Just interested, are many people going back to the office?

[Thatswhathappens]

Just interested are many people going back to work in the office in the next few weeks/months and will this be everyday you work or will it be a mixture of wfh and being at the office? For those of you that thought wfh would be a permanent fixture for you is this still the case?
I have been doing a mixture of both since July and will continue to do so, I’m hoping to settle in to 2/3 days wfh and 2/3 days in the office.

DH been working in office one day in five. They plan to get them back three days a week initially, but no date for that. They all have a lot of trips backed up for the UK and abroad, which really need doing but no date for those.

My adult son is back in office 4 days a week, one day furlough. His company moved to bigger premises 2 years ago and about half the staff are in. They had real difficulties getting staff in after the first lockdown and think they will do again,. My son is happier being back in office.

I am at home not working and when I’m out walking it’s so funny hearing people’s conversations from their houses with windows open, whereas normally it’s so quiet in the daytime.

I managed to get back on last August as WFH was badly affecting me.
Then they shut completely again in November and have been shut since. They say they’ll follow the roadmap but said they would ‘open very soon’ for people who ‘have a need to be in’ (which is what they did last time)
We have an abundance of LF tests, temp monitoring and loads of space. There’s no reason for them to not allow some of us in. In between lockdowns last year, there was about 30 of us in a building that can comfortably accommodate 300!

We're expected to be back by September. How that looks will be different though. We can apply for flexible working etc. But at the moment we have "eurgh, I hate COVID" flexibility from managers if WFH is too much.

Oh and before lockdown, I did half in the office and half at home anyway. I’ll go back to that as soon as we are allowed to.

My company is embracing WFH so much so that we are in the process of having a restructure by function rather than site at the moment. We’ve been asked how often we want to be in the office going forward and the offices are being refitted for reflect this new way of working.

Our office has been open since September (bar full national lockdowns) for anyone who wants/needs to go in but entirely voluntary. They haven’t said yet what the long term plan is - they’re working on ideas but have said they are definitely keeping the (central London) office so it’s not going to be permanent WFH for everyone.

We don’t have a date but they’ve said it will be a hybrid model going forward. I’m anticipating probably 2 or 3 days in office with rest at home, which I’d be ok with and would strike a reasonable balance.

I've started bringing my team back into the office. I'm a fan of agile working but we are rolling out a new system and products and it just wasn't working. They need to be talking constantly and feeling like he had to book a Teams just didn't give the communication. Two weeks in and productivity much improved but I still aim to give them one day a week at home as we haven't got enough space in total

I got rid of my dining room table in January and got a desk which has made me sad, I live in a one bed flat and loved having dinners at my table. It is what it is.
Also in a one bed flat. When wfh (rarely now) i work at my dining table, which isn't ideal but I'd hate to get rid of it to replace it with a desk.i certainly wouldn't have done it for temporarily wfh. I think it's awful that some employers are expecting people who really don't have space for equipment or a suitable environment for home working to do it permanently. I feel very lucky that my employer is an NHS Trust so has physical office space, is happy for people to be working in it if they want to, and has no plans to force people to wfh (or indeed to force people to work in the office)

No decision before June. I've only been in the job a couple of weeks and I can't wait to be back in the office.

I actually disagree with the Governments and the public view that going back to the office should be delayed any more / discouraged.

Businesses are taking advantage of covid and cost cutting by telling all employees that offices in central London won't be required anymore.

I disagree. I have not worked in central London financial district, Canary Wharf etc, so feel no loyalty whatsoever, but I feel that for its survival : resurgence, those that want to come back and work in the office, say for 2 or 3 days per week, should be allowed / encouraged. And sooner rather than later.

My husband's employer isn't going to force people back in until everyone has been vaccinated then it will likely be a mix of home and work unless people really want to be in every day. The office is completely closed at the moment and most people haven't been in at all for over a year.

I am waiting to be called back in.
According to our bosses we haven't worked for over a year now. It's a bloody miracle the company is still going.

I went back in last year 2 days a week, our office did a lot of work to make it a safer place to be. I think those of us who have already been in can start returning from 12th, everyone else will need to wait. I'm going back 2 days a week. We will have to do a lateral flow test either before we go to work or do it in the office

Where i work is also doing a hybrid of office/wfh which i think is the positive of this whole thing

I was furlough March to July then back flexi furlough for a few weeks. then full time right until October which was then 1 day wfh a week rest of time in office then wfh for November ( lockdown 2) then 1 day furlough 1 day wfh and 3 days in office . Then from Christmas flexi furlough with 2 -3 days wfh .
Next week 1 day in office 2 days wfh and test furlough which will probably continue for a few weeks till May when hopefully back in office full time . It’s hard to say though and I suspect my employer isn’t sure either but I think the plan is back full time as soon as is safe .

Doesn’t personally affect me but someone I know. I think where practical workers should be given a choice: a mix of wfh and in office. The person I know their work life balance is now so much better. They use to make a daily 2hr+ trip to Canary Wharf now working from home productivity is higher, get to see kids more and financially better off. Like everything in life what works for one won’t work for another. Arguably it’s similar for school. Some kids have thrived with online lessons maybe hybrid school should also be considered for those that benefit.

No plans to go back yet. I have been WFH since last March. We'll go back to a 3/2 days WFH/in office pattern.

I’d like to go back to the office about 3 days a week, but as the workload has doubled I need to be actively working my arse for 12 hours a day with no distractions to keep on top of it, which is going to be difficult in a busy office.

Never. We had to close the office to survive as a business

Flexi.

I work in this field, many many firms are looking at consolidating space, flexi / agile going forward. A couple of big shots have said they want everyone back in the office but they are the minority.

Lots of apps in development for booking desk space at the same time as collaboration opportunities are high.

Going back full time soon, I can't wait. I imagine the entire team will be expected back full time by summer. It doesn't benefit the business to allow people to do a mix of home and office.

I wonder about future working arrangements. Traditionally, teaching has been regarded as a family friendly job and has attracted a lot of women with families. As more people are allowed to work from home and work flexibly, many of the women who might have opted for a career in teaching will look at opportunities for flexible working and working from home. In the long run it is bound to affect the number of people choosing teaching as a career. I have a friend who is a Headteacher and he has complained that most people love flexibility in their own places of work but complain when their child has a job share class teacher. They perhaps accept it one year but want a full time class teacher the following year. Harder still in a secondary school when schools might have a part time Spanish or Psychology teacher but students / parents don't like all A level or GCSE lessons crammed in to one day. As a poster said further up the thread if flexible working is being widely embraced as it must do in the future, then school structures also have to change to accommodate these flexible working arrangements.
Friends who work in Higher Education have commented how well it works to have lectures on line so that students can access them they choose. Ditto tutorials and one to one support sessions.It is bound to affect the way universities operate in future. It will open the way for far greater flexibility in terms of studying for a degree or post grad courses. It may well mean a shift away from three years studying in a city far from home and instead a part time flexible degree allowing students to earn while they work.
WFH and flexible working is the future but it will have a huge impact on traditional institutions and the way they operate.

I’ve been ft wfh since March 2020 and work have said everyone can wfh at least 2 days a week when everything goes back to normal. I’m hoping to only go in x 2 per week