Get back to the office! But why?

It's definitely to get footfall back to encourage spending. Personally I feel if a lot of those coffee/food outlets vanished it would do the population a lot of good. Obesity would hopefully reduce: less sausage rolls, sandwiches with huge calorific value eaten on a whim. Perhaps workers, especially office staff will learn to make a lunch box up and save a fair amount in cash. Sorry, I know workers in these outlets could lose jobs.

All this just goes to show how skewed our priorities are.
How has a building become so important?

The people you work with will still be around outside of that building, so you can meet up.
You'll still be in an abusive relationship, whether you go to that building or not.

X posts with you MawB2 my thoughts exactly .

Presumably some of the money saved from rail fares etc will now go back into the economy in a different way.

Mooney59

I agree that if it works having people at home that’s great as the environment gains and employers will eventually be able to pay less as they don’t have to think about employees travel costs. Still can’t get my head round people insisting we need to stay at home cos of the virus...2 people died the other day.....2!!! Two. One more than one. In a population of 60+ million.
Finally if life were a video game I would shoot everyone walking around with a coffee in their hands! Posers ?

Good post Mooney59 the next step from working from home is employers realising that they don’t need to pay the wages, NI, pensions etc. for people to work in this country at all .

Caro57

But being at home all the time has sky-rocketed domestic abuse. For a lot of people the workplace is their refuge

While you are correct this is not lockdown.

Remember that if staff can work from home, they can also work from abroad, possibly from countries where wages are considerably lower - think call centres.
Our unemployment stats are bad enough already, be careful what you wish for.

Yes, I take the good points being raised about office cleaners. Can I just add though that just this week I’ve noticed our local Playbox is advertising for several cleaners to come in when it is closed to give it a thorough clean as part of their a Covid security measures. Perhaps pubs, restaurants etc are doing likewise as they are going to need the same.

Things do have a way of balancing out. Supply and demand.

But being at home all the time has sky-rocketed domestic abuse. For a lot of people the workplace is their refuge

This feels a bit like battery hens arguing for the right to go back into their tiny little wire cages when they could be roaming around outside.

Lots of people will be replaced with cheaper staff like Richard Branson has done with virgin they will be from another country

I agree that if it works having people at home that’s great as the environment gains and employers will eventually be able to pay less as they don’t have to think about employees travel costs. Still can’t get my head round people insisting we need to stay at home cos of the virus...2 people died the other day.....2!!! Two. One more than one. In a population of 60+ million.
Finally if life were a video game I would shoot everyone walking around with a coffee in their hands! Posers ?

Yes the issue of pollution is one of the most important I think, people seem to be talking about the unnatural nature of working from home but sitting in a car mostly stationary for two hours of the day is is no way natural or sociable.

I admit it, I have not read all the posts,,

strange though to me, that our lives/finances and everything seem to be carried on in offices or office work
that for me is the sadness that we have lost or more likely given our manufacturing away to China etc.

there are gardeners, landscapers, cleaners,, and on and on, these jobs are not carried out in offices..

I do think this Conservative government have lost it for some time to come now.. perhaps we should be looking to the Labour, and other oppositions,

I see the Lib Dems are anti Brexit so that finishes them for me.

Saggi

I tell you one good reason to ‘get back to the office’.... work isn’t just about earning your living , it’s about having purpose everyday.... seeing your workmates..People like my son has been working from home since lockdown.... he’s single.... lives alone.... and everyday in this same environment is bad for him and hundreds of thousands like him . Approx 40% of households are ‘singles’, and I suspect a lot of mental health issues will be forthcoming if men and women are forced into this unnatural way of working. He is sorry now to be ‘on-line’, as the staff who weren’t on line got to stay ‘at work’.

saggi it is possible to have a purpose every day even without any work. This idea that work defines us, is essential to our wellbeing is propaganda - a big fat lie. Yes, work IS necessary, but we now see the downside of globalisation and the destruction of manufacturing jobs. The service industry is over represented in our economy, and that is why so many jobs are being lost.

Does anyone think that workers may get their union involved if they're made unnecessarily to go back to their workplace?

I don't think the fact that some are unable to work from home is reason enough to not allow others.

My travelling time to work using buses has been easier, by the way, due to not having so many people travelling.

I can see the many advantages from WFH but spare a thought for all those office cleaners who presumably will be out of work now or soon. They work hard, very unsociable hours for little pay. It’s not just the coffee shops that will suffer.

katy1950

There are other types of work other than office based what a load of fuss I for one will be glad to get back to my office job to chat with my colleagues rather than be isolated in a spare bedroom

Fine. That’s what suits you.

I am retired now, but if I was still working and forced to return to the office, rather than working from home, I would not be going out onto the streets to buy sandwiches but would continue as before, ie taking a packed lunch with me. Many people would do the same so there would be no gain, only the misery of commuting resuming, pollution going back up and loss of productivity which many have found working from home.
There has been a recent publicity drive on social media, by our city Council, to get people back to shopping in the city centre. Many arguments against this - as another poster has said, we should stop buying more and more 'stuff' we don't need; who wants to risk using public transport (and our council is very anti-car and is closing many roads to cars to force people to use the buses). And last but not least, for me personally having to wear a mask is a hot sweaty misery and therefore wild horses won't drag me into going to shops until masks aren't necessary. Should that not happen, then I'm fine with online shopping and never setting foot in a shop, coffee shop or restaurant again.

Good points Chewbacca

There are other types of work other than office based what a load of fuss I for one will be glad to get back to my office job to chat with my colleagues rather than be isolated in a spare bedroom

Agreed Furret, initially there were some great exchanges of ideas and experiences and it's a shame that it's become a platform for accusations of home workers feckless and idle behaviour and worries about "but how will the local butty shops survive". Their is a seismic shift in how office work will be radically changed in the future and the impact that those changes will have in cities and towns across the country that will affect not just sandwich shops but every other ancillary company that supports them. This will include local authorities Business Rates who stand to lose significant revenue when offices are left vacant for long periods of time.

Lots of people are happily working safely at home now so why drag everyone into a risk zone when it’s possible the onset of winter will cause shutdowns and everybody will have to work at home again ! Just to make money for Bozzy’s friends who own office buildings and Whetherspoons ?

I used to work from home before retirement, although I mostly was visiting large companies . Perhaps go into the office once a week or fortnight, depending on what was needed. Always worked, never took advantage. Much preferred it to the office because I was able to concentrate on what I was doing without constant interruptions. Quality of work was much better as a result.

My offspring have set up dedicated offices. I was very impressed when I had a look. Daughter has do not disturb on her door when she is working. She starts at 8.30 stops for a quick lunch and works through.
Son and dil are both working from home. So one has the dining room set up and the other one of the spare bedrooms as my son has a lot of zoom stuff going on and contact with consultants staff etc. So is talking a lot of the day.

They are all as happy as larks and see no reason to return to the office. Socialising outside of the office with working colleagues is planned, once covid is sorted.

That means 60 % arent singles and for many of them working from home improves social life wellbeing mental health etc. I am more than happy for people to go into the office I find it really weird that people worry themselves about others working arrangements.