Have you gone back to the office?

[Echobelly]

Interested to hear how many people doing jobs that could, at least in theory, be done from home have gone back into the office? And what context do you work in?

I work for a professional membership organisation with an office in central London. The office shut a week before lockdown, they announced in June it would be shut until the end of September. They will be opening it next month, but only to test out with a few senior staff, and they have said they will not demand anyone returns in they do not wish to. TBH, it'd hardly be worth demanding people come in as they can get in so few people and you couldn't really do any of the 'collaboration' an office is supposed to be for.

We've functioned fairly well in isolation, I'd say, and I'm not expecting to go back this year - mainly the commute. I have no reason to fear getting ill, but if I can keep working while note getting on a tube train for 40 mins twice a day thus encountering at close quarters dozens of people a day, I shouldn't be going in and creating that risk for others.

At the beginning I thought I would be dashing back, but don't feel that way now, and actually quite OK with wfh now.

Back at the office this week, mainly been fine.

No, and not for the foreseeable future either. I work for a company that has invested a lot in IT, and now it is paying dividends. A year or two ago I wouldn't have dreamt that we could all WFH.

Our CEO is very aware that staff wellbring is a massive concern, and only key staff who have to be on the premises are required to be at work - warehouse pickers, drivers and other key staff.

We'll be required to go back in January but people have returned voluntarily. I'll be going back 2-3 days a week from the last week of this month and WFH on the other days. Most people have done the odd day on a voluntary basis and I expect most people will return for part of the week.

No, I've been made redundant. The four interviews I've had so far, all the companies are still working from home. I'm in the U.K.

Our offices have reopened and most staff have come back from wfh, some are mixing office and wfh. Our office locations mean we don’t have as much reliance on public transport etc as others. It’s surprisingly easy to go back to the old normal of office life, I wasn’t sure about it but it’s been fine and quite nice to return, I’m sticking with some office so wfh for now though to get the balance

Now neither has dh, Review in October. I know one person back two days a week but otherwise the idea of a mass return to offices has just not happened in my social circle.

No. I’m not currently permitted to go back into the office (my pass was deactivated back in March). I certainly won’t be back in this year. I doubt I’ll be back in before Easter 2021 (and even then it isn’t likely to be more than 1 or 2 days a week). HR are currently saying that we shouldn’t expect to be back in the office FT until Spring 2022

Which is utterly shit. Because I don’t have the words to adequately express how much I detest WFH (or “living at work” as we’ve taken to calling it).

Yes. I went back to my office this week after previously working from home and then being furloughed. However, the decision to return has been delegated down to team leader level and my team was basically ordered to return. Other teams were given more choice in the matter by their team leader. It’s causing a lot of friction.

We are back with a skeleton staff on a rota so minimal staff and little contact with each other. Some staff have health conditions or have family that or vulnerable. We had planned to return in September but given the current rise in numbers and the fact that many have DCs at school we have decided that it was not worth the risk.

Desperate to, but not allowed. In Scotland.

Been mixture of half in half out throughout. Enabled us to maintain team connection and mental health.

been back in for ages, since the second lockdown ended. its a housing association we can and did work perfectly fine from home but they were keen to get us back in ASAP.

Worked in the office right through but many did WFH and still are. Personally I would hate to work from home.

I've had the busiest stage of my professional life (been in work 20 years) on lockdown - down several people and having to move a paper publication to digital in no time flat. Been quite rewarding though - but does mean I'm fuming when Boris and his cheerleaders in the media talk about people 'returning to work' - we are working thanks very much! It's finally calming down a bit but working quite well - and I appreciate I am pretty lucky.

I think Boris, his ruling class chums and retired people who haven't been near an office recently don't understand that it's no long simple command and control where you can't trust people if you can't see them, and have no concept of things like Slack or other tools which allow teams to have oversight of what each person is doing (ie no need for a boss hovering over shoulder).

I can't imagine I'll be back in before at least next spring. I guess if I catch the damn thing and recover, I might go in a few days a week if it's an option just for the novelty, while I have a window where I'm highly unlikely to be infectious.

I don't think many businesses or bosses, certainly in places where there has to be a long public transport commute, are likely to be insistent on people coming back it. And presumably no one can work anywhere high rise.

I don't see me being back in office until there is a vaccine. We hadn't gone back yet anyway and now restrictions are tightening rather than easing I can't see us being back until at least the spring.

Our team deal with external phone calls so we have been going in on a rota basis since the end of July. Most of us drive our own cars and there is a large car park so public transport isn't an issue. It's just the spacing in the office. There is not enough room to keep us all apart.

At first I really didn't want to go back at all and had visions of being forced in. This wasn't anything to do with coronavirus though, it was just me preferring to WFH. Now I kind of like going in once or twice a week. It gets me out of the house and I get to see other people face to face. Nothing has been said if there are any plans to get us all back full time, but for now we are just carrying on the way we are.

I did think I wouldn't be able to bear staring at my house the whole time, but then I realise work was just one more place, it's not like my job involved travel or anything. I even missed the commute initially, but I don't now.

I have actually been sleeping unusually well this whole time, so I am wondering if I am normally overstimulated by all the to-ing and fro-ing in my life. I previously WFH one day a week, more in school holidays generally, but I can see myself going for 2-3 days in the office if that works for the team (my manager is outside London, so was only ever in that often anyway)

Our job can absolutely be done from home, very easily and everyone got on brilliantly during lockdown. But our office has been open for a month and everyone is expected to be there every day. Lots of cleaning going on but social distancing has gone out the window.

We live in part of the country that has one of the lowest rates of covid. Not a single person at work even knows anyone who has had it, so I understand the desire to get back to normality.

Nope - won’t be for a long time. Neither is my husband, pretty much all my friends are still also working at home for the long run!!

Shitty campaign by the government but looks like it’s not working 😂

Going back on Monday, just as the rates in my area have risen (according to a text from my GP surgery).

Been back, never really stopped. Fifteen minute walk to work. Have to be present, most clients do not have internet access.

We’ve all been working from home (online advertising business) which worked well for a while but really everyone was just ploughing through their lists of tasks and very little creativity / innovation happening. Also early careers people really suffering in terms of training and career development, and not having suitable places to work (several people flat sharing and working on their beds?). So we opened the offices on a voluntary basis in July on a very limited capacity basis (about 25% of normal capacity), hasn’t been particularly well attended so far. We are soon going to be moving to a rota where each department is expected to come one day per week, and we will gradually be making that more compulsory. People are scared of using public transport more than anything else, and also challenges of disrupted schools and lack of wraparound childcare are the other main blockers. I’ve been in a couple of times and it was great, am sick of being stuck in the home office staring at the same 4 walls all day!

I've never not been in the office throughout. NHS worker. I would love to be able to work from home part of the week.

Went back this week, small office and we’re operating at 50% capacity so half the week at home and half in the office. There’s no obligation to go in though so anyone feeling uncomfortable can continue to work from home.

I got made redundant in May but the organisation I worked for aren’t back in the office. Now got a new job wfh but I need to go to the office next week for a couple of days. I can’t wait actually. They are a health and safety business so hopefully it will be properly Covid safe!