The DfE don’t have enough space to work…

[Jellychat]

… they were working from home and now they aren’t…and some of them are having to work in the canteen.

www.theguardian.com/education/2022/may/20/department-for-education-desk-shortage-staff-working-chaotic-conditions

I am not normally a critic of the civil service BUT someone should tell them that school teachers deal with this sort of upheaval every day. These people don’t even have classes to teach or behaviour to manage. Their roof doesn’t leak.

Why does it matter if a group of adults are meeting in the canteen?

‘Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the union, said the new policy would affect recruitment and staff retention.

“Our members have worked flexibly for many years and deserve to be treated with respect, not like naughty schoolchildren,” said Serwotka, who has written to Zahawi on behalf of his members.

“To try to shame them back into the office when they have been working hard and successfully at home throughout the pandemic is bad enough.

“But when there aren’t enough desks – when it’s not physically possible – looks like the action of a bully.”’

I wish I had had Mark Serwotka speaking up for me when I had to do my marking in my car during free periods because social distancing rules meant no space for me in the office.

YANBU!

Well, it isn't a race to the bottom.

JRM deciding in his own head that all DfE staff need to be in the office - despite the fact they have successfully wfh for years, long before COVID, and therefore saved public money by reducing the number of desks / offices that are maintained, is just very typical of the way Gvmnt ministers operate: Take a headline and make some rash statement about it, despite not knowing anything about it, and not bothering to get anyone to research any facts to find out the information.
Of course people can't all work in a building designed for half that number of people. Schools at least have portacabins brought in (even though that ignores lack of hall space).

I’m no fan of the DfE. They’ve not been fit for purpose for a long while. But this is bonkers. And anything that reduces flexibility in working arrangements just penalises and/ or deters mothers from working there. That’s not a good thing when we’re talking about education.

@Kite22

‘Well, it isn't a race to the bottom.’

No, teachers tend to just adapt and get on with it.

@Kite22

‘Schools at least have portacabins brought in (even though that ignores lack of hall space).’

Good point.