'Go back to work if you can' - any idea what Boris means by this??

[labyrinthloafer]

So today the PM said people should go back to work if they can, rather than stay at home if they can.

But if people can do their jobs from home, why would this be a good idea in amongst all the other things opening up?

I feel so drained at the moment, have got into a very decent homeworking situation, now potentially disrupted, and then all winter it'll be 'oh Sue's coughing, has she had a test' and then people going home while they wait for results.

I suppose my question is - do you think this is just rhetoric or will the home working now start to change?

I wouldn’t mourn the loss of cheap carbohydrate chains clogging up all the high streets either (jobs aside). Generally people are pro independent and Pret et al did a good job of squashing those.

Also if companies have invested heavily in enabling wfh I imagine they’ll make their own decisions about what is best for them and when to return.

Yes, the long and short of it is that an employer who has identified benefits to them from more/exclusive homeworking isn't likely to pay any attention to Johnson's requests. If you want your staff physically in then obviously that's influenced by what the government want, but otherwise it's going to be purely a business decision.

I'm not sure what he means. Some of us have worked throughout, even when I had covid (obviously from home) what he means is go to the office and buy lunch etc. Well tough, most of us are happy to work from home if we can plus school holiday club places are in short supply

Ps the city centre is pretty busy now anyway

Did he say people had to physically get there or for companies to start doing this?

We really are behind in terms of tech in this country. And as someone else said, by companies seeing how this will work for their company it will hopefully benefit single parents etc. Flexi work from home is what the nation has wanted for a long time and many companies will hopefully take those steps to achieve this.

As for well kids can go back to school first and see how that works. We have. Schools have been open to provide support for key worker and vulnerable children. A couple of weeks ago, secondaries also started to reopen.

It's not the owners of Costa or Pret who will lose out if these places shut. They'll more than survive. It's the low paid employees (and their families) that will suffer. They won't have any savings and likely no housing security either. How many are employed by these big chains? Many many thousands.

I agree with comments others have made about WFH. Be careful what you wish for. WFH works well for now for those fortunate enough to have comfortable working environments at home. Long-term being at a settled stage of life in a spacious house may not be enough.
White collar jobs are also at risk. If there's no geographic need to be close to the office, jobs will increasingly be outsourced. Law, accountancy, finance, journalism, and almost any office type work. It won't just be the Others (low paid blue collar workers) the bus, train, and taxi drivers, office cleaners, cafe and shop staff, postroom staff, losing their livelihoods. The economic and social consequences could be devastating.

A balanced return seems the best solution. Something like 50/50. 2/3 days in the office, the rest at home. Allows for a semi return with more social distancing. Anyone struggling to WFH to be prioritised for full-time in the office, anyone disabled or vulnerable to corona to be priority for WFH. Childcare issues could also be WFH priority - or, as everyone else is reopening, we could reopen wraparound care, childminders, etc.

We should've have two months strict lockdown at the start. Nipped it in the bud.

By this time next year,I imagine it will be more half the week at home/half at the office.

This would be ideal to me, interaction and a break without the daily slog. One issue is is doubling up on monitors etc but once it’s done as an expense for company it would be easier to continue with it

A balanced return seems the best solution. Something like 50/50. 2/3 days in the office, the rest at home. Allows for a semi return with more social distancing. Anyone struggling to WFH to be prioritised for full-time in the office, anyone disabled or vulnerable to corona to be priority for WFH. Childcare issues could also be WFH priority - or, as everyone else is reopening, we could reopen wraparound care, childminders, etc

Agree with this

Hair, makeup, socialising and being professionally "on" would be best 2-3 days a week. Doing that 5 days a week whilst juggling small children and all the home admin bollocks is so exhausting. Couple days a week would be ideal, get all the meetings and banter in, next 2 or 3 days work at home. Perfect.

Window shoppers will be enticed to areas where they can spend.
Incorporating wfh as the 'norm' wouldn't essentially lead to job losses.

There's nothing to stop the endless coffee shops to think about what else they could offer the market other than lunches and coffees. Yes it's a nightmare but better than digging your heels in and not adapting with the changes.

And of course an added benefit of wfh is you don't always have to live in the same country as the boss. As long as you get your job done, your generally left alone. At least this has been my experience over the years, but then I don't particularly enjoy the workplace "social politics"

That's interesting others have mentioned the workplace social stuff and a reason why they enjoy wfh. I wonder if this is a key reason why some really don't like it, they "need" that interaction in some way.

PicsInRed*
I agree, this is what I did before lockdown actually. Roughly half and half and I had the best of both worlds then.

i've been WFH since lockdown - previously i would do so on an occasional basis. It's fine as I'm a middle aged bloke with a rather settled reasonably well-paid job, grown-up kids and a space in the house to do my work. But the experience has made me realise I definitely would like to WFH a bit more than I used to but definitely don't want to WFH full time.

If I was starting my career all over again I'd hate this. It's ok for me because I've done all the great and rubbish things at work over the years. Done jobs I've loved and jobs I've hated. At times i've worked stupidly long hours. Other times I've skived. I've written some very important reports, been responsible for very large expensive projects. Learned some incredible things. Developed my skills. Won awards. Made a huge mistake that cost one company thousands of pounds. Played football with my work mates. Been on some amazing work trips. Embarrassed my self on work trips. Had some very memorable Christmas parties and some I'd rather forget. Laughed and cried. Met my wife at work...

I worry that younger people are missing out so much right now and their employment opportunities have been cruelly taken away from so many of them.

I think it means the same as usual:” I don’t give a shit how or what, YOU decide when to go to work, that for your boss and you to decide and it not my government’s fault if whatever decision you take screw you up. None of my business mate, we are on this just to siphon money out of the country’s founds for our own benefit while we can”

@AlecTrevelyan006

i've been WFH since lockdown - previously i would do so on an occasional basis. It's fine as I'm a middle aged bloke with a rather settled reasonably well-paid job, grown-up kids and a space in the house to do my work. But the experience has made me realise I definitely would like to WFH a bit more than I used to but definitely don't want to WFH full time.

If I was starting my career all over again I'd hate this. It's ok for me because I've done all the great and rubbish things at work over the years. Done jobs I've loved and jobs I've hated. At times i've worked stupidly long hours. Other times I've skived. I've written some very important reports, been responsible for very large expensive projects. Learned some incredible things. Developed my skills. Won awards. Made a huge mistake that cost one company thousands of pounds. Played football with my work mates. Been on some amazing work trips. Embarrassed my self on work trips. Had some very memorable Christmas parties and some I'd rather forget. Laughed and cried. Met my wife at work...

I worry that younger people are missing out so much right now and their employment opportunities have been cruelly taken away from so many of them.

Completely agree with all of this. I am in my 40’s with 3 children so very happy to wfh. In my 20’s and 30’s I had the absolute best time in the office with work mates. Drinking after work, going on the best trips, made friends for life, boyfriends who came and went. It was bloody brilliant. I think it shows the main demographic of Mumsnet that so many people think wfh is so marvellous. Actually it’s very lonely and isolating for many and very many people in small flats, shared houses etc do not have a nice working environment at home.

I think a lot of people are in for a rude awakening if they think working from home and not going into the office is going to be a good thing for them.

My company has found that working from home works that it is now in the process of terminating its lease with the landlord at our central london location.

They are now looking at recruiting people to do the same job that we do in Eastern Europe and India because the labour is cheaper. if working from home works then why would you do it in the UK where wages are relatively high and you can get the same output from a worker abroad.

Creative, sales and revenue generator types might be ok as they obvious has talent that generates revenue but anyone who sits on the cost centre side of a business such as finance, HR, admin and other support roles should be worried as these roles can easily be done abroad for a fraction of the cost.

I will happily send a weekly donation of my lunch money to Prets - there, will that do for BoJo? Pretty please can I carry on WFH now?
PS Last time I looked I was doing a full-time-plus workload from home for my normal part-time pay, and have been since lockdown began, so kind of slightly resent his language of "returning to work" ;-)

I think it’s too early to be encouraging sardines on the trains and tube.

I hate wfh and can't wait until we move more towards going back into the office. I think this will happen gradually, not back to how it was, ever, but more so than now.

I think it’s too early to be encouraging sardines on the trains and tube

I understand what you’re saying but this is a little short sighted. Outside of London (yes, places exist outside of London) there are a great many of us who commute by car to their office and the journey may well only be a short one.

Also - if most firms follow the part time WFH route and maybe 2-3 days in the office, the transport won’t be as packed. From what I understand as well, they’re looking at staggering start and finish times to alleviate the stress on transport. Also - there are mitigating measures in place to curb the spread - face masks are now mandatory on public transport!

They are now looking at recruiting people to do the same job that we do in Eastern Europe and India because the labour is cheaper. if working from home works then why would you do it in the UK where wages are relatively high and you can get the same output from a worker abroad

This.
Even if they don’t outsource to other countries... why would you pay a London salary to someone who can WFH and lives in the Midlands or the North, for example?? They’d probably still be happy to travel to the office say, once a month from their location if needed.

People really do need to be careful what they wish for - everyone WFH full time could have dire consequences!!

Yes agreed @Ethelfleda, I think a lot of people are naieve to the implications of wfm permanently.

Lots of us would be pretty happy to see London vacancies and opportunities widened to the rest of the UK. Particularly if we have niche skillsets!