How long do you think wfh will last?

[Missmummy88]

Interested to see how long people think wfh recommendation will last? I know no one has a crystal ball but I am thinking until March - anyone else?

April

Forever more.

Massive shift in society. Getting people to work from home means they can run down public transport and close railways lines and end bus routes. Use your car you say, wait until the sale of petrol and diesel become restricted or even banned.

Hybrid forever.

In terms of the current guidance to limit transision April.

...transmission...

Hybrid working is here to stay. I don’t know many people chomping at the bit to get back to commuting.

The current guidance probably till end March.

@Suranjeep

Forever more.

Massive shift in society. Getting people to work from home means they can run down public transport and close railways lines and end bus routes. Use your car you say, wait until the sale of petrol and diesel become restricted or even banned.

This is a weird viewpoint.

Who benefits from this? If we don't have cars and don't buy fuel the government miss out on a lot of tax. Why would this be their aim? I'm confused

New ICE cars are banned from sale it would be easy to bring that forward.

As for the cuts on transport see the Northern Rail upcoming mass cuts to services.

The people that win are the green bridge. And before any comments about cuts to public transport being the exact of this, passengers don’t really exist on trains anymore as most of the reasons to use trains have been closed, or been advised against.

In some fields, hybrid working for the foreseeable future. I know personally two people whose employers have got rid, or are in the process of getting rid, of one or more office buildings.

My company has already announced we will go to 50% hybrid working going forward. It was 40% pre-Covid. They've had all the evidence they need that people are still getting the work done - so it makes sense to reduce office overheads where possible,

@Suranjeep

Forever more.

Massive shift in society. Getting people to work from home means they can run down public transport and close railways lines and end bus routes. Use your car you say, wait until the sale of petrol and diesel become restricted or even banned.

Closing railway lines and ending bus routes would reduce the amount of leisure travel which would drastically reduce tourism and further damage many local economies. It would also make it very difficult for people who do not drive to travel.

I'm not sure who the green bridge are and I've used trains several times this summer in various parts of the country, most of the time they've been quite full.

What cuts are Northern Rail making?

I hope it doesn't last forever.
It's all well and good for those established in their careers with families but not so much for young people.
My DS is 23 and has worked his entire career so far from home.
So no opportunities to build a social life or put down roots in the city where he works. It's been a very lonely time.
Even a couyple of days a week would make a massive difference.

Siuan - 100% agree. It's bloody miserable for younger people starting out.
And that's on top of not having had celebrations after exams/ graduation ceremonies/ holidays.

Mid-January for official guidance.

If wfh lasts forever then there will need to be a massive shift in the places people live in.

our house was a good size for 2 adults and 2 teens but it's creaking at the seams now we have to accommodate 2 (soon to be 3) adults working at home. And not everyone can afford to move or build an extension or put up a garden shed.

And not everyone has long commutes! Some of us actually chose to live close to our work place so we could walk/cycle there.

Cuts to public transport are not necessarily in anyone's interest. My brother lives 20 minutes away from a big town (i.e. not really what anyone would consider rural) but there are now only 3 buses a day to get to said big town, which involve walking a mile to get to the nearest bus stop, and no buses at all after 6. And said big town is where most people go to do their shopping/many children go to school, people go out in the evening. These people are now forced to use cars where they didn't have to before.

My guess would be that hybrid working is the future.
It is not ideal for many people, but I think we need to think about the bigger picture. And that is climate change. There are too many cars on the roads damaging our planet.
Lockdowns through covid have shown the benefit it has had on the planet.

In terms of government guidance? I’d guess end of winter, so end of feb sort of time?

In what context? I don't know anyone who had the ability to wfh who has returned 100% since pandemic started. Most people I knew had the option already, it's just increased. I know a lot of people who have moved because of remote working. DHs company are reducing office space by 50% b

Closing railway lines and ending bus routes would reduce the amount of leisure travel which would drastically reduce tourism and further damage many local economies. It would also make it very difficult for people who do not drive to travel.

I think it's inevitable though, TFL are looking at closing a tube line apparently.

@QueenZoopla

Siuan - 100% agree. It's bloody miserable for younger people starting out. And that's on top of not having had celebrations after exams/ graduation ceremonies/ holidays.

Totally agree plus I think wfh looses a lot of opportunities for mentoring (formal and informal) of junior staff by those more senior and sharing of ideas. Yes this can be done via zoom etc but that requires a conscious effort rather then just chatting with your team all around you.

Wfh has also had such a negative impact on many services eg I have a speeding ticket and there are some queries but the police fixed penalties are wfh and not taking phone calls, same with the dvla and also the department (non police) who deal with payment. The whole things been going on for months (I’ve paid but there has been an error in the processing and I am being threatened with a £1000 fine) and because nobody is taking calls out of 3 departments it’s impossible to sort out. This is just one example but it’s the same across any number of organisations.

In contrast I work in a school and save for a bit of hand gel we carry on as normal

I think hybrid is a good balance.

For some - wfh permanent
For many - hybrid permanent
For others - return to office once cases stabilise and there's evidence that it's into increasing hospitalisation and / or deaths and this will will likely know within about a week

@Siuan

I hope it doesn't last forever. It's all well and good for those established in their careers with families but not so much for young people. My DS is 23 and has worked his entire career so far from home. So no opportunities to build a social life or put down roots in the city where he works. It's been a very lonely time. Even a couyple of days a week would make a massive difference.

True. WFH is great for middle class, middle aged folks with a spacious home and established careers, families and social lives. WFH, at least full-time, is however awful for many others, especially those like your son who are just starting out on their adult lives.

With regard to the OP's question, I expect the 'guidance' will remain until March or April. Individual companies will of course make their own policies. Some will be, to use an annoying but fashionable word, 'hybrid', others will WFH permanently, others will be back to the office full-time. It's very much an evolving situation.

My contract has been changed to be a "blended" worker, so for many companies 75%+ wfh will be the norm.