work topics, whereas when you take a few minutes to connect the day feels lighter. I hope you find something that helps!

Dh's lot are thinking 1 day a week in the office from September/October but probably not full time for the foreseeable future.

We're having to reorganise our house because we had the computers in the tv room which also has the kids craft table in it and it's not working.

We might re open in Sept for maybe 30% of staff, to allow for distancing, other than that the rest is unknown. I want to get back to the office at least 3 days a week.
There are a lot in my office happy to wfh full time though so that should help those of us who do want to return.

I agree I think this will be one of the last things to change, as it will be considered a small benefit for a relatively high risk, in terms of numbers of people moving around, public transport etc.

I've always worked for companies that have pretty relaxed approach to home working anyway, and most people cite the benefits in terms of commuting time and costs and also the environment.

I think though, there are a couple of issues that can create real problems for people. Cultural change usually happens slowly, but here, we are flinging people into these situations with no time to really adapt. Two things I worry about:

1. the expectation and demand for housing that allows an office space is going to go through the roof, and we know that current housing stock simply doesn't have the space. WFH doesn't just affect the employee, it affects their whole family, dining room table, no noise in the kitchen please I'm on a call, etc. Some have office space, but it's often the senior and more well paid. None of us were asked if we would be happy working at home for such a long period of time.

2. Mental health obviously, some people become very insular without the office environment, I have a couple of colleagues who read negativity between the lines of every email when they're WFH for long periods of time.

3. All the business, often tiny concerns, that rely on office traffic....sandwich shops, coffee houses, small stationery suppliers, the people who maintain equipment, and really town centres in general without that lunchtime busy period on weekdays. It's easy to say evolve or die, but these people had no time and nobody saw this coming.....the day when a busy sandwich shop making a good profit suddenly reduced to 2 customers a day...they are adapting in the sense of doing deliveries to houses, but really, who orders a tuna sandwich to be delivered? I feel sorry for these people who had good businesses and will lose everything if offices don't re-open.

4. After school care....again could reduce to tiny numbers for some providers. I appreciate this is seen as a benefit to some, that children can be picked up by parents, but there are those that will lose their livelihoods as well.

So....I can't say large numbers permanently WFH is a bad thing per se, but having it happen so fast is going to put a lot of people in situations they didn't want and may not recover from.

Sorry that was massive!

I work in University Admin. We've been told January at the earliest for a return to the office.

Could you talk to your employer?

Mine is allowing a few people into the office if WFH is really hard or stressful for them.

My employer have gone from returning in new year, to returning in August or September (cause most of our staff are women and the school return was a concern).

I'm not happy. As a disabled person, I do not feel safe, even though I'm not in the shielding category. I struggle to social distance and wear a mask. Being at home has made me feel safer and avoid a toxic work environment. It has been better for my mental health and my family life.

To return to work just to be sent home again (as will probably happen with future lockdowns) just seems nuts.

Regardless of government advice, my company and my husband’s company are both talking about not bringing people back until at least late 2021.

Can you rearrange your living space if this is going to be long term?

Ours is skeleton staff two days a week from August. I'll pop in in September when the dc's are hopefully at school. We are under no pressure to return yet though.

Oh and we did get some good advice on balance from my employer.
They asked that we put away our work at the end of the day. Obviously if you have a home office that is easy, you just close the door. But if you don’t, they recommend putting your work computer And any papers into a bag so that you don’t see it and aren’t tempted to touch it.

I think a lot of companies will continue to WFH until.enf of year if feasible, if not slightly beyond. In productivity terms, most people have finally got into a groove wfh and found solutions that work for them. I do expect covid cases to increase over winter, and I expect most firms will favour the business continuity of wfh than bringing people into office only to have to send people home on an increasingly regular basis as people succumb to winter bugs and have to take isolation precautions in case it's covid. I don't miss my commute and would like permanent wfh, with my team maybe in office same one or two days a week to get face to face stuff done. I do really feel for people confined to one room like the OP or those living in houses with DV etc that used work as a place of escape.

Interesting post @Deliaskis
I agree with 1/2 in the sense that we were all forced into WFH - for a good reason - but companies might consider that now WFH is the status quo, which not everybody is happy with.

Points 3/4 are more controversial. I understand what you are saying, I think for the majority of society these are upsides: no need to pay for an overpriced sandwich / less childcare. And yes for individual business owners and their employees it is going to be a catastrophe, but there is a good chance that at the same time they benefit from it (the no overpriced lunch/ no after school care). So harder to measure really.
Also, we can't say to people go back to the office otherwise you won't continue to pay your childminder / you won't spend you money at Pret anymore. (I know this isn't what you said, just elaborating on the subject)

You’ve just made me think of the sandwich shop under Old Street tube station where I get my Friday breakfast treat of a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel from @Deliaskis I really hope they survive but can’t imagine they’re doing any sales at all at the moment

Also what about new employees? It will be hard for them to form any attachment/loyalty to the company. They will inevitably be overlooked. There will be none of the “fun” stuff which makes working in an office worthwhile, eg the rumours of Jim and Sue’s affair, the time Bill knocked himself out on the water cooler etc etc. And the office party... at my age the idea of an office party is hell, but in my 20s...