Are you going back to work in an office?

[FluffyKittensinabasket]

Curious to see if other people are going back, a couple of months ago it was being reported that many people are never going back and WFH forever.

That’s interesting. (Bored rigid with Zoom I get but email is surely just as before?)

I don’t doubt you, I am interested because I haven’t heard of any other office workers taking such a strong/universal rejection of WFH.

I think Zoom/Teams are here to stay office or WFH though.

I've civil service too (well agency) I am about an hour London, if I want to progress I need to look at London roles, I'm really hoping remote working will increase so I can progress within the civil service without having to move or pay a fortune to commute to London.

In terms of my current role they are talking about expanding our home working policy and treating the office as a hub rather than a base, I don't think I will be back any time soon. My place of work is very keen to reduce carbon footprint so they will be all over it.

I'm curious with those teams working fully from home what they do about new joiners, do they just plan to post a laptop to them when they start?

Remote inductions. I think we couriered equipment in lockdown, office is open for errands such as this now.

Remote inductions. I think we couriered equipment in lockdown, office is open for errands such as this now

That's good at the moment, a shame overall though if this becomes the new normal.

I'm going back this week for a small bit of time, but it was at my request and I don't have to share an office whilst there.

Our place is also only 25% and I have picked up vibes that those who hate WFH or have an unsuitable home set up will be prioritised for office space.

I hope that is how it goes as I am ok at home tbh.

I felt pretty when Johnson said he was hoping to scrap SD in November

Still WFH have been told until at least September but likely until the end of the year. Then they hope to move to a blended approach but no one knows what that will look like yet. I’m hoping it’ll be 2 days in the office and 3 days at home.

@Staplemaple I think it very much depends on the office dynamic and projects. We've adapted to Teams very well, we really struggle with getting meeting rooms and quite often have "remote" meetings from our desks in the office. We work with agencies across the Uk, I am managed remotely and manage staff remote from me- pre Covid, we are spread out. I am relatively new and have had no difficulty in meeting people remotely, in fact it's been noted that now everyone is remote we are all making more effort with our virtual tea breaks etc, they're calling it a level playing field when it used to be felt our head office had preferential treatment on some things. So I don't think anyone will be saying it's a shame in our company, though I appreciate it will be different for different organisations, I can't imagine it working so well in my last place of work.

When you think how much money is spent on travel, meetings, I really do think this is going to be better for the public purse and environment. I used to regularly travel up to scotland, for no good reason other than "to show my face". But we do need to balance it against wellbeing.

As an NHS Admin worker, not in direct contact with Covid patients, I have worked in an office throughout. The Service I work for closed and we were deployed to other services, I've been working with District Nurses but still no sign of going back to my usual service. My DD has been working from home and has been told it's going to be end of September at the earliest before they're back in the office.

DH's office is phasing back mid September, but as he can wfh fully he'll probably stay doing it for a while longer

I work for a national organisation and my office houses numerous teams, some with local customer facing roles and some with central administrative/management roles who work from whichever office is their nearest office. I'm in the latter category and whilst formerly there was an expectation that everyone worked from the office most of the time (with a bit of flexibility, e.g. WFH if waiting in for a gas engineer) I genuinely don't think I'll be permanently full time in the office again, I perceive a culture shift and messages from management are that the last few months have been successful and flexibility will be embraced going forward. We recognise that face to face meetings are often more productive but I doubt we'll be as quick to have people trekking into head office from various parts of the country and these will be less frequent too.

@notheragain4 yes and that's fair enough, for some places it works well.

It's not that WFH doesn't have disadvantages. I think work are going to organise a "work hang" workspace once or twice a week for the young single people in flat shares near the office, who otherwise would be spending an inordinate amount of time in their bedrooms.

But aspects of WFH suit family life and I'm a "focus on the positives, keep moving forward not harking back to the old ways of doing things" sort of person.

We've been told that WFH will be the 'default' from now on and that we are never going back to how things were. The nature of the job means that I will need to pop in every so often to do face-to-face stuff, but it will be kept to a minimum and outside of normal commuting times. I knew they were serious when Teams meetings appeared in my diary for August 2021 .

I'm delighted. WFH isn't perfect, and now it's pretty much permanent I need to think seriously about making some changes to my workspace, but the positives far outweigh the negatives for me. I am still very productive, much less stressed, saving money, and have a far better work/life balance.

Thank God I will never ever have to pay through the nose for the privilege of standing at Clapham Junction in the pissing rain at 7am before cramming myself into a packed, sweaty carriage ever again.

I want to know what companies plan to do regarding people who don't have the set up to work from home permanently. While I've got used to it and enjoyed it, there's no way I can work at the dining indefinitely. I'd fail a DSE assessment for a start and I'd like to be able to eat at the table!

I think I'll be at home until the end of the year at least, and even then will only be going back to 1 or 2 days in the office at most. I'm delighted, my commute is crap - 1.5 hours each way packed into the train then tube across London, paying around £500 for the privilege. WFH would save us so much money. I don't need to be in the office to do my job, my team are all working in different things with different clients anyway, and even pre lockdown were in and out of the office all the time.

I think work are going to organise a "work hang" workspace once or twice a week for the young single people in flat shares near the office, who otherwise would be spending an inordinate amount of time in their bedrooms.

That's really good, that is the aspect that I feel is sad really. When I was starting out I loved the social side, but also, many live in house shares etc which can be very lonely. It will be interesting though how long it takes for those companies starting wfh permanently how long it takes to remove London weighting, cut jobs (some will be lost if a physical space isn't being used), how competition for jobs increases if you can apply nationally or even internationally as outsourcing is cheaper, what happens to pay and other benefits. It will for sure change a lot about the workplace, rather than just being a oooo we work from home now. Sounds like my idea of hell to be honest, can't wait to be back in full time and stop festering away within the same 4 walls.

@PinkSparklyPussyCat yes I think that's a fair point, you don't want good candidates pushed out of certain jobs/sectors that don't have the work space at home, I'm actually in the process of moving house and the need for an office was one of the biggest reasons and have moved further away from work to make that happen in the expectation I will be commuting less. But this obviously won't be reasonable or feasible for all, I think my company will keep a hub with a certain amount of office space but the hope would be we wouldn't need as much space as we are paying for now.

how competition for jobs increases if you can apply nationally or even internationally as outsourcing is cheaper

From an employer's point of view I would see this as a plus, I've lived in areas where we really struggle to recruit strong candidates so to be able to recruit further afield would great, think of all the young people that can't always afford to work in London who could have excellent jobs opened up to them.

Though recruited abroad for cheaper salaries would be a concern in some sectors of course.

From an employer's point of view I would see this as a plus, I've lived in areas where we really struggle to recruit strong candidates so to be able to recruit further afield would great, think of all the young people that can't always afford to work in London who could have excellent jobs opened up to them.

Yes definitely, I think for companies and some candidates it will be great, the downside is pay is likely to decrease as there is less of a need to be competitive, but I suppose if people aren't committing etc then it's likely offset. Imagining a ready player one type world soon though where we mostly connect via VR with little interaction haha. Outsourcing is something already being discussed with some suppliers we work with, it will be a shame but cheaper for us I guess.

When I get a new job I really hope it has the option of going into an office. I worked from home in April before getting made redundant and I hated it. I actually like the routine of getting up, getting the train and going into an office. Home for me means personal relaxation time and when I was working from home I found it hard to separate work from my personal life. I suppose not having a home office didn't help

@Staplemaple

I think work are going to organise a "work hang" workspace once or twice a week for the young single people in flat shares near the office, who otherwise would be spending an inordinate amount of time in their bedrooms.

That's really good, that is the aspect that I feel is sad really. When I was starting out I loved the social side, but also, many live in house shares etc which can be very lonely. It will be interesting though how long it takes for those companies starting wfh permanently how long it takes to remove London weighting, cut jobs (some will be lost if a physical space isn't being used), how competition for jobs increases if you can apply nationally or even internationally as outsourcing is cheaper, what happens to pay and other benefits. It will for sure change a lot about the workplace, rather than just being a oooo we work from home now. Sounds like my idea of hell to be honest, can't wait to be back in full time and stop festering away within the same 4 walls.

Yes, we've been talking about the long term implications over he dinner table. We think mostly working from home but having to come in now and then will be the default for a lot of people so reasonable proximity to the office will still be useful.

I'd like to think the insanity of millions of us all catching a train at 7am 5 days a week to go and work in a building an hour away from the building we live in could end without all of our jobs being outsourced, but yes the London weighting to cover the extra costs involved in living in or commuting to the capital can be phased out.

I've been back a few weeks

DH won’t be going back any time soon-they’ve already said. It was a long horrible commute so he’s thrilled! He’s saving about £450 a month on train fare, gained 3.5 hours a day where he’s not having to sit on a train plus not having to buy lunches etc

@Staplemaple yes it really it opening up a can of worms isn't, as with anything there will be pros and cons and winners and losers, it defiantly feels like we are in a period of huge change.

I'm been wfh through out and no pressure to return but do think I will want to a couple of days a week. I have also had Covid so that helps the nerves a bit as I know I have some antibodies

My husband has WFH entirely the last two years and it does wack the heating up quite a bit in the winter so peoples savings may disappear a bit when the weather changes