Is this the end of WFH?

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

‘Work is not a Place’

…is the emerging view of many senior Civil Servants who testify that, despite the assertions by [redacted] productivity in their teams who WFH has actually gone up compared with pre-pandemic levels. Processing delays being experienced in some departments are not to do with productivity…rather it is a function of the volume of work that has built up over the pandemic.

Indeed I might suggest that WFH enables such as Civil Services departments to recruit more and better from wider afield as the need to travel into an office on a daily basis is removed. Consequently the backlog should/could be cleared quicker if recruitment is expanded.

Personal experience of my Mrs indicates this to be exactly the case. Post-pandemic lockdowns her charity employer now gives those on my wife’s team the option to WFH 100% (other than a very occasional training day); 100% Office; or mix. My wife chooses 100% WFH. Previously all worked in the office. The employer recently needed to recruit new members into my wife’s team. In past recruitment of breast cancer nurse specialists to work in central London was problematic. No longer. New recruits are from far and wide - choosing the WFH option.

Once they’d sorted the technology and put in place working practices to support WFH, it has been a no-brainier for the charity - it is working supremely well and is saving both the charity and its employees money.

 

[Mudball]

Last night my laptop stopped working... the flipping thing would not start (or fully shut down). the light was on but nothing moving. All panic stations. So raised a ticket with help desk, and I was planning to drive out to office and get it sorted. I needed someone else to look at it. I was hoping our IT guy would turn up in the office today.

Went on chat with help desk (no idea where they are based in the Orient) using my mobile.. on chat, he showed me how to do a power reset of the laptop using a small pin. Job done.

2 hours of mad dash, £15 quid of diesel, plenty of carbon miles and lots of heartache saved... all in the comfort of my PJs..

 

[IanM]

Most office stuff can be done remotely. Induction of new starters needs some creative thinking, depending on role and their maturity.

The genie is out of the bottle and can't be put back in. Lots of variations will evolve.

Heck, if anyone wants some consultancy support to manage the cultural transition, I'll do a discount for GM Members! (Or I'll do it for free... aka a SM9 and a few boxes of pro v1s left on the desk! )

 

[Mudball]

Looks like the twitter warriors are out in support of WFH.. Not that JRM, BoJo or Alan Sugar care or understand about it.
Without wanting to make this political.... if the Govt is serious about 'levelling up' (whatever that means).. then WFH is brilliant. No longer do you need to live in an overpriced studio flat in london when you can be anywhere in the country and be part of the Govt... reduces migration to the cities

https://twitter.com/search?q=#workingfromhome

 

[PJ87]

Looks like the twitter warriors are out in support of WFH.. Not that JRM, BoJo or Alan Sugar care or understand about it.
Without wanting to make this political.... if the Govt is serious about 'levelling up' (whatever that means).. then WFH is brilliant. No longer do you need to live in an overpriced studio flat in london when you can be anywhere in the country and be part of the Govt... reduces migration to the cities

https://twitter.com/search?q=#workingfromhome

Doesn't suit the economy that's been created is the problem

Building rental.. lunches out ..

Not like us to flog a dead horse as always ..

WFH is an excellent tool

 

[D-S]

From a carbon footprint point of view, moving millions of people from one point to another at the same time cannot be sensible.
It always amazed that so many people had to make potentially 20-30 minute journeys to arrive at the same time but, due to the need for all of them to arrive at the same time, these journeys took 1-2 hours. Even allowing the first 1-2 hours working from home then commuting mid morning would massively reduce excessive, wasted journey times. At the same time having carbon reduction/time/work life balance benefits.

 

[IanM]

No

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

No

That’s good to know…

 

[Mudball]

looks like we are leading in the world in something... not surprising that the powers to be want us back in the box
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ecreased-20-America-leaders-working-home.html

 

[Captainron]

I do think that people should be asked to work in the office more. A blend of home and office based working is a place to start for now and then phase in a more prescriptive work from office ethic.

Companies are paying business rates/rent/mortgages plus loads more on office spaces. The economy relies on this income from business and would need to be replaced somehow.

 

[Orikoru]

I do think that people should be asked to work in the office more. A blend of home and office based working is a place to start for now and then phase in a more prescriptive work from office ethic.

Companies are paying business rates/rent/mortgages plus loads more on office spaces. The economy relies on this income from business and would need to be replaced somehow.

Plenty of companies already reduced their office space from the first few lockdowns though, as has been mentioned in this topic - if everyone went back at once a lot of companies wouldn't even have the space anymore.

 

[PJ87]

I do think that people should be asked to work in the office more. A blend of home and office based working is a place to start for now and then phase in a more prescriptive work from office ethic.

Companies are paying business rates/rent/mortgages plus loads more on office spaces. The economy relies on this income from business and would need to be replaced somehow.

just because they have done so in the past doesnt mean we should just sleep walk back into that way of working

the gov only want people back at work because of investments in property and being landlords

lets build a better economy not just flog a dead horse

 

[Neilds]

I can't understand the concept that people in the office equals more business for coffee shops/cafes etc. When i used to work in the office, I took a packed lunch and we had a tea swindle so no local business benefited form me being in the office. Nowadays, with the cost of eating out, more people are being encouraged to take their own lunch so again, no business will benefit. As usual, it is all smoke and mirrors

 

[Mudball]

Love how the Daily Mail has made BoE’s WFH policy as one of the causes of inflation… The things rags do to peddle a story. Unfortunatley many will believe it too..

 

[Mudball]

I can't understand the concept that people in the office equals more business for coffee shops/cafes etc. When i used to work in the office, I took a packed lunch and we had a tea swindle so no local business benefited form me being in the office. Nowadays, with the cost of eating out, more people are being encouraged to take their own lunch so again, no business will benefit. As usual, it is all smoke and mirrors

Yes and No... depends on family circumstances and work environment. Not everyone has the luxury of a home cooked meal that they can take to work. Also many places have no access to food, so you are forced to get something from home or pick up something on the way in. Having worked in the City, i dont see many packed lunch crowd. London thrives on people buying food. Also it not just the lunch sector, you have to consider the bars and pubs that work folks meet up after work. Also coffee!! Pret built an empire on London's lunch trade ...

 

[PJ87]

I can't understand the concept that people in the office equals more business for coffee shops/cafes etc. When i used to work in the office, I took a packed lunch and we had a tea swindle so no local business benefited form me being in the office. Nowadays, with the cost of eating out, more people are being encouraged to take their own lunch so again, no business will benefit. As usual, it is all smoke and mirrors

Did you work in London? Any given lunch time the shops and restaurants were/ are rammed with people buying food or overpriced coffee

 

[PJ87]

Yes and No... depends on family circumstances and work environment. Not everyone has the luxury of a home cooked meal that they can take to work. Also many places have no access to food, so you are forced to get something from home or pick up something on the way in. Having worked in the City, i dont see many packed lunch crowd. London thrives on people buying food. Also it not just the lunch sector, you have to consider the bars and pubs that work folks meet up after work. Also coffee!! Pret built an empire on London's lunch trade ...

My wife and I are in this situation

I take home cooked food and reheat using the kitchen

She doesn't have time in her lunch break so just used to take bread to toast

The toaster is being taken away because the fire service has been out 3 times in 5 years for the toaster setting fire alarm off .. now £500 fine a go .. schools auto fire alarm goes off they can't call them off even if they know it's the toaster

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Yes and No... depends on family circumstances and work environment. Not everyone has the luxury of a home cooked meal that they can take to work. Also many places have no access to food, so you are forced to get something from home or pick up something on the way in. Having worked in the City, i dont see many packed lunch crowd. London thrives on people buying food. Also it not just the lunch sector, you have to consider the bars and pubs that work folks meet up after work. Also coffee!! Pret built an empire on London's lunch trade ...

I was down in London last summer for a mini break, staying near some major office sites. I was very taken by the world that is built up around offices, coffee shops, sandwich bars etc, the post work visit to the pub as well. It really is very different to the rest of the country in that way. It still exists in other cities but not on the scale of London. WFH will definitely impact those add on businesses far more in London than elsewhere.

As for Pret.........you barely see them up here or in other Northern locations. Maybe in a train station and the odd high street but they are not a player. In London , hundreds of them all over. They are hugely exposed if people do not return in numbers.

 

[PJ87]

I was down in London last summer for a mini break, staying near some major office sites. I was very taken by the world that is built up around offices, coffee shops, sandwich bars etc, the post work visit to the pub as well. It really is very different to the rest of the country in that way. It still exists in other cities but not on the scale of London. WFH will definitely impact those add on businesses far more in London than elsewhere.

As for Pret.........you barely see them up here or in other Northern locations. Maybe in a train station and the odd high street but they are not a player. In London , hundreds of them all over. They are hugely exposed if people do not return in numbers.

take a look who invests in these companies and then take a look whos pushing for WFH to end....

 

[Neilds]

Did you work in London? Any given lunch time the shops and restaurants were/ are rammed with people buying food or overpriced coffee

I think we all know that London is not typical of the rest of the country