Is working from home going to be forever?

[Inthevirtualwaitingroom]

i believe it may be,
it doesnt apply to me but i am concerned about the welfare of those who it does affect.
their social skills
their physical health
it is also a consideration when moving home

@Meredithgrey1

As pps have observed, public transport will take a hit, and city centres and all the small businesses which rely on workers.

But small businesses in other areas may benefit. Our little non-town centre “high street” was much busier last summer than the summer before (I was on mat leave the summer before). DH and I would go for lunch in a little local cafe which again was much busier with people on their lunch breaks than it ever was when I was on mat leave. I imagine small businesses like that would benefit. Our local little shops and cafes certainly appeared to.

This is true but I think what people are missing when they talk about the fact that businesses change and need to meet new needs (and I appreciate you haven't said that, but people often do when making your point) is that this kind of change is normally gradual and allows change to happen slowly rather than the total cliff face these businesses have seen since March 2020.

@tentative3 I increased my mortgage considerably in order to work from home comfortably 🤷‍♀️ (wasn't the sole reason but the main reason and why we moved ASAP), kind of like taking out a loan to WFH!

What a lot of companies have decided is to make the right noises about flexibility now while public opinion largely supports it, but with the aim that in a year or so they'll put more pressure on to be back in offices full-time. This is certainly the stated aim of several of DH's clients.

But @LadyCounterblast this is delusional. Seismic shifts are going on in the minds/lifestyles of employees right now. Anyone competing for talent is not going to be able to become less flexible in the future.

I’d have HATED it in my 20’s. I had a huge social life through work, met my OH, solid friendships. I was a social butterfly in my younger years.

As a parent of young children, I like working at home. I get more time with them. I don’t miss my long commute. In my current job, too many of my colleagues are really irritating 😂 and I don’t miss listening to them rant & rave about every client/editor they are dealing with. They still rant away on teams but I can ignore them!

That said, I was in a meeting yesterday with fellow managers & half way through it hit me like a punch in the chest just how much I miss people. I miss talking to people face to face, sharing jokes, talking about the telly, their kids, dogs, the weather. I miss wishing I was at home. I miss that feeling at the end of the day climbing into my car, putting of music & bopping home with my mind switched off work. Or reading my book on the train. I just don’t get the same end of the day feeling. I don’t easily switch off anymore. So I think I will go back to the office when allowed. Maybe not full time, 2/3 days a week would suit!

[quote user85963842]@tentative3 I increased my mortgage considerably in order to work from home comfortably 🤷‍♀️ (wasn't the sole reason but the main reason and why we moved ASAP), kind of like taking out a loan to WFH![/quote]
Fair enough! Maybe you're right and most people are happy to. I work in a heavily unionised workplace which would fall about laughing at the idea of the employees taking on debt so my employer could make savings but I appreciate people differ! Out of interest, are you happy to be wfh? Perhaps those who want to wfh see the debt as a reasonable exchange?

I'm hoping to do 2 in and 2 out. Whilst working from home has many advantages I think that for our business we are missing some face to face time

People complain about boomers, but there is evidence of huge ladder pulling-up by people in their 30s/40s who have found a mate, bought a house and have a young family who are happy to wtf and hang the rest of 'em. If I were a 20-something I'd have the phrase "family time" registered as hate speech! (Nothing wrong with family time, of course, but it's those spouting about it being so darned smug .)

Also, the coffee shops in high streets thing. I don't think dh would ever go and "meet friends" in a dinky tea rooms. Neither would any other men I know. And independent tea rooms don't want people getting out laptops and sitting there for hours nursing one cup of coffee - which is tolerated by chains in cities.

@tentative3 I think I'm an extreme example I'm civil service and our agency is very active with the unions too. As a whole our agency is very pro WFH, it was already very agile with most doing some home working and they have already canvassed the staff and changed our policy to enable it full time going forward, so quite a lot of us have moved. That said, the unions are being very vocal at ensuring we still have the capacity to work in the office as there are some people who do not want to WFH, we happen to be moving offices next year so they're looking at how we can better adapt that space to ensure some people work from the office, but we have collaborative spaces as they are concerned about us becoming too siloed.

I was very happy to take on the debt to move, it's my whole life and it's an investment, it has actually moved us closer to a train line to London too so I've tried not to cut off my nose to spite my face.

But hugely appreciate not everyone will be able or willing to do this, the main change in culture was that before WFH was a luxury so it had to be cost neutral and the worker had to pay for equipment other than laptop, now the agency has committed to pay what's required for someone to work comfortably eg desk etc.

I think flexible working will be much more common, but permanent work from home won’t be. My company is moving to work fro home a couple of days a week and office the rest and this seems to be common amongst my friends. A balance seems the most sensible way for the future.

I also think some office time is important as it helps to build relationships and is also necessary for new starters and graduates.

there is evidence of huge ladder pulling-up by people in their 30s/40s who have found a mate, bought a house and have a young family who are happy to wtf and hang the rest of 'em.

It’s not that surprising that people want to work in a way that is best for them, as an individual.
I’m in my twenties, but otherwise fit into your description eg I’m married with a house, and a toddler. Of course my preferences for work will be based around my life. You could equally argue why should I make my life harder by going into the office 5 days a week just so others can enjoy office chat/social life. I don’t personally argue this, btw, I’m just saying that I don’t blame people for having personal preferences that don’t take into account everyone else’s situation. (I do think that becomes a problem when managers, which I am not, do not take others into account though). There will be people who, for years, have worked in the office in a way they don’t like, who now have a chance to work in a way that they do enjoy. I can understand why they don’t want to give it up and go back to a way that doesn’t suit them, just because it doesn’t suit other people.

I read some of the larger banks are moving away from having a central head office and instead staff will be able to work from their local branches for some of the week, in smaller teams. This sounds like a great plan as it means the branches are more likely to remain open and instead of commuting an hour you can walk to work in your local area. Not sure it would be an option for most of course but it's a really interesting idea.

Personally I love working from home and it's improved my general wellbeing so much. I actually started working for a company that supported WFH back in 2019 so covid hasn't changed anything. I left behind a long commute (about 1 hr 20 mins on a good day, much longer if the trains were delayed - which was often!) and an office with just one window facing a concrete courtyard. It was a small organisation and I was often in the office alone, too, so not exactly much social life! Not being so tied to a location is a huge bonus too, I know I've not applied to jobs before if I knew it would come with a two hour commute each way five days a week, always during rush hour.

I think flexible working patterns are here to stay. Few organisations are going to ignore the potential cost benefit in reduced office space and a lot of people are saving time and money on their commute. What effect that will have on transport revenue and inner city footfall remains to be seen.

And wasn’t there a thread on here about what are you doing to address climate change ?

It’s not here forever. Plenty of companies are already back in some capacity. The advantages to working F2F haven’t gone away.

My employer is selling a lot of offices, so we’ll be at home with perhaps one day a week in the office. I like wfh, so quite happy with that.

I think some companies will fully embrace it and go for a blended approach and be far mor flexible in people’s requests to wfh than they used to be and other employers will go back to really limiting wfh, people have such differing views on it.

I am far more productive at home and my employer is getting at least 2 hours a day more work from me than in the office but others in my team hate working from home and will be front of the queue to go back.

I like working from home and no rush to going back to the office but I do envy those that can wfh and get a better work life balance from it, my work has been far too busy all the way through so there is little work/home divide, wfh has meant that the crazy workload has been more manageable than if it had happened whilst still in the office but its been all consuming by doing it at home

@IrmaFayLear

People complain about boomers, but there is evidence of huge ladder pulling-up by people in their 30s/40s who have found a mate, bought a house and have a young family who are happy to wtf and hang the rest of 'em. If I were a 20-something I'd have the phrase "family time" registered as hate speech! (Nothing wrong with family time, of course, but it's those spouting about it being so darned smug .)

Also, the coffee shops in high streets thing. I don't think dh would ever go and "meet friends" in a dinky tea rooms. Neither would any other men I know. And independent tea rooms don't want people getting out laptops and sitting there for hours nursing one cup of coffee - which is tolerated by chains in cities.

Also, the coffee shops in high streets thing. I don't think dh would ever go and "meet friends" in a dinky tea rooms. Neither would any other men I know. And independent tea rooms don't want people getting out laptops and sitting there for hours nursing one cup of coffee - which is tolerated by chains in cities

Agreed but not just the men! I just can't see new businesses/cafes in suburbs/high streets opening up to serve people who WFH part time either- where is the profit in that?

WFH is only popular amongst people who have space for a dedicated working area at home and don't need to collaborate with colleagues as part of their job. And it's particularly popular amongst those who had long commutes.

It's not so good for those who find their job harder and more isolating at home, and don't have a dedicated work area.

I really question the "productivity has improved" claims that are thrown around. My experience is that some people's productivity has improved - because they ignore everything other than getting on with their own work. People who rely on talking to these people to get their job done have had their productivity massively cut as they spend all their time trying to get colleagues to talk to them. I wish companies would actually look at the details of things like this. It's not remotely uniform across the board.

@Donoteatthekittens

Many jobs will be offshored overseas instead.

Again?!!! You really do want this to happen don’t you 🙄

My employer wants us to go back to the office asap. But before covid, we were already planning hot desking and flexible working but minimum of 2-3 days in the office (it sounded like we would be in the office more than we expect as management expected us to be in the office during busy periods like month end etc).

So I am staying in London as if i have a child, i would not be able to manage childcare so easily on those days with a long commute.

But I am more open to moving to places like Pinner in zone 5 if I don't need to commute everyday. But I wouldn't want to move further out than that due to cost of season tickets which is the same if you commute 3 times a week. and there is no sign of them introducing flexible fares.

@Cloudsurfing

I also think some office time is important as it helps to build relationships and is also necessary for new starters and graduates.

Yes young single grads are as bored as hell and it is hard for them. And older office workers whose children are not at home also miss the interaction.

Companies will probably have a mix going forward but it could be that they specify specific amounts of time in the office to fit in with business operational needs.

Thankfully I will be back ‘in the office’ soon. I want home to be home.

Though I am very jealous of the neighbour who had a home office installed in the garden last summer but she does run her own business and the money she saved on office rental has paid for the Nordic office cabin. She even has a veranda

I hope so! So much better for the environment and my pocket not driving 40 minutes each way every day.

Can get my housework done in little bits as I break.

Cats have company. See my DH for lunch.

Oh and can fit in exercise so much easier as I have an extra 90 minutes at home instead of commuting.

Benefits me all round.