Get back to the office! But why?

Furret

Just to be clear gilly are you saying that those who can and those who want to and those whose employers are happy with working from home should not be encourage to?

Or do you think that because some people have no option but to go into their work place then everyone else should,

Most of my family, teachers, doctors, a social worker and a bus driver have no option. But my son can and does work from home and has done for years. None of the rest of the family begrudge him this privilege.

Just to be clear * Furret* . I don’t really care what some employers choose to do . Not my problem but to be even clearer , those working from home ( or having showers, walking their dogs or whatever ) shouldn’t be too surprised when their job is outsourced to India .

growstuff

*that wonderful after work life that I remember from working in London will be diminished, to be expected, sadly*

I worked in Fleet Street when all the national dailies were there. The print rooms were open 24/7 and it was indeed an amazing culture. You could be chatting to a famous journalist one minute, be eating in a "greasy spoon" cafe the next and then going to listen to a band jamming in a pub ... and rolling home a bit worse for wear on the tube!

Those days are, alas, long gone!

I worked in central London and the Fleet street area for around 20 years from 1966 and have fond memories of life back then. 5 years spent in a new office building just behind fleet Street, before the papers moved out. Prior to that 5 years in Charterhouse, a very different environment.

In the Clerkenwell/Farringdon Road, Smithfield area there were all sorts of small businesses which are long gone. My OH remembers going to clock repairer where there was someone who would blow a domed glass clock face whilst you wait. I remember going to another specialist shop to get
something called green copperas and the old boy who served me managed to get me to say green copper arse before he acknowledged what I wanted.

The London of those days was an amazing place to live and work.

I feel sorry for the people working in businesses like Pret and Costa's but not particularly for the companies themselves. Things change and new businesses will move in.

As someone wrote on a different thread, perhaps the office blocks can be transformed into apartments. Not for families because we've seen what happens to families living in tower blocks with children.

That really is an excellent example of how quality of life has improved.

My son has saved money from petrol and a minimum of 2 hours a day in travel so he is not keen to return to the office. His wife works in the same place so she is of a similar mindset. That 2 hours has given them more time with their son and the change has been phenomenal.
Although there are obvious tensions being together 24/7, the bonuses more than make up for it. Before lockdown there was talk of their autistic son not being able to manage his start in school next week but his nursery are now confident that his progress has been so good that he will not struggle. It has really made me reflect upon how things are hampered by both parents having to work long hours; the impact on society is going to be so harmful.
My son is easily distracted and my DIL's work means that her concentration levels need to be high which is hard in an open plan office. The company they work for are getting more efficient staff with them working from home.

DHbworksnin London as a civil servant. They have shown that they can do the job effectively from home, and with 2 hours of commuting by public transport each way, (when the trains run to time?l he has no plans to return to his office. I suspect that any pressure to do so will hasten his retirement.

I think we need a sense of proportion here as there needs to be a balance. Working from home can be a skivers charter for a significant minority of workers equally many offices are not suitable for social distancing space.. Many people were 'working' from home but also trying to home school children at the same time. Patently you can not do both properly at the same time. One person's flexibilty is often someone else's constraint It is mainly office workers that have the option of working from home but many feel isolated and unsupported and many employers have been concerned with drops in productivity. As others have said, it could lead to jobs moving out of cities or even out if the country. We've all seen the consequences of out of town retail on many town centres. Is this what the majority of people want? I doubt it.

A lot of threads on loneliness, bereavement, even ghosting, mention that a fair few work friends are really just that.
They fade away, lose touch, when you no longer spend 8 hours a day working together.

sodapop

I agree ayse there must be some middle way which rejuvenates town centres etc. Part time working from home and part of the time in the office.
All government depts should get back to work even in a part time capacity. There are of course many groups of people for whom working from home is not an option.

HMRC have people working from home - if they can do it why not other government departments?

Chewbacca

^People need interaction with other people, not necessarily colleagues.^

Correct! Some of my colleagues I don't miss one little bit! Some of my colleagues I do miss and will be meeting up with them in October. But they're not the total sum of my human interaction!

I was thinking that too. The time saved commuting means that people could meet up with people you actually like or share an interest with.

MissAdventure

Perhaps places like Costa could cater for people having work related meetings?

Good idea! I used to tutor a student in a coffee shop and I was quite surprised how many other "guests" were doing the same or having meetings. It was a convenient city centre meeting place.

People need interaction with other people, not necessarily colleagues.

Correct! Some of my colleagues I don't miss one little bit! Some of my colleagues I do miss and will be meeting up with them in October. But they're not the total sum of my human interaction!

The problem with working from home with small children during lockdown was that nurseries had closed. Surely if working from home becomes a permanent feature of people's lives, they can book their children into a nursery or childminder, just as they have always gone.

Perhaps places like Costa could cater for people having work related meetings?

Such an interesting thread, great to hear from those with experience on all sides and lots of great ideas. Also reassuring to see how positive, innovative and flexible we can be.
Obviously many jobs simply cannot be done at home but where they can it has to be a good thing especially for parents to be able to be flexible.
I do have some experience of working from home many years ago and as a night owl type it was perfect for me. I did lots of work during school hours. I could get chores done, greet my children at the end of the school day with a drink and a snack and listen freshly to news of their day. I then worked late in to the evening. Flexible and stress free. I met work colleagues in person regularly and we often combined social occasions with meetings which always seemed more productive as people were relaxed and more forthcoming with ideas.
However I do acknowledge that for those who need to be available on phone or other networks, hours would need to be respected.
I agree with Ellianne too that the high powered ideas type jobs probably need that interaction to spark off each other.
There seems to be room for all kinds of different working practices and it would be great to see employers and employees embrace change for the better.

It’s called “work” for a reason.
And I do feel sorry for the people who work in Costa or Pret who will lose their jobs.

Not all jobs can be done from home and it is a very valid point that not all homes are large enough for a seperate room for work.

During lockdown in Denmark a member of the government taking part in a meeting over Zoom had to ask her colleagues to wait while she helped her small child with something.

At the time it was funny, but if parents of young children work from home I doubt it will go on being sweet with these kind of interuptions.

Another point is that if people work from home they will lack colleagues or only interact over the internet with them.

Not everyone is mentally suited to working alone.

Everyone wants to stop the spread of the virus, but equally everyone wants to stop a domino-effect of bankrupties and consequent unemployment amongst the section of society that has jobs in firms that are losing money hand over fist at present.

Working from home - don't make me laugh! They realise how good 'retirement' is. Nobody wants to go to work unless their home life is worse than going to work.

People need interaction with other people, not necessarily colleagues.

Managers should be sitting down and analyzing all this, team by team .....that is their job after all ......Questions to be asked ard who needs to come intl the office, why and to do what ....when that is sorted, will it still be necessary to reng all the offices, provide company cars for so many etc .... supporting local sandwich bars shouldn' t come into it ...they will have to adapt, as will cleaning services etc. This is where we should all demand management and HR skills of our employers. Blanket decisions show that they just don' t have any ...or no respect for their employees ......

I totally agree with everybody’s comments but my young neighbour lives on his own being separated from his partner. He has been working from home since March. I worry about his mental health. People need interaction with colleagues. I retired from the NHS in March after 40 years & although I love not working I miss the camaraderie.

Good post Philippa111 and parenting groups, advocated by the Duchess of Cambridge, are a good example. Human beings need physical contact to grow, to learn and to thrive.

Thankfully in Scotland people are not being pushed back into the workplace. The FM said it was still too soon for everyone to return to normal without the virus spreading. She is putting all emphasis on keeping schools open at all cost.

creating little nooks where they work from home.

It's a bit cramped under the stairs

I watch lots of videos about tiny homes, homes on wheels etc.
The owners are incredibly inventive about creating little nooks where they work from home.

Failing that, I would invest in a summer house; if I could.

Fewer people commuting is good for our mental health and the environment. There was also a significant drop in premature births. Scientists have not finished their research but are speculating that it could be the decreases in air pollution during the lockdowns, as fewer people drove or flew and factories belched less. Another factor could be that the mums-to-be had fewer infections generally — and thus less inflammation in their bodies — as we reduced contact with people and germs and obsessively washed hands. I also wonder if less commuting and general rushing around contributed.