Honestly - why are you not going back to work?

[SpaceOP]

I've spoken to a lot of firms, read lots of news reports, all saying that the UK workforce are not going back. I know many firms are doing internal surveys and the feedback is universally that people aren't planning to come back yet.

My question is, genuinely, how much of this i because of covid and how much is because quite frankly, WFH is nicer? Or if there's a list of reasons, is Covid number 1 or number 5?

Certainly, in my case, I have worked from home for years but I admit that I am enjoying barely ever having to go into town. It's time consuming and painful and often means I lose out on time to do other work and/or home stuff. So the more my clients continue to work from home, the better it is for me. I'm not staying away because of Covid as the main reason, although I would say it's a consideration - I feel like the risk doesn't feel that worth it but if I had to go in, I would?

Anyone else?

This has been really interesting, thank you. It seems that for many people, there are lots of non-Covid reasons like quality of life, saving money etc. And that where Covid is part of the reason, it's mostly (not entirely) not so much the fear of getting it yourself but more about how Covid has impacted other things like childcare or how offices operate (eg not enough people actually being there to make it worthwhile), the potential need to self isolate etc.

This has been really really interesting. It's good to see that so many companies are not pressuring people to come back to the office. But I think a more formal survey/research along the lines of this thread would be very useful for governments/companies who are trying to work out what to do next.

WFH saves me time, money, ironing, stress, infection risk... It's a total win. I go into the office once a week to see my team but they prefer WFH too.

Well I am still at work. I don't need to go into an office to do my job. I'm probably keeping in touch with my manager better than before, not sure why, before I could ignore/not talk to him for days at a time, but now we're expected to check in most days, so it seems easier/more appropriate to randomly call him just to say hello, wheras before I was always worried about being a nuisance.

I normally visit clients 1/2 days a week but a lot of that interaction has gone virtual, mainly because most aren't accepting site visitors if they can help it although I do normally need to be there in person, so that won't change when this is all over.

I'm fortunate that I have the house to myself during the daytime and have just about enough space to set up a proper desk. When this all ends I'll be pushing to WFH for at least 2/3 days a week for all the reasons Laiste outlines.

Biggest advantage to me is saving on travel time, around 80-90 mins a day, plus petrol. I never spent much on lunch as I always took leftovers so Pret's survival is not dependent on me either way.

It's a shame about the impact on businesses like this, but the potential demise of Pret or city centre office landlords is not a reason to keep unnecessary businesses running.

The company has no particular plans to re-open at all except they are piloting the opening of offices in two parts of the country for those who prefer to work at the office. Places have to be booked and no more than 30% occupancy allowed.

Office hasn't reopened yet. Apparently it will at the end of the month, but I know people in other departments have been told not till the new year.

When we do go back in, kitchen areas and canteen will be closed. We are all assigned a week we can work in the office, and we can go in one in four. AFAIK, I don't have the same week as the rest of my team and as the main reason for being in the office is social contact and chatting to people in the corridor and learning about other things going on and how it could fit in with us - if I'm not going to have any of that, there's no point being in. I can log on from home just as easily. I don't want to do one week in four - I would rather do one day a week.. But there's plenty of time for them to change their minds again and again before we get there.

Yes, I'm leaving space at the office for those who want/need it.

We allow around 25% capacity and we're just about at that level to allow for a senior manager to be on site, technical staff who have to be in, and those who don't have the space/peace to WFH.

Therefore, I'm doing them a favour by staying at home, as many of my colleagues need an office space more than I do.

People want to work from home due to the coronavirus risk, but has no problems traipsing round John Lewis and Marks & Spencer with 000's of other people on a Saturday. For a lot of people it is just an excuse.

My DH runs a department and some of his staff have agreed to come back and some refuse despite no medical reasons. They have told him they feel pressurised even though the company has said nothing to them. They feel pressurised as others have gone in. Some of them have told him they want to WFH 3/4 weeks from now on. My DH says this is not sustainable. He is in agreement that at some point he is going to have to let some of his staff go and I said that if he does then he needs the remaining members to be flexible and ready to muck in. With that in mind, I'd say those refusing to come back into the office, aren't in the best position when it comes to making tough decisions.

In my own job I have had to fill in a form telling them how flexible I am and where I am willing to cross train. Wonder why that is

if one good thing comes from all this it will be employers realising that working from home does actually work for the majority of people. My son (19yo) got a job just prior to lockdown and has been working from home doing IT support. He loves it, there is no travel, no traffic jams and he can 'game' as soon as he finishes work. I don't understand whats not to like!

@bustybetty

if one good thing comes from all this it will be employers realising that working from home does actually work for the majority of people. My son (19yo) got a job just prior to lockdown and has been working from home doing IT support. He loves it, there is no travel, no traffic jams and he can 'game' as soon as he finishes work. I don't understand whats not to like!

Well for me what’s not to like is the lack of face to face interaction with colleagues, the fact that I no longer feel like I’m working from home but living at work, the lack of distinction between work time and home time...

We’re all different.

@KitchenBandAid

People want to work from home due to the coronavirus risk, but has no problems traipsing round John Lewis and Marks & Spencer with 000's of other people on a Saturday. For a lot of people it is just an excuse.

My DH runs a department and some of his staff have agreed to come back and some refuse despite no medical reasons. They have told him they feel pressurised even though the company has said nothing to them. They feel pressurised as others have gone in. Some of them have told him they want to WFH 3/4 weeks from now on. My DH says this is not sustainable. He is in agreement that at some point he is going to have to let some of his staff go and I said that if he does then he needs the remaining members to be flexible and ready to muck in. With that in mind, I'd say those refusing to come back into the office, aren't in the best position when it comes to making tough decisions.

In my own job I have had to fill in a form telling them how flexible I am and where I am willing to cross train. Wonder why that is

So you can’t tell the difference in risk between an hour shopping to buy food and household items, and sitting in an open plan office for 8 hours?

The thing is though, were does this end? Lots of low and mid level jobs that are done at home will work for a while, then some CEO along with his HR Manager and Finance Director will work out that people in the Philippines, Myanmar and Delhi can do that job too as they have the qualifications and speak English.

For me it's the extra time gained by not driving to and from work; the money saved by not paying for petrol; the ability to start earlier or work later and the fact that it's environmentally better for me not to be driving around every day.

I've worked from home for a while, now self employed. It's not ideal for me but it's far better than a big open plan office which I couldn't cope with.

My husband prefers WFH but would happily do a couple of days in a office. His company has decided its not worth the risk at the moment. The building doesn't allow much social distancing and if a whole team goes down its a big risk. WFH is causing no problems for most staff and it looks like it's changed some entrenched attitudes against it. They may even get rid of some of their estate. We are spending money in our local town instead of where he works.

WFH for me is

• Greener
• Supports local businesses
• Saves 2 hours commuting time
• Is healthier for me
• Supports good online businesses
• More family time
• More relaxing
• Easier to attend professional training and talks (as online)
• Protects me and my family from covid
• Feels modern
• More likely to stay in my job which has a talent-retention problem

Many people pre-covid commuted to an office to log on and spend there days in front of their computer screen. This is 2020 not 1980 and thankfully we have high speed internet with secure video connection. Being forced to WFH in Spring, network around the world all at once, forced whole businesses to see WFH works.

My husband and I are both retired but my daughter is mostly back in her office. She has to book in in advance because there is not room for everyone to work there at the same time and maintain social distancing.

She will probably work at home sometimes but prefers the office because she has two big screens to work from rather than just one laptop. She also likes the social interaction (she's early 20s).

She works in central London and is now cycling in (from zone 2).

With offices, it's not so much the sitting in open plan offices but congregation points.

Toilets, break rooms, stairs, lifts and corridors, shared facilities like photocopiers, plus if people need to use public transport to get there. That's where people get close together and also more people increases the need for frequent cleaning. Fewer people, smaller risk and also less cleaning required.

If you have an office job, decent IT and space at home, you absolutely can WFH although I accept that this will be difficult for new staff being trained. But apart from that, there's little advantage to being in an office rather than being at home.

And a lot of the time it's a disadvantage, both to the employee and the employer as people can WFH either full or part time in circumstances when they couldn't get to the office, eg if they are self isolating, have an injury where they can't drive or use public transport but can manage within the home, childcare issues where they can work while DC are in bed or parked in front of a screen or shared with the other parent, etc, they might be able to do something even if they can't keep up with their normal role.

I am self employed and have been back since end of June. My work has to be face to face.
Dh is still wfh because that’s his company policy. He had no say it. Plan is that he won’t be back until spring and then not full time.
Great when you have no possible dedicated space to work (he is on our dining table - at least we have one,!!)

Work for a local authority who has just opened their offices who are allowing 33% of the work force to return on any given day. You have to book a desk one week in advance.

However, the estate is still 'if you can work from home you must continue to work from home'.

Fine by me

Well happily for me ,I am a SAHM with older DC anyway. I feel for those people who dont wish to return to the workplace ,and feel its unfair to push people into a situation where they feel uncomfortable .The Govt seems eager to push many people into going back to work ,then seems surprised when the R rate increases! My DH is desperate to get back into the workplace (no idea why!)

You see I agree it forced companies to see wfh works
I think it will also force employees to realise it’s not always possible or nice to work from home.

Basically if you have a nice house, plenty of space and no young dcs,you will only have to deal with the possible isolation (plenty our social interactions are at work). You might also avoid the commute- not all of us do. Neither me nor dh have a long commute.
If you live in a small flat/house and have young dcs... its another story.

I like WFH. The office is only barely starting open now. But with no shared spaces (kitchen, meeting rooms etc all off limits) it's just a desk and some people in corridors.

I LOVE working from home. Im much happier and less anxious than I was at the start of the year. Life is easier when at home. My house is cleaner, i get more life admin done, my boss is no longer breathing down my neck AND all my work still gets done.

Covid is low down on the list of reasons why i dont want to go back.

Covid is the main reason I am in no rush to go back to the office.

I am fortunate to be able to WFH just as well as I can there. I'm pregnant and don't take unnecessary risks; we aren't going to restaurants or pubs, are having most of our food delivered where possible and only go to a shop once every couple of weeks. In addition, I have no desire to commute again (firstly the risk; 15 min walk, 30 min train, 30 min tube, 15 min walk each way, secondly the time; door to door took 1h40m pre-covid)

That's interesting @BarbaraofSeville about being able to work when otherwise people might not....my company have previously had a robust policy about not WFH when ill, e.g. if office based, you can't call in and say you're not well so will WFH, you're either sick or not. This meant people came in until essentially someone told them to go home because they were clearly visibly ill. We have good sick pay, but people didn't want to 'let the team down' if there was a lot to do etc.

Nobody should be forced to work when too unwell to do so, but I think a more flexible approach would make allowances for the fact that there are degrees of illness, and not all illnesses require one to be completely unproductive. WFH makes it a lot easier to be a bit more intelligent and dynamic about how we manage illness within the context of our work lives.

Work aren’t letting us in the office, I’d love to go back. I think it’s ass covering because they don’t want to get sued/have negative press ultimately.