Get back to the office! But why?

It's an opportunity to change the culture of work/ eat/sleep/buy/repeat that we're used to.

It isn't healthy, as mental health statistics show; people aren't meant to be automatons.

I do wonder if we are at the start of something historic. If a vaccine was found tomorrow would things return to how they were before? There seem so many issues that have been grumbling along for years, the fading away of the high street,over crowded schools,pollution, lack of affordable housing. The heart seems to have been ripped out of cities like London with low paid key workers shipped in as they cant afford to live their. The instability of zero hours contracts in insecure employment with poor pay and working conditions accepted.
For years we have been told how thousands of jobs will be lost as technology becomes more complex. Public transport is often overcrowded and unreliable not to mention expensive. Pollution, climate change all these things were some hazy date in the future. Maybe things will have to change because there's no choice. I wont miss the large coffee chains with their surprisingly similar overpriced and over processed goods. The loss of business for small traders is heartbreaking.,as is the loss of live theatre . People are creative, let's hope there are new more positive beginnings. Maybe it will be a very slow process. Everything is uncertain. I did find myself thinking back to my school days and the Industrial Revolution. I wonder how it felt to be part of that. Not for the first time I wonder how this will be viewed in a few decades.? In March it felt that after a set time this virus would be contained and normal life would resume. How wrong was that?

I'm sure they could find a different way of working.
Perhaps people would be more inclined to meet for lunch if they weren't on a tight office schedule?

Well they do of course but if people are realising that actually it's much preferable to spend money elsewhere they arent going to go into costa to save peoples jobs.

What about those costa coffee and sandwich shop workers don t their jobs count for anything? Just saying.

Isn’t it likely that people who work from home are less productive than if they were in
the office?

Oh JenniferEccles, if only that were true! I've been working from home, one day a week, for the past 10 years or so but this is now full time for the foreseeable future. I begin work earlier than I used to because I only have to walk across the landing to my office. And I stay later at my desk because I'm not secretly watching the clock and wanting to get away and avoid the rush hour traffic. Because I can hear my office phone ringing anywhere in the house, I always take that call, no matter what time it is. My work partially involves NHS services and because of our commitment to those services, especially during the current situation, I have worked past midnight on many occassions, just to make sure that they have what they need and when they need it.

If there is a lazy, unfocused employee on a workforce, they'll be lazy and u focused whether they're in the office or working from home. But in my experience, the majority are not.

GrannyGravy13

Not sure how I feel about this, just had a quick look at France and Germany stats and between 70-80% of office workers are back in their Offices, in the UK it’s approximately 35%.

Some people are happy to work from home for some or all of the week, others need the buzz and support of their co-workers and find home working stressful.

All well and good if you have a spare room or an office at home but when you are working at the kitchen or dining table your home is no longer your sanctuary from the outside world.

For those with underlying health issues or a household member who is shielding then they should have the option to extend their working from home.

An excellent balanced post GG?
My DD is working on the kitchen table and can’t wait to get back to the office ( in a fortnight apparently) whilst it suits DS to mainly work from home ( with a home office).

*Isn’t it likely that people who work from home are less productive than if they were in the office?

Do people really put in the same number of hours at home when they are surrounded by the temptation of things which need doing ?*

No, because their work and output can be monitored digitally. That already happens with remote call centres.

Yep.
I think it would be a huge adjustment, but it has to be a good thing to have a more reasonable, less pressurised work/ life balance.

MissAdventure

There are lazy people w everywhere, whatever their work arrangements.
There are ways that companies can keep a check on output.

It's actually easier to check on work output if it's all done digitally.

Chewbacca

^Who are the people who work in most of London's coffee bars?^

There is a world outside of London you know! Smaller, regional towns that have a mix of offices, light industry and retail and it's these smaller towns that employ people from all demographics and they will be just as badly affected as inner cities. The retaile industry was already struggling before COVID and with so many office workers no longer travelling into the town centres, they'll be hit again.

Yes, I know there's a world outside London, but you said it! Smaller towns had been suffering anyway. A shift back from London and the big metropolitan centres could actually benefit some of these smaller towns, if people were to work in local "hubs". I live in a small town, where there is hardly any work outside services. Commuters travel to London, so it's quite wealthy and hasn't suffered as I know many other towns in other areas have. Nevertheless, local shops have been struggling for years. Over the last couple of years, a few high street shops have been converted to centres for home workers and - lo and behold - sandwich bars and conference rooms, etc have begun to spring up.

It could have that effect MissA but, on the other hand; if you think about a company the size of ours, with a workforce of approximately 100, the number of social events that usually take place each week/month will have had some impact on local bars, restaurants and the bowling alley. Birthdays, weddings, promotions and just general end of week/month get togethers are now vastly reduced in our company alone. We also used to use a local company for outside catering for our client meetings, board meetings and promotional events. We don't do that now. And we're just 1 company in a small town. There are hundreds more just like us; replicated across the country.

There are lazy people w everywhere, whatever their work arrangements.
There are ways that companies can keep a check on output.

Isn’t it likely that people who work from home are less productive than if they were in the office?

Do people really put in the same number of hours at home when they are surrounded by the temptation of things which need doing ?

Yes there isn’t the daily commute, but how many workers can honestly say they haven’t put a wash load on, or put the hoover round etc ?

There have been many posts on here over the past few months from posters expressing frustration at being unable to contact companies by phone, whose staff have allegedly been ‘working from home’

Totally agree with your post Chewbacca

growstuff, I was thinking in terms of small independent coffee shops and other businesses, but actually, I think with less time spent commuting, leisure activities may well move up in peoples' priorities.

Wow! Just come back to this thread that I started earlier. So many in support of changed working patterns but also great points raised and debated positively.

Who are the people who work in most of London's coffee bars?

There is a world outside of London you know! Smaller, regional towns that have a mix of offices, light industry and retail and it's these smaller towns that employ people from all demographics and they will be just as badly affected as inner cities. The retaile industry was already struggling before COVID and with so many office workers no longer travelling into the town centres, they'll be hit again.

Ilovecheese

I suppose also that working from home is more satisfactory if one is already in a partnership and/or has a family.
Single people, especially young single people need to mix in order to form relationships.

I think that if working from home continues as a way of life then that could actually stimulate the evening time economy, so that people can mingle and socialise.

Perhaps nightclubs, bars, social clubs etc. might benefit.

I was thinking about that. Maybe people won't be so knackered after their commute that they'll start going to local pubs and restaurants more.

MissAdventure

Economically it's far from ideal, but for almost every other reason, working from home makes total sense.

Why is it economically far from ideal? I'm genuinely interested in your reasoning rather than trying to be argumentative.

Who are the people who work in most of London's coffee bars? Would they be immigrants by any chance?

If you fear for them GrannyGravy lobby your MP. Millions of people can't be made to do something they don't want and is unsafe, especially if their companies are happy for them to work at home.

The world is ever changing and we're going through a very bumpy transition. Wait until January and there'll be some even bigger bumps.

growstuff the chains of coffee/sandwich shops will cut their losses and move on.

I fear for the small businesses, the individual dry cleaners, heel bars, book shops, taxi drivers, office cleaners etc, what will happen to them? Homes repossessed and out of work.

The City of London and other city centres around the UK are much more than people in suits behind desks.

I suppose also that working from home is more satisfactory if one is already in a partnership and/or has a family.
Single people, especially young single people need to mix in order to form relationships.

I think that if working from home continues as a way of life then that could actually stimulate the evening time economy, so that people can mingle and socialise.

Perhaps nightclubs, bars, social clubs etc. might benefit.

Economically it's far from ideal, but for almost every other reason, working from home makes total sense.

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!