So, when do you think ‘wfh if you can’ will end?!

[Hairybaker]

The only upside of COVID for me has been no commute! Do you think it’ll be when you get vaccinated or when every adult has been vaccinated....or later?!
I know no one knows but just interested!

I’ve been told will be wfh pretty much permanently. That we’re only to come in in limited circumstances and will be hot desking. I’m gutted. Not only do I have a lovely office at work which is full of my stuff, books, paperwork, etc I can’t long term wfh on the dining room table. I’m going to have to pay a load of money for an office in the garden.

I have think it’s difficult to recruit and integrate new starters when everyone is wfh and what about the social aspect - lunches and popping to the pub after work. I love having the flexibility to wfh but really want to be back in the office as soon as I can to see people!!

I’ve never worked somewhere where after work drinks were a common thing (maybe people just didn’t invite me ). We’d go for a couple at Christmas, or for a leaving do. Once every couple of months we might do a pub lunch (no booze allowed), otherwise everyone ate at their desks snatching 20 minutes where they could. Where I work now nobody goes for after work drinks, a lot of us live a fair distance away from the office and there’s just no culture of it except for a Christmas lunch out and we also have one afternoon of drinks/buffet in the office. We do all generally eat lunch together but even that is out until there’s no social distancing. So the office doesn’t hold any real social sway.

@Donoteatthekittens

A lot of people who are loving working from home are going to be mightily annoyed when their jobs get offshored!

I think you must be referring to unskilled work.

@Covidcorvid

I’ve been told will be wfh pretty much permanently. That we’re only to come in in limited circumstances and will be hot desking. I’m gutted. Not only do I have a lovely office at work which is full of my stuff, books, paperwork, etc I can’t long term wfh on the dining room table. I’m going to have to pay a load of money for an office in the garden.

Surely in the long term companies will have to risk assess and do something to provide people with the space to wfh though? It seems mad to me that they can just dictate that you have to change your working environment and home to suit them.

I agree @tentative3. I don't have a spare room I can turn into an office and my garden isn't big enough to have anything built even if I wanted to. I can't work in the living room sitting on a dining chair forever and I don't have the space for my office chair (or any way of getting it home).

BlueTimes - nope, a whole team of hundreds of very skilled data engineers being offshored to Bangalore, they were not “unskilled” workers.

And I’m just as concerned about people in “lower skilled” jobs like admin being offshored. I forgot this is Mumsnet where everybody is on a “six figure salary.” Apparently. They can’t possibly be offshored or automated.

www.ft.com/content/192eb45a-f7c9-4897-ac56-57cb743ac2f2

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.irishtimes.com/business/work/remote-working-works-but-there-will-be-a-price-to-pay-1.4426495%3fmode=amp

As long as possible hopefully. Will be nice to be able to have the freedom to stay with DP more who lives a few hours away. Loved the first lockdown when we worked from home together.

Skilled workers have been offshore’d for years in the financial and tech sectors.

@Donoteatthekittens

BlueTimes - nope, a whole team of hundreds of very skilled data engineers being offshored to Bangalore, they were not “unskilled” workers.

And I’m just as concerned about people in “lower skilled” jobs like admin being offshored. I forgot this is Mumsnet where everybody is on a “six figure salary.” Apparently. They can’t possibly be offshored or automated.

Everywhere I look, data scientists are being recruited in the UK. So your whole team of very skilled workers should be in new jobs by the end of the month.

@Chollok

alot of people who are loving working from home are going to be mightily annoyed when their jobs get offshored!

Done it for 5 years now and it hasn't happened yet.

Yes, I've been doing my job at least partly from home since 2008.

@Donoteatthekittens

BlueTimes - nope, a whole team of hundreds of very skilled data engineers being offshored to Bangalore, they were not “unskilled” workers.

And I’m just as concerned about people in “lower skilled” jobs like admin being offshored. I forgot this is Mumsnet where everybody is on a “six figure salary.” Apparently. They can’t possibly be offshored or automated.

Lots of data scientist jobs going and will continue to be.

I don’t get a six figure salary but my job will never be offshored. Lots of people aren’t at risk of having their job done abroad. Of course some are but many are quite secure.

@lljkk

you can work in a library My local library doesn't have room for this unless it's sitting on floor with laptop; we can't use random library computers to access employer files; random library computer won't have the right software and can't get on the VPN; I'm not sure if can plug my laptop into library's electricity sockets; library is open limited hours; library has noisy kids in it; plus I can't work well on a piddly laptop screen, myself.

or a coffee shop
Then you have to buy coffee and theres only so much to be drunk in a day; plus coffee isn't free. I mean, is that the idea, to pay for office space ourselves?

or a co-working hub
ditto

Well if you pay £400 a month for a season ticket, and £20 a week to rent a desk in a local co-working hub, which would you choose?

I have worked in my library when my wifi packed in for a few hours, just took my laptop and worked using their wifi. Our local council has desks you could rent for £10 a day and there's a co-working centre a few miles away which is the £20 a week I mention above. So once they are open again there are far more options than the dining room table or your bed.

I don't care about the piddly laptop screen but obviously if you want two screens or a big screen or both, it will be more difficult to work away from the office or a permanent set-up at home.

I think lots of people will carry on, at least part-time, for a long time. It’s worked really well for some organisations.

My company is moving to hybrid working once situation stabilise. So it will be 3 days in office and 2 wfh.

Kitty2019

My company is moving to hybrid working once situation stabilise. So it will be 3 days in office and 2 wfh.“

“Hybrid working”. Blimey, I’m old 😁

@DenisetheMenace

Kitty2019

My company is moving to hybrid working once situation stabilise. So it will be 3 days in office and 2 wfh.“

“Hybrid working”. Blimey, I’m old 😁

I'm old too 😂😂😂😂 just repeating the terminology 😉

@Donoteatthekittens

BlueTimes - nope, a whole team of hundreds of very skilled data engineers being offshored to Bangalore, they were not “unskilled” workers.

And I’m just as concerned about people in “lower skilled” jobs like admin being offshored. I forgot this is Mumsnet where everybody is on a “six figure salary.” Apparently. They can’t possibly be offshored or automated.

You mention this in almost every thread, it’s almost like you’re determined it will happen.

It never started here