How long do you think the WFH message will last?

[Bananagurl]

Just curious... I massively prefer it and feel just as productive as home, if not more...

Praying dh never has to go back as is he. He's been off since March 2020.
I think perhaps March 22 will be when the current advice is withdrawn though.

It will be hybrid working in most places. Some offices have closed or moved to smaller spaces in the pandemic to save costs and people have been able to manage well and some have in fact become more productive. Obviously some jobs/people might require/prefer f2f interaction and that is why hot desking seems like a good balance so offices don't have empty desks.

Can't think of the devastating impacts though. My mh is amazing since wfh as is dh. We also go to our local independent shops almost daily as do other previous commuters, we've often had to stand in a queue outdoors for our coffee they must be doing well out of the wfh trade.
Our offices are still open but with the latest guidelines we've been told only to go in if necessary that's pretty much if you want to at our places.
In a country where there is a huge housing shortage redundant offices could be turned into home space or wfh office spaces for individuals.

I think there is a debate for and against wfh and in an ideal world there will be both wfh and non wfh available in the future to allow people the choice. Prior to wfh dh was never able to take dc to school, now that he is that's a pressure off of me as well. Plenty of parents are now able to go back to work at least pt. I can now consider going back to work ft because I am able to pick my dc up and work later on. This means I'm paying more in tax. Can't see the devastation personally.

Yes, my local suburbian high street has had new coffee shops opening. The City Centre is dying. The suburbs high streets that were struggling before are actually doing better.
I hope both continues to be offered as different things suit different people. In surveys though hybrid is always the most popular option.

I was on mat leave last year with a wfh DH and it was a complete pain. Like a PP he would follow me around, or talk really loudly and wake the baby up!

I felt like I spent most of my maternity leave avoiding him as much as possible. Now he is back wfh and even he’s acknowledging he’s gained weight and has joined a gym.

I think it is devastating to some. I have some friends who live alone, and their mental health has taken a battering working from home full time. Work, for most jobs, includes an element of social connection and for humans as social beings that is important, more so if you don't get that elsewhere.
I think if you have a significant other, multiple children etc to juggle, it is probably much easier to WFH, but it can be very isolating.

I was actually going to start a thread on this as I wasn't sure if that was still the guidance or not? Still wfh if you can is it?

@RoyalFamilyFan I can't get another job unfortunately- I won't be able to earn the same elsewhere, nor have the same holiday entitlement and pension scheme. I'm a single parent and need to earn as much as I can. I've only ever worked in office based roles, and so many seem to be the same as my current job and the same issues. I'm actually really lucky to have got into this job- there is no way I would be able to get anything as good with my skill set elsewhere.

Plus it is actually a good place to work for, interesting work and a good opportunity with lots of lovely people. It's really not all bad at all! But the training has never been the best, from what other colleagues have told me, and they agree to that it's just massively exacerbated by home working. It's dented my confidence hugely.

I think hybrid working is here to stay.

It saves so much in terms of time and cost of travelling to and from work, it improves the suburban communities and enables employees to spend more time with family and friends. It also allows working from abroad!

@LumosSolem I am so sorry to hear that.

Hybrid is a good outcome ime

It doesn’t really save much unless you downsize but just all staff wfh Monday and Friday is nice for balance - but it dies mean everyone in at once which means same size space

Most hybrid working I have seen gets different teams in on different days. So yes the office is downsized.
It is absolutely no benefit to me being in the office on the same day as say the call centre staff or the finance team.

Another way to look at it for me is that it wouldn't be so bad if employers acknowledged that if employees aren't getting support and proper training because of having to start jobs from home, they really need to make adjustments to their expectations and workloads for new staff. It's nothing to do with being lazy- I have just been left overwhelmed with the amount of work and the lack of training or support where it's needed after being promoted. I don't think my experience would be so bad if I'd not been overwhelmed.

Although I do also struggle with the lack of social contact. I have however been able to make some good friends there and have arranged several social things away from work and in the office when it was possible (can't go into the office now).

I know for larger but there are many smaller agencies that need teams together in sector I know

I’ve seen a fair few adopt Tues / Wed / Thurs in

It’s great for employees but you don’t save money

Obviously if it’s separate departments working in silos far easier

I agree that hybrid should be here to stay- and is probably the best outcome for the largest group of people.

My ideal would be 2-3 days in the office a week with the people I need to be around on my specific team, and WFH the rest of the time. Being a single parent a 5 day office week would be too much and prior to the pandemic I was actually only doing 3 days a week as 5 would have been too much (previous job, entirely office based).

WFH has had its advantages for me as well but has been massively outweighed by the negatives.

It's meant I have lost all my clients again. So hopefully not too long 😔.
Dp mental health has been significantly affected sitting in a room all day alone, staring at a screen.
It's not ideal for many people.

I think it is a disaster for a whole cohort of 20 somethings, who are attempting to progress their careers from their miserable bedrooms in shared houses. They have none of the social benefits of working in an office, they don’t learn from being around more experienced staff & being stuck almost 24 hrs a day in the same room. My young adult dc and their friends are leaving their graduate roles in droves & looking for anything that takes them out of their bedrooms, I don’t think I know of a single 20 something who is enjoying or thriving in their careers. I think they have been totally overlooked.

@NaughtyNata

Things are never going to go back to the way they were, which is a good thing in many ways. But full time working from home is absolutely awful. It's destroyed my mental health tbh. Started at my current organisation 18 months ago and have been in the office 5 times. Trying to learn a new job from home and get to know colleagues like this is fucking horrible. Have recently got a promotion and trying to learn again from home is finishing me off tbh, I hate it.

At some point surely employers will realise this isn't working well.

So get a new job if you hate it....don’t stay if it’s that’s bad.....I love love love WFH .....and it works great for many many people.....it’s horses for courses and if it doesn’t suit you then move on

I have a permanent home based contract, which I love as it means if I don't like a colleague etc, then I have an escape (had terrible bullying in previous job). I'm also disabled so WFH works for me.

WFH or home based, is essential to me and any travel, or office visits would need to be a minimal. If not, I'd change jobs.

My employer is 3rd sector and see WFH as a means to save costs and are moving to a more flexible way of working.

So whilst 3rd sector has lower pay and less job stability, it does have more flexibility.

@Withinthewhirlwind

I think it is a disaster for a whole cohort of 20 somethings, who are attempting to progress their careers from their miserable bedrooms in shared houses. They have none of the social benefits of working in an office, they don’t learn from being around more experienced staff & being stuck almost 24 hrs a day in the same room. My young adult dc and their friends are leaving their graduate roles in droves & looking for anything that takes them out of their bedrooms, I don’t think I know of a single 20 something who is enjoying or thriving in their careers. I think they have been totally overlooked.

I agree with this- I kind of put myself in their bracket too as am not too much older in my early 30s and had to start again after splitting with my ex and had literally only been back at work for a year when the pandemic hit. I was furloughed from previous job, started new job at new place in summer 2020 and it's been a big career progression and opportunity but without any of the support I have had when started jobs previously. All my office based jobs since the age of 17 have been just that- office based- with support and proper training, and learning from those with experience! I effectively need the same now.

I often compare this to the discussions around education- I'm thinking of older secondary and uni students here. It's widely accepted that for them it's massively hindered their education for it to be online- it is the same for a lot of people in new jobs, IMO, in fact even harder perhaps when you're that bit older and it's such an alien experience. I know as adults it's different but there's not been a lot of recognition for it.

And oh the fun of trying to learn a new job over zoom when the DC were off school in January last year. I could have quite happily jumped off a bridge at that point tbh!

Do all these people who are working from home live in big cities?

I genuinely don't know anybody who is wfh. Our office closed in the first lockdown in 2020 but I went in every day (hard to do my job from home). The subsequent lockdowns we all went in every day as normal and this time it's the same.

I'm on a business park on the outskirts of town and every office is as busy as ever. All the clients I speak to are in the office. All the solicitors. All the estate agents. The only office staff I know that are at home are the council staff.

I'm genuinely curious if it is a city or even London centric thing?

I should add that I started two jobs during lockdown (one FTC and current one permanent). I found it much easier to start a new job from home - less pressure, working at my own pace, own environment, less commuting etc. Its all a plus imo

@DynamiteFilledRadish Both DP and I am working from home. We are in a City, but not London. Friends are a mixture of wfh and in the office. None of them works for the Council.

Im starting a new job on 31st January and it should be 6 weeks in office training then hybrid working. Im really looking forward to it after spending 20years working in retail....but i fear i may not make it into the office for training and it'll be work from home!

So get a new job if you hate it....don’t stay if it’s that’s bad.....I love love love WFH .....and it works great for many many people.....it’s horses for courses and if it doesn’t suit you then move on

So so ignorant. It's a reasonable expectation to be office based- at least hybrid- if that is what the job has always been up until the pandemic. If only it were as simple as just 'moving on'.

I feel incredibly sorry for the younger generation who are going to come up against this 'I'm alright jack' attitude- how they are not going to benefit from proper training and learning around others when some will be happy to never leave their comfy home offices in privileged surroundings again.