Get back to the office! But why?

I work from home and have two dogs who are in the same room as me. They are the kind who follow one around from room to room. Occasionally they will bark if they see something out of the ordinary through the window. If I'm on the phone i ask the person to excuse me and I throw them out. it's no different really to having a coughing or sneezing fit. You still have to excuse yourself until it's over.

When I worked in an office some of the staff spent a lot of the time chatting to colleagues which was irritating to those trying to concentrate on their work. I'm not talking about a 5 minute chat which was acceptable but more like 20 minutes several times during the day.
Those who have talked about people wfh skiving need to know that a lot of skiving is done in offices.

Exactly SueDonim the companies that will survive are the ones that can innovate and think of different ways of working rather than trying to return to how things were before.

(on a very small anecdotal level, our nearby florist began to sell greengrocery when non essential shops were told not to open, they are surviving)

There’s a very interesting article in the Financial Times today supporting continued WFH for those who wish to. It’s called Goodbye to the Pret Economy though it’s behind a paywall.

It suggest that companies like Pret could reinvent themselves by getting some vans and selling coffee and sandwiches to people working at home, a la ice cream van. Interestingly, it commented that there are more branches of Pret on Borough High St than in the whole of Wales.

It will be interesting to see how it works wont it, I think those background noises make people seem more human (which they are) I on the other hand wouldn't use companies who forced their employees back to the office.
I certainly wouldn't use a company who threatened them with the current unemployment situation.

MaizieD

Posters keep on saying 'return to work' but it's bullsh*t. They are talking about people who are working. That's what WFH stands for; working from home.

Very saddened by a supposedly staunch socialist having such contempt for the integrity of people working from home that they are accused of skiving when they should be available.

My thoughts exactly.

I'm sure most aren't skiving but I don't want to be hearing a dog barking in the background when I'm trying to talk to a bank.

Also DS has to contact IT support who are now home based. He often hears small children shouting and babies crying in the background. It's really not ideal. And it is taking ages to get through on the phone.

If existing staff can't/won't get back to the office some of them will lose their jobs to people that can. Let's face it there are going to be lots of unemployed to choose from.

Posters keep on saying 'return to work' but it's bullsh*t. They are talking about people who are working. That's what WFH stands for; working from home.

Very saddened by a supposedly staunch socialist having such contempt for the integrity of people working from home that they are accused of skiving when they should be available.

And if people want to return to the office why on earth would I care, what works for some doesnt work for others. Why on earth therefore should people care if I or others can do part of our work from home.

Galaxy

Bluebelle, that's why it needs to be up to individuals and employers. I have spent the last 6 months dealing with distressed families from my home so I dont need to glaze over as you charmingly put it, it's my reality.

As does my nephew. He seems to be managing very well, but again he does have the option of going to the office. Always has had.

Still working from home.

Bluebelle, that's why it needs to be up to individuals and employers. I have spent the last 6 months dealing with distressed families from my home so I dont need to glaze over as you charmingly put it, it's my reality.

It will be this week and even more so next week before we really begin to see the extent to which employers will be demanding their employees return to work.

Many companies have "held off" of a full or even a partial return to their offices due to many employees having child care problems etc. However, as the schools return fully over the remainder of this week and next, employers are preparing to insist that staff return to office-based roles.

The above in attending fully their places of work is no more than essential and very many manual workers have done throughout the crisis.

It may well become in private business efficiency over cost-saving and in the commercial world those who are efficient and can also control cost will win out in that battle.

Not having your staff going off walking the dog, or going for a jog, deciding to go on a shopping trip or take shower as does tend to happen with those working from home, does make a large difference to the performance of a company where employees have to collaborate with each other.

Anyway in the interests of the efficiency and good working of our business me and my wife are now off to our offices. ??

I think many councils (my own included ) need a huge overhaul . They would be bust if they were run like a proper business and the way they allocate and spend money is crazy (to put it politely) . We are one of the poorest boroughs in the country with some of the highest paid executives (and more than enough of them too) . They increase council tax and business rates at every opportunity and cut back on essential services .

All of this whilst spending £millions on luxury (and I mean luxury on steroids) refurbishments to the town hall and offices. £millions of tax payers money spent on new state of the art heating system, new windows, new boardroom tables, chairs, new luxury pile carpets throughout and bespoke carpentry . Not to mention the state of the art coffee machines in every meeting room, new chandeliers, bathrooms with showers ..... I could go on and on. Wonderful if we had the cash to splash but at the same time they are closing play parks and old people’s day centres to save money. Our rubbish collections are cut to the bone and heaven forbid you need to speak to someone urgently .

My LA rented factory is a shambles . They had the cheek to put the rent up by 20% last year despite the fact that they are not keeping to their side of the contract and carrying out essential repairs . I have had to pay to fix the roller shutters myself at great expense too or else we wouldn’t have had insurance cover . I have had to pay to install a new water heater .We have several holes in the main roof and we have been in the unit for over 20 years and they have done nothing whatsoever . They are supposed to paint every 5 years and haven’t painted once in 20 years. I have to laugh when every so often they send a valued to measure up ( just incase it has grown) which is usually about a month prior to rent increases.

And now with Covid all the office staff are “working” from home . It’s an absolute joke.

PROF Chris Whitty is hampering the Government’s return to work message because ministers fear he could resign if too many people return to the workplace at once.

So many mixed messages.

☹️

Ok so you d be happy to bring massive problems into your house and bedroom ??? you think that’s good for both worker and client galaxy
A total overgeneralisation , not everyone lives in London or a big city many people live within a mile of their jobs and my point was more about the actually working conditions which you glazed over to concentrate on the commuter problem which doesn’t really come into the equation if you are working from a small to medium sized town

BlueBelle

I haven’t read500 posts so I may be repeating Someone’s else’s point so I apologise in advance but home should be the sanctity where you get away from work I have family members who do very stressful jobs normally face to face with extremely vulnerable people who now have to video call them from their make shift office in their bedroom the only room in the house not in general use And the one room where they should be able to relax and forget the worlds problems
Another less important point but who is paying their electricity and broadband bills ?

They should have the choice. My lot do. Not a single person has opted to return to the office.

Everyone is happy as they are.

And it's certainly cheaper than commuting.

If it's a good employer, there are schemes arranged to mitigate that expense bluebelle.

I haven’t read500 posts so I may be repeating Someone’s else’s point so I apologise in advance but home should be the sanctity where you get away from work I have family members who do very stressful jobs normally face to face with extremely vulnerable people who now have to video call them from their make shift office in their bedroom the only room in the house not in general use And the one room where they should be able to relax and forget the worlds problems
Another less important point but who is paying their electricity and broadband bills ?

It seems that the siren voice of the call back to the office is being largely ignored by both employers and employees.

Perhaps the government that oh so strong bastion of free trade should read its own text books and understand that the individual will make her own rational decision.

In this case it is to protect herself from overcrowded travel, and enclosed spaces where the ability to socially distance is compromised.
The employer does not want to have the headache of providing socially distancing working when it can be so easily carried out in the workers home. Neither does it want sick staff from either Covid or the usual seasonal illnesses.
Employers are also waking up to the fact that productivity is up and sickness down.

I like the way we can write off an entire sector but apparently we all have to go back to the office to save private companies such starbucks , pret etc, most of which are dreadful companies but apparently we have to support them whilst calling the public sector every name under the sun. Brilliant strategy.

Furret

What a load of half cut nonsense. You have no idea.

Well, Furret please explain to me were "I have no idea" instead of providing meaningless one line post?????

What a load of half cut nonsense. You have no idea.

Furret

Sweeping generalisation.

Sweeping generalisation, but true.

I do not blame the workers who directly carry out the work such as road repair, waste collection etc as they are nearly always employed by private companies that are subcontracted to the local council or government.

I lay the provision of those poor services firmly at the feet of those directly employed by the councils and government who organise and are supposed to oversee the provision of services.

Very often they are on very large salaries but provide very little in the way of efficiency in the services they are responsible for.

Call centres ensure that the general public never gets to speak to such persons and therefore hold them to account.

What a load of nonsense.