'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?

@pennylane83

Normal life will return once there is a vaccine given to the vast majority of the population. The government should be redirecting a lot of its spending propping up the economy to getting us all vaccinated as soon as possible

You do realise a vaccine is years away (if at all), not months, regardless of what the media like to spin. The country is already in a recession, one that is going to get an awful lot worse before we start climbing out the other side. If you hadn't noticed, the government has already been redirecting all its funds on propping up the country - furlough, business grants, nhs etc etc. We're only 6 months into this sorry mess and already the country is billions in debt - a debt that our grandchildren are going to be paying off. Their isn't a bottomless pot of money they can keep dipping into to keep the country afloat until a potential vaccine materialises. It needs us spending and paying our taxes - where do you think government money comes from in the first place.

Shame then that they chose not to opt into the EU vaccine scheme right? Way to put ideology before public health.

@Redolent I agree, I was pretty that we don't want the option of the EU vaccine scheme. Really looking out for our best interests.

We racked up debt for 6 years in WW2, I think we will manage somehow

I agree, I was pretty shock hmm that we don't want the option of the EU vaccine scheme. Really looking out for our best interests.

We’ve joined the WHO agreement though haven’t we? I believe US didn’t.

• Provide access to new treatments, technologies and vaccines across the world.
• Commit to an unprecedented level of international partnership on research and coordinate efforts to tackle the pandemic and reduce infections.
• Reach collective decisions on responding to the pandemic, recognising that the virus’s spread in one country can affect all countries.
• Learn from experience and adapt the global response.
• Be accountable, to the most vulnerable communities and the whole world.

Not going it alone in that regard

Will you be going back to your office soon do you think?

If you’d asked me last week I’d have said no way. But they said all along they would follow govt advice and a colleague of mine was able to visit the offices to pick up an extra monitor etc... when she went in they were almost finished setting the building up to be ‘COVID safe’ with hand sanitising stations and automatic doors etc.
I imagine they will allow people to go back who want to go back

From a customer perspective wfh is often just not cutting it , and businesses need to get back to some sense of normality
DF died recently during lockdown - service has generally with a few exceptions, been piss poor-
Registering death - Register wfh - one week to receive urgent certs- would usually take one day
Local paper death announcement - staff wfh - several attempts to get through- would usually be immediate
Solicitors office -, staff wfh , numerous attempts to try to get through- would usually take a few minutes - still waiting for a call back - needed for probate
A couple of investment places -staff wfh - no-one seems to be dealing with urgent mail
Bank - still waiting on account to be closed
All extremely frustrating

I agree, I was pretty shock hmm that we don't want the option of the EU vaccine scheme. Really looking out for our best interests.

Wasn't it a condition of joining that we wouldn't be allowed to work with other vaccine providers in parallel? So, if the Europe vaccine turned out to be useless or seriously delayed, we wouldn't have an alternative. At least with us being "free" our options remain open.

Confusingly the government haven’t updated official advice to ‘work from home if you can’
The main message is still ‘stay at home as much as possible’
I mean what are they playing at?? Make your minds up!!

Probably too late now for a lot of companies they've realised how much they're saving by having staff WFH, and many of those are happier WFH, they're hardly likely to get them to all come back in to the office just to keep the cleaners, coffee shops, and transport companies in business.

WFH for all is fine short term to keep things ticking over, but customer service levels and productivity are falling through the floor. That's NOT sustainable. The sheer number of things that are impossible or delayed is breathtakingly poor. Things that used to be done within hours are taking days/weeks (if at all). We need to find the right balance of office work against WFH. I've no doubt after all this is over, then more people will work from home some of the time and more firms will regionalise their operations over several smaller offices rather than a single City head office, but there will be a return for most people to offices etc even if just a few days per week.

WFH for all is fine short term to keep things ticking over, but customer service levels and productivity are falling through the floor

Well that's a sweeping statement & ignores the fact that plenty of people worked remotely before Covid

@inglory

WFH for all is fine short term to keep things ticking over, but customer service levels and productivity are falling through the floor

Well that's a sweeping statement & ignores the fact that plenty of people worked remotely before Covid

Not true for me, I would say more is getting done. Got a bigger backlog - but because workload has to increased due to covid.

Considering that a lot of people have been wfh with limited space, inadequate equipment, children it's not even a level playing field.

There's not a great deal of point generalising about individual experiences of wfh, whether as an employee, employer or service user. There are situations where it's going to make people more productive and situations where it will make them less productive. Additionally, some people whose work output has recently dropped have been caring for children whilst working, and while some of them will be able to get childcare once they're expected physically back in work, others will not.

Do you not think he means for people to return to work as businness open back up such as hospitality , salons , pools currently a lot on furlough
If your wfh your working so fit in with go to work if you can , you are you are working

Yes, it's far more than just office workers who "can" work from home.

Lots of places are still closed or working on a much reduced basis due to lack of staff.

Northern Rail, for example, have a staff shortage of almost quarter compared with normal levels, so couldn't run a full service even if there was the demand. I can't remember the figures, but London Underground were even more short staffed.

We really do need to get people back to work. If they can WFH effectively, then that's fine and dandy, but if they can't or have to physically go to work to do their jobs (factories, public transport, hospitals, etc)., then we need to prod them into doing so.

WFH can be just wonderful when you're living in the right environment. Spacious comfortable house at a settled stage of life with less need of the in-person socialisation and networking provided by an office.

It's shit for people living in small homes with bad soundproofing and noisy neighbours.

It must be hellish for people in tiny suffocating studio flats or houseshares. Noisy, cramped, claustrophobic, isolating.

When I was younger I was living in a shitty studio. It was so depressing lying in bed looking at my cooker. I hated being at home and used to stay late at work to avoid going home. Never wanted my bf over. Always stayed at his, which annoyed his flatmates. There was no sound insulation at all between the flats in the block. It would've been impossible to concentrate working in that environment.

If the future is majority WFH permanently, it will be an utterly miserable life for many people.

Boris did mean, get back to the office

I’m not so sure he did now. Wasn’t the answer in retaliation to ending the furlough scheme? And govt advice has not changed from ‘WFH where you can’ ?

Noisy, cramped, claustrophobic

So are open plan offices.

@redolent what makes you think a vaccine is years away? There is a very good chance we will have one by this time next year. Vaccine development gas been transformed by advances in molecular genetics, and we already have successful coronavirus vaccines for veterinary purposes. Never mind all the research we have in SARS/MERS giving us a head start.

There is every reason to be optimistic.

Gov.uk still says work from home where you can.

Think this may be another example of a politician speaking before they think

Well I can't work from home anyway but since I've never been in the habit of wasting my hard earned cash on takeaway coffee, lunches or fast fashion I don't suppose I'm helping the economy much other than my £20 per week on petrol (although I filled up when the prices dropped so won't need any for a while). The goverment need to make up their minds, do they want us saving up for our retirement or blowing our savings on booze and coffees? Or maybe they're under the impression that everyone's so comfortably off they can afford to do both.

Well Matt Hancock was quite clear he wanted people to keep WFH even after Covid, in fact he was talking about changes to the law to enable more WFH, and this wasn't long before Bozo spoke, so either Bozo has fluffed his lines, or they've got no unified strategy.