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The working from home thread

I'm pretty much back full time in the office , but I'm still very much in the minority. There were maybe 30 people on my floor today (it can seat 200+)
50/50 for me, well... October I only managed 42.42% attendance on site, I was due in today but was out with the team last night, got home late and didn’t fancy it this morning.

50/50 works perfect for me, our floor is never more than about 30% occupied and the firm have great protocols in place.
 
Got a date in the diary for my first day back in the office. 2 weeks away still. Team lunch planned to welcome a colleague back from Maternity Leave. I'm OK about it, though I can't find the passes I need to get in! I expect I'll go in the morning, do the lunch, then wander off to a few pubs in town. Sort of looking forward to it, I think. It's only really having to get up early to travel there that puts me off. I go to the pub regularly now, I've been to gigs/festivals/football, so I can hardly plead that I am worried about covid.

I did use covid fear as an excuse to bunk off a work evening thing in London, a couple of weeks ago, when I just couldn't be bothered cos its always full of w@nkers.

It's just getting a bit boring here, that's all.
 
Two weeks into the dictat that everybody has to do at least 3 days a week in the office and I'd say that most people across the floors I know are either doing 1 or 2 days. Nothing so far has been said about this. I have the distinct feeling that people are feeling it out and could easily revert to full time WFH once they feel confident that there will be no consequence.

Personally, I'm only going in the few days a week I have been doing because I'm in an office band (practising for the Christmas do that may well yet be cancelled). It's worth it for that, otherwise I would easily drop to 0 or 1 day.
 
I've ventured in a couple of times in the last fortnight but it just strikes me as pointless now. The one meeting I attended was nice to see a few folk irl but could just as easily have been carried out online.
If you’ve been WFH successfully for the last 18 months then they have a massive uphill task trying to prove that you can’t do your job from home
Mine aren't even trying, I'm pleased to say. Hybrid working is now our norm but the couple of days a week they've suggested seem to be fairly optional. Well in my team, at any rate. I gather others have had more pressure to return. Fortunately I've a decent boss who doesn't expect me in an office unless it's necessary. They actually promoted a bunch of us during lockdown so your argument would carry even more weight if I needed it.
 
I've done 3.5 visits to the office (gave up halfway through first one in July as literally no one else in and I started feeling ill - though it wasn't COVID). First two proper ones (Sept and Oct) were pretty buzzing, yesterday pretty empty although it was a Wednesday. I think a combination of half term and also people thinking 'Uhm, maybe not' with latest figures. I just came in to meet a new colleague, but he and I agreed this may be the last time until the spring - I think, especially given that my work isn't mandating it, I'm not going to come in if I don't have to. It was a nice change to come in once a fortnight and see people, but I think regular visits will probably be out until things start any steady improvement which I imagine will be the spring.

We have one colleague that, as my manager was joking, we'll probably never see in the office again - he's a guy I suspect is on autism spectrum, never turns camera on for meetings, very happy at home thanks. And you really couldn't make a case about him having to come in as he's cleary doing just fine.
 
I’ve come in on a Friday for the first time. It’s still early — not yet nine. But I’m one of only three people so far on this floor of 200-300
 
I’ve come in on a Friday for the first time. It’s still early — not yet nine. But I’m one of only three people so far on this floor of 200-300


Appreciate they are tied in to contracts, but how much is this office costing? They will never be filled again and companies could save fortunes by going for much smaller spaces when they can and encouraging a mix of working. My parent company has a luxury gaff within spitting distance of Trafalgar Square, I am led to believe rent in that part of the world is a tad expensive, a few months before the plague arrived they had half the floor and then took on the other half of the floor. I went in in July for the first time in over 5 years, there is space for around 300 in there, this day there were 6 IT bods and 2 accounts folk. By all accounts it is still like that. Really they could run the whole show from the pop up work spaces in Godalming High Street...
 
I’ve come in on a Friday for the first time. It’s still early — not yet nine. But I’m one of only three people so far on this floor of 200-300

I've moved quite a way from the office and so travel in is lengthy and expensive. So I arrived at the office yesterday having got up at the crack of dawn and spent ages on the train to find absolutely no-one in there at all. A couple of people eventually drifted in for a bit and that was about it. I did have one quick ten minute meeting in person but nothing I couldn't have done on Teams.

To be honest I don't particularly want to be working from home full time, I'd quite like the vibrant office environment etc etc that senior management claim they're promoting. There's absolutely none of it in our office at the moment though.
 
We're all on hybrid working but today I'm the only one in my team in the office, so going to go home at lunch. Some areas like the call centre are busy but others are very quiet. Despite this my company has just decided to purchase MORE office space, probably the only company in the country who's done that... :facepalm:
 
Noticed my boss was in yesterday when I called her to ask something but her office is not the one I work in so I don’t see a point in going in tbh. Feel bad for asking the people in the office to print payslips off for me but that’s it.
 
I've moved quite a way from the office and so travel in is lengthy and expensive. So I arrived at the office yesterday having got up at the crack of dawn and spent ages on the train to find absolutely no-one in there at all. A couple of people eventually drifted in for a bit and that was about it. I did have one quick ten minute meeting in person but nothing I couldn't have done on Teams.

To be honest I don't particularly want to be working from home full time, I'd quite like the vibrant office environment etc etc that senior management claim they're promoting. There's absolutely none of it in our office at the moment though.
yeh if you want the vibrant office environment you have to be in the senior managers' offices. and from observation of senior management over a period of years i am far from persuaded that they do any actual work at all. if they did we'd be in a far worse position than we are now: so it's probably a good thing.
 
My office was busier than the descriptions above -maybe social housing folk do need to work in the same physical space a bit more. Like marty21 says there are some housing management meetings that are tricky online.

I'm very back office these days so it doesn't affect me as much. I could honestly do 99% of my job from home now. Got my weekly catchup with my boss in 10 mins (online ). I'm not doing a 1.5 hr commute for something that I can just log on to MS Teams for. Totally pointless.
 
I'm back in 2 days a week. Been in 4 times so far. From what I've seen the commitment isn't there even with management, the office isn't busy and a day in the office only seems to demand that you show your face. Disappearing early is quite common and posting in the whatsapp group to say you've got a sniffle seems an acceptable way of avoiding the journey into work if it's raining and you can't be arsed leaving the house. A change of boss is due in the new year so I don't expect anything to change before then and by that time we might have restrictions in again.

Job's a good un as they say.
 
I starting working from home in March 2020 and never went back to the office even when the contract ended 18 months later. I've still got their rather expensive laptop. I have reminded them about it. I have got a fresh contract with my own former employer who told me I could work from home after the first two weeks where I went in. The office holds nearly a hundred people, I think I saw 10 at most and on the last Friday there was me and one other guy.
My SiL's boss was dead set against anyone working from home except in emergencies until the plague made them. SiL goes in one day a week now if he feels like it and the company is moving to offices that are half the size of the original ones to save money because they don't expect people to come in
 
Appreciate they are tied in to contracts, but how much is this office costing? They will never be filled again and companies could save fortunes by going for much smaller spaces when they can and encouraging a mix of working. My parent company has a luxury gaff within spitting distance of Trafalgar Square, I am led to believe rent in that part of the world is a tad expensive, a few months before the plague arrived they had half the floor and then took on the other half of the floor. I went in in July for the first time in over 5 years, there is space for around 300 in there, this day there were 6 IT bods and 2 accounts folk. By all accounts it is still like that. Really they could run the whole show from the pop up work spaces in Godalming High Street...
I think it’s £6m a year for this office alone. The lease is up next year too, so it’s a once-in-thirty-year opportunity to reinvent the working pattern. They’ve fucked it though, out of an ideological belief in office working and a wilful blindness that they can somehow gaslight and bully everybody into getting back into the office full time. So they’ve already signed a lease for a new building that’s shinier, newer (still being constructed, in fact) and even closer to Lloyd’s… and no doubt much more expensive. I believe they have made no reduction in floor space. It’s madness. Then again, it is a tiny fraction of the people cost so I guess it’s just not that important.
 
Noticed my boss was in yesterday when I called her to ask something but her office is not the one I work in so I don’t see a point in going in tbh. Feel bad for asking the people in the office to print payslips off for me but that’s it.
I get plenty of colleagues emailing me with letters to print if mailsmart isn't working and they all know I'm in the office a lot. Not today though , unusually I'm wfh today so they will be disappointed.
 
Then again, it is a tiny fraction of the people cost so I guess it’s just not that important.
That's the bottom line I guess.

We'd just built three nice shiny new offices prior to the pandemic - so I've been (pleasantly) surprised that there hasn't been more pressure to return.
 
Since the start of October my team has been mandated to come in for 60% of our week. Which is 3 days out of 5 which I think its just far too many. I get some things are easier in the office but given we don't actually work as a team it doesn't really make any sense. I would be happy with 1 day in but clearly management are not on board. And we have to say a week in advance which 3 days we are doing in the office and its pretty set in stone at that point. Which also isn't helpful.

We moved offices during lockdown, but to an office we already owned - we just had it refurbished. It's very shiny and new and not even an 8th full at any point.
 
Because my job is to be the weathervane for problems in the company, I am aware of increasing anecdotal evidence that the 3 day mandate is causing a big potential for resourcing risk. The vacancy rate is already twice its target level, time to recruit is creeping up towards an average of 10 weeks and now we seemingly have competitors directly phoning our people offering them full flexibility of working if they jump ship. I don’t know that the stubbornness of the senior exec can really stand up to this. We’ll see
 
Since the start of October my team has been mandated to come in for 60% of our week. Which is 3 days out of 5 which I think its just far too many. I get some things are easier in the office but given we don't actually work as a team it doesn't really make any sense. I would be happy with 1 day in but clearly management are not on board. And we have to say a week in advance which 3 days we are doing in the office and its pretty set in stone at that point. Which also isn't helpful.

We moved offices during lockdown, but to an office we already owned - we just had it refurbished. It's very shiny and new and not even an 8th full at any point.

Yeah the 'not actually a team' thing is there for me as well. Although we're structured as a team my actual work is with people throughout our department and now they tend to call on Teams even when they're only on the floor below.
 
We track attendance stats in the organisation. This is for the England offices:

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The purple line is full occupancy (which allows for things like holidays so is actually based on something like 80% attendance) -- I won't include the scale but it is comfortably 4 figures. 18 October was supposed to be the week that we all started doing 3 days a week in the office but it clearly made no difference, and attendance remains at about 30-40%, which is equivalent to about 2 days a week. And that really hasn't changed since late September.

Tuesday - Thursday are clearly the most popular days but not much more so than Monday. Friday by far the least popular.
 
Looks like I’ve been summoned to the office. As soon as the office booking spreadsheet is fixed. I’m going to have to come in very early I think so I can get a parking space close to the office as not sure I can manage the 500m+ I may need to walk.

Still a good chance to get some more stationery at least.
 
So I'm being summoned in four days a week. This is their strategy. We now have a chef and free lunch. I'm almost tempted, despite being in the 'vulnerable' group. Almost. But I don't think even a slow cooked lamb tagine will get me back on public transport. nice try though.

Hi All, here’s a sneak peek next week’s menu

Monday
  • Honey glazed duck breast
  • Falafel with minted yoghurt dressing
  • Quinoa salad

Tuesday
  • Beef lasagne with garlic ciabatta slices
  • Halloumi & pepper skewers
  • Slaw salad

Wednesday
  • Thai red chicken & coconut curry on sticky rice
  • Spiced lentil and sweet potato dhal
  • Steamed greens

Thursday
  • Slow cooked lamb tagine on couscous
  • Caramelised red onion & goats cheese tart
  • Roast parsnips
Chef​
 
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