Dh has been told to get back to the office

[SmiledWithTheRisingSun]

For a minimum of 2 days per week.
Is this an end to WFH?

@Myusernameisnotmyusernameno - DHs HR manager resigned in lockdown. Instead of replacing the staff member in the London office to oversee the London based staff, the HR function for the london is now being looked after by the Yorkshire based HR manager. Previously, it was viewed as important to have someone in the London office at least a couple of times a week in HR to be accessible to the London staff. But as the London staff aren't in the office either, they've decided to try this.

Even if they have to hire another staff member in Yorkshire to cover the extra work, the lack of London waiting wage saves them £10-15k. Average wages outside of London are lower. Why would you pay a London premium for a remote job if you can just hire from elsewhere in the UK and push down your labour costs?

And yes, some jobs can't be exported to India, but a lot of jobs when previously it was viewed they couldn't be because you needed to have someone physically in place even occasionally have proved that's just not the case.

There are lots of limitations why some jobs can’t be done from abroad (insurance, tax, pension). I don’t think that should be a major worry. The London Weighting isn’t huge, it doesn’t even cover the cost of commuting.

The London Weighting isn’t huge, it doesn’t even cover the cost of commuting.

Average Accountant salary in London = £52,500

Average Accountant salary in Dundee = £30,800

Software Engineer London = £52,600
Software Engineer Dundee = £30,700
Software Engineer Newcastle = £33,000

If you mean the adjustment made for police officers etc who work in London then yes you have a point, but who needs a WFH police officer?

In huge swathes of the country £30k is seen as a good salary for most professional jobs. I have no idea why somebody would pay £50k for a WFH accountant / engineer in the SE when they could get the same in the NE for £30k?

Myusernameisnotmyusernameno

And some jobs can be outsourced to India.

@winched - yep - for many in the SE, the risk isn't always from overseas, its from people in the UK who would be prepared to do the same job for less.

For everyone looking for a new job that can now be done full time WFH, you are no longer competing for people with similar level of experience and qualifications for that role in your town, but the whole UK.

Those are just differences in wages, nothing to do with London Weighting. That’s around the £3k mark and not everyone gets it anyway. That barely covers the cost of commuting.

My DH works for certain people who may or may not have a part in making these guidelines... he's been expected to go into the office for 2 days per week for the last couple of weeks and is expected back in the office full time from June 21st.

@LadyWithLapdog that's the point though (and the point pp was making which you seem to maintain is only a £3k difference but is totally irrelevant to the point).

If I was an accountant in London, the last thing I would be doing is telling my employer I can work 100% remotely. Not unless I could justify getting paid £20k more than someone with the exact same experience and qualifications.

I think it should be a "major worry"... both for the people in London who need London wages and might lose their jobs / salaries, and for the people in Dundee who get paid Dundee wages and could do without an influx of SE house sale money inflating the property market. You can buy a mansion with a swimming pool in Dundee for the price of a tiny 1 bed flat in Hounslow. Imagine what the couple selling that flat could offer on a naice 3 bed semi.

@Ladywithalapdog - you are confusing the public sector London waiting with the private sector London waiting/allowance. For instance, the bank dh used to work for had national wage bands for many roles, but for those inside London they got an additional amount depending on what grade they were on. When dh left there a few years ago, as a manager, he got an extra £15k to be in Central London compared to someone employed in the same role level elsewhere in the UK. (Although nearly everyone got called a manager so they could pay a decent London salary.)

Many companies with multiple offices have a similar arrangement to get round paying people doing the same job with the same level of experience in different parts of the country significant differences.

But why would you bother with that if you don't need to recruit someone located in the SE of UK anymore?

@LadyWithLapdog

Those are just differences in wages, nothing to do with London Weighting. That’s around the £3k mark and not everyone gets it anyway. That barely covers the cost of commuting.

No: my industry is similar. Pre-covid I could get a 25% pay rise by moving from Manchester to London. I would also go from a large semi to a one bed flat