Get back to the office! But why?

Many people might relish working from home for the rest of their lives, but many high calibre employees with drive and ambition could miss the communal workplace. I'm guessing it would depend on the environment in which you work. A friend of our son works for Google in Victoria, London. He can choose to go in to work as and when he likes, but he says a good 90% of the employees can't wait to spend every waking hour there. Aside from the free meals, gyms, back massages, counsellors, hairdressers, pets etc in the office, it is the mental stimulation of working alongside other boffins which draws them in more and more. They feed on each others' innovative ideas.
The company is actually rated as one of the happiest and productivity is amazing. There are other similar workplaces nationwide. OK , they might not attract your average office worker, in fact most of us wouldn't be considered clever enough to even get an interview, but they do play a vital role in the world of business. Just having a long dining table where employees can chat over lunch is a simple but effective way to encourage people to communicate and build a community. The irony is that a company with technology at its heart still wants its employees to interact physically in the office.
Working at home will naturally make people more insular and self contained which maybe is great for paper pushers in some jobs, but offices will still be needed for the more dynamic employees to develop and enrich their skills.

Local authorities could help reshape town centres by altering the impact of their taxes so as to influence property use. Perhaps business rates could reflect the number of people working in a building as well as its situation and size? It would need a different set of calculations, but could affect traffic flow in given areas, among other things.

It seems we can close down mines, steelworks, car factories, manufacturing etc but people are worried about the sandwich industry

That’s a very good point vegan.

City centres will have to adapt. Some companies have had to close down their offices as it would take too long to get all their staff to the 22nd floor in one lift, as you are only allowed one or two in the lift at a time. Many local eateries and cafes have been doing good business. It seems we can close down mines, steelworks, car factories, manufacturing etc but people are worried about the sandwich industry. It’s understandable that people don’t want to do an expensive, uncomfortable and long commute when they don’t have to. Funnily enough, the government can’t force private businesses to reopen their offices. Companies are saving money on cleaners, canteens and rents. It’s a win for them.

Oh well, best working in Germany then.

The difference is that in Germany anybody can claim it, even if you don't work at home.

The amount I can claim (and I'm self-employed) is negligible.

And you can in the UK too growstuff. Gas, electricity and telephone calls are all tax deductible if you have to work from home, rather than choose to work from home.

In Germany, people can claim a tax allowance for having a home office. (Just saying.)

To some extent that's what I've done MissA. Seeing as I've got this hulking great office chair, desk, computer and phone in what was "the spare room", I've spent a bit of money on shelving, lighting and making it a more comfortable and pleasant place to work in. My employer has also paid for me to have faster broadband, so I've benefited generally.

Are you not talking to me, Grandad?

Oh! Bah! This phone! I hate this keyboard that sneakily changes words just as I post!

The money saved on commuting, clothing, lunches, coffees, collections for birthdays, engagements at al could be spent on property properly designed workspace.

It doesn't have to be huge, just well designed.

I've been lucky Callistemon, my boss brought my computer, keyboard, mouse mat and ratty old chair from the office to my home "so that you'll be more comfortable"! gee thanks!

Callistemon

One downside of working from home is that, in the long-term, this could cause physical problems. Most offices are equipped with proper work stations, ergonomically designed chairs designed to support the musculoskeletal system so that neck and back pain and other physical problems are minimised.

For many people, working from home means sitting on a dining chair at a table, hunched over a laptop. Many homes do not have separate offices or studies with the correct type of chair and desk set at the correct level and distance, or even the room to accommodate a proper chair or chairs especially if more than one person in the family works from home.

I do foresee that many people may be suffering from physical problems in future if working from home becomes the norm.

That's why work "hubs" will probably be a growth area - ideal for using empty high street spaces.

By the way, I wish I'd ever had an ergonomically designed chair at work :-(.

There would be nothing wrong with just selling services to each other, if we didn't import anything, but of course we do and that's not going to change. It keeps money flowing and redistributes it (although not always in the right places or fairly).

As a country, we should look at what we have that we can sell to other people. On the whole, that's not tangible "things". We don't have a wealth of natural resources (apart from some oil) and our wages are generally too high to be able to compete with manufacturers in the developing world. Brexit is going to kill off some of our European markets. Protectionism (taxing imports) will push up prices for British consumers.

However, we do have expertise in many fields, such as IT, AI, pharmaceuticals, research, renewable technology and much more. Financial services has been incredibly important, but that's up in the air at the moment. What is absolutely clear is that the UK needs a well-educated, flexible workforce and that's going to need investment.

As a footnote, the property market needs to be brought under control. Far too much capital is invested in property in the UK, which isn't surprising when people can make more money from investing in property than they can from investing in business.

One downside of working from home is that, in the long-term, this could cause physical problems. Most offices are equipped with proper work stations, ergonomically designed chairs designed to support the musculoskeletal system so that neck and back pain and other physical problems are minimised.

For many people, working from home means sitting on a dining chair at a table, hunched over a laptop. Many homes do not have separate offices or studies with the correct type of chair and desk set at the correct level and distance, or even the room to accommodate a proper chair or chairs especially if more than one person in the family works from home.

I do foresee that many people may be suffering from physical problems in future if working from home becomes the norm.

It seems like a bit of a power trip doesn't it - instructions from on high that are changed from one day to the next. It's no wonder some people are confused, some are sceptical and some are quite frankly distrustful of almost everything now.

If companies are OK with people working from home some or all of the week, I can't see how - after imploring people to "stay safe" and not to put "others at risk" - suddenly everyone is expected to toe the line and return like sheep to work.

Personally, if I were still working, I would probably have quite liked working from home for at least two days a week, but I would have wanted to go into work also. Having no division from work and home five days a week doesn't sound very appealing to me - and there is also a social aspect to work.

I feel enormously sorry for the small businesses - such as cafes and restaurants - who are suffering because their customer base has diminished so much. However, I do think it rather odd that we should base our economy so heavily on selling services to one another, rather than on selling goods and expertise to other countries while also employing enough skilled people to ensure that our health, education and general social infrastructure is robust enough to keep our population healthy, happy and well educated.

The Covid-19 crisis has changed the world. That crisis combined with Brexit will change Britain even more. Many as demonstrated by this thread have yet to come to terms with that fact.

However, Britain is now in a period of radical change, and that has to be faced by all.

In regard to those concerned in regard to the jobs of support workers too much reduced central offices of companies, the work of HR departments etc is already being transferred out to contract companies for them to deal with.

By example to the above, a highly qualified industrial safety rep is now to join our company from the aerospace industry. He will be carrying out very simular work for us as he did for his previous company but in multiple companies instead of the single one he worked for.

We are extremely pleased to have recruited him and his added expertise along with our own will enable us to grow our company further.

When one door closes in employment and commerce another nearly always opens and in that we now require extra employees, support companies and employees to us.

Oops. Grandad when a store chain starts this trajectory it's never a good outlook for any of its workers.

Grandad w

I see you don't care for my idea, then, Grandad. You'd rather have all the soon to be unemployed on benefits than have them employed in meaningful state funded work?

M&S have indeed stated that stores will close but in many cases, those workers will be offered employment other stores that are remaining open. However, employees whose jobs at head office have been declared redundant will only be offered loss of job consultation as per current employment regulations.

Britain is undoubtedly entering a period of high unemployment due to the Covid Crisis. As a Labour movement supporter, I feel that this Conservative government has by way of the furlough scheme protected the living standards of nine million employees very well.

However, whether the same government will be prepared to protect the living standards of many of those same persons as they become unemployed is yet to be seen.

There are unavoidably very hard times ahead especially with a no-deal Brexit on the horizon. That stated to withdraw from the European Union was the democratic vote and I accept that, and as a nation, we can only make the best of what is to come.

This is what's worrying me too. As I said in my post @ 17.55 today, there are many ancillary workers who support offices who's jobs will be severely compromised by such a seismic shift in working patterns. It's not just retail that will suffer; engineers who service offices in various capacities will be affected.

Of course, with my strange left wing views it is my opinion that the state should massively invest in infrastructure work which needs to be done but which has been neglected for ideological reasons, AKA 'austerity'. There would be opportunities to engage skills made redundant by the shrinking of the 'central office' culture and to retrain in new skills. With people in employment and earning the small ancillary service businesses would still have customers, though they may have to relocate.

I cannot see how the economy can be refocussed in a different direction from the model which is now becoming redundant without a massive stimulus from state investment. I don't think we can rely on private enterprise to supply the necessary investment and vision.

I wonder how Grandad would view this?

How about all the people who are going to lose their jobs, *Grandad? It looks to me as though the jobs market is actually about to shrink quite radically. While I have no desire to see redundant jobs being perpetuated just for the sake of it I do wonder if these jobs will ever be replaced by jobs in different sectors.

This is what's worrying me too. As I said in my post @ 17.55 today, there are many ancillary workers who support offices who's jobs will be severely compromised by such a seismic shift in working patterns. It's not just retail that will suffer; engineers who service offices in various capacities will be affected.

And Grandad your dismal outlook on the self discipline of staff who work from home is seriously out of touch. In the 18 years I've worked for my employers, I've known of only 1 employee who worked from home that abused the privilege.