Would you leave your job if your employers didn't reopen your office soon?

[Cloo]

Rishi Sunak seems to think so, but I'm not sure he's ever spoken to a human being. COVID-19: Chancellor urges firms to reopen their offices once lockdown ends

My office is planning on reopening 12 desks in London for 12 April on a trial basis, not requiring anyone to return (they were going to do so late September last year, but that was scrapped at last minute) - I wouldn't consider it until I have at least one vaccine dose settled in, and also depending a bit on what my team want.

I'm a bit about the fact lots of people are going 'But we have to go back to the office to collaborate and train and have social encounters', except AFAICT most offices will be like ours and not be opening meeting rooms, kitchens or canteens. I mean, you'll be able to have a conversation with someon 2m away in a mask, but you can't do meetings, training or casual social encounters, so I'm not really sure what I could do better in the office than I do at home either work-wise or emotionally/socially under those circumstances.

I think people are more likely to leave an employer if they demand office attendence - I saw a good comment recently from a workplace consultant type saying that demanding return is a really good way of an employer showing they don't give a shit about their employeers.

Nonetheless I think it is worth workplaces trying out reopening over late spring/summer, as chances are they'll have to shut again end of the year/beginning of next for a bit and some people will want and need it.

 

[ska invita]

Theres nothing more to this than Sunak "nudging" people back to offices as it is a pivotal part of cities economies

 

[Lord Camomile]

Nope.

 

[8ball]

I'm thinking of going back in on Monday just for sanity reasons.

 

[Leafster]

I'd be interested in seeing what research he's done to come to his conclusion.

I suspect the reason for his comments is more to do with maintaining the existing economic status quo and ensuring landlords of office blocks get their rents paid and the businesses surrounding the offices (Pret etc) don't lose out.

 

[cloudyday]

lol

 

[Sue]

Theres nothing more to this than Sunak "nudging" people back to offices as it is a pivotal part of cities economies

WILL NO-ONE THINK OF PRET????

 

[May Kasahara]

Demanding attendance would be out of order, but I think it's fair to say that some people will want to be able to go back to an office at least some of the time. I've been very lucky in that my work has enabled a sort of rota attendance in the office since June last year, and while it's hardly buzzing like it used to, it does make a huge difference in terms of feeling 'normal' - working in work space rather than trying to balance home/work/kids/pets/aargh, seeing the occasional colleague etc.

Even my husband, who is the world's biggest introvert and more or less loves lockdown, has said he'd quite like the option to attend an office one day a week.

 

[ska invita]

WILL NO-ONE THINK OF PRET????

on my parade where i work (central london) about 15 of 20 neighbouring business have closed for good - all independents, two thirds of them food related (restaurants/lunch spots/cafs/bar/convenience food shop) - Pret remains

 

[May Kasahara]

Not to mention the fact that we are privileged enough to live in a nice spacious house with enough rooms/technology for everyone and enough money not to have to worry about heating bills etc. There are loads of people trying to work out of tiny shared houses, horrible atmospheres, noisy surroundings, using crap or unsuitable tech - undoubtedly some of them will want to be in a real work space.

 

[May Kasahara]

None of which detracts from the fact that Sunak is a massive wanker just like all his Tory scum cronies, obvs. Just saying there are layers to it.

 

[ska invita]

Not to mention the fact that we are privileged enough to live in a nice spacious house with enough rooms/technology for everyone and enough money not to have to worry about heating bills etc. There are loads of people trying to work out of tiny shared houses, horrible atmospheres, noisy surroundings, using crap or unsuitable tech - undoubtedly some of them will want to be in a real work space.

yes, i dont think Sunak gives a shit about that aspect

 

[8ball]

Not to mention the fact that we are privileged enough to live in a nice spacious house with enough rooms/technology for everyone and enough money not to have to worry about heating bills etc. There are loads of people trying to work out of tiny shared houses, horrible atmospheres, noisy surroundings, using crap or unsuitable tech - undoubtedly some of them will want to be in a real work space.

Yeah, I currently have about 10% of the computing power I have in the office.

 

[May Kasahara]

yes, i dont think Sunak gives a shit about that aspect

No, of course he doesn't. But that shouldn't stop any reasonable employer from taking it into consideration.

 

[Leafster]

on my parade where i work (central london) about 15 of 20 business have closed for good - all independents, two thirds of them food related (restaurants/lunch spots/cafs) - Pret remains

I have a client who runs a cafe on the ground floor of an office block in the city. It's been horrendous for him but surprisingly his landlord has been very good to him and is also considering ways of sub-dividing the office space so down-sizing businesses have somewhere to move into.

 

[quimcunx]

I heard Rishi too and nearly laughed. I think you'll find many employees will leave if offices ask them to come back 5 days a week post covid.

I think a lot of employers will be looking to get smaller/cheaper offices.

 

[Orang Utan]

I’ve been going in every day for nearly all of this and would certainly leave if I was ordered to work from home. That’s not my job.

 

[ska invita]

I have a client who runs a cafe on the ground floor of an office block in the city. It's been horrendous for him but surprisingly his landlord has been very good to him and is also considering ways of sub-dividing the office space so down-sizing businesses have somewhere to move into.

yes ive spoken to some of the people who have gone out of business - you get to know people from years of local working - every last one has a bastard landlord offering no rent holidays - doomed.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

I certainly wouldn't consider quitting over it but I do increasingly feel that I'd like to be in the office for some of the time tbh. Not commuting is amazing but sitting at home with a laptop going nowhere lost a lot of its appeal some time ago.

 

[Gromit]

It’s almost as if many Conservative party donors are rich office block owning landlords. Nah that can’t be the reason for his statement

 

[Espresso]

From the BBC website:
Mr Sunak told the newspaper that home working is no substitute for an office environment with "people riffing off each other".
"You can't beat the spontaneity, the team building, the culture that you create in a firm or an organisation from people actually spending physical time together," he said.

Sez me:
Yeah, I bet the people who work in offices where the bosses record the telephone calls "for training purposes" and have software to monitor your keystrokes are really all missing the spontaneity and the team building, Rishi.

 

[Teaboy]

Last time around Johnson and Sunak were giving it the big one about going back to work a lot of companies just ignored the silly cunts. The few that didn't had a fiasco on their hands. My partner's company had a phased return which featured a couple of weeks of IT breaking down and other problems with ac and lighting. The only people that got any work done were the people who stayed at home. Then within a couple of weeks everyone was back at home.

Its good that we're so keen for a re-run of that shambles.

 

[Pickman's model]

I’ve been going in every day for nearly all of this and would certainly leave if I was ordered to work from home. That’s not my job.

i think you'll find your job is whatever your bosses tell you to do, within reason. sure if you check your contract you'll find the standard clause 'or do any other task we tell you to commensurate with your grade' or words to that effect. until march last year i'd never considered wfh, my jobs have almost all be public-facing. but all of a sudden dealing with users remotely from the comfort of my sitting room became the new normal.

 

[Teaboy]

From the BBC website:
Mr Sunak told the newspaper that home working is no substitute for an office environment with "people riffing off each other".
"You can't beat the spontaneity, the team building, the culture that you create in a firm or an organisation from people actually spending physical time together," he said.

In the scheme of the last year its a minor thing but how fucking dare he suppose to tell companies how their offices should be run and what they should be like. What the fuck does a weirdo hedge fund manager kno about any of this shit? Insulting and arrogant.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

I'd be interested in seeing what research he's done to come to his conclusion.

I suspect the reason for his comments is more to do with maintaining the existing economic status quo and ensuring landlords of office blocks get their rents paid and the businesses surrounding the offices (Pret etc) don't lose out.

Pretty much this.

"Screw this job, I'm leaving for one where I am required to commute to an office".
I grant him that in some cases it might be possible, but I would wager there are far more people who would quit if forced to return to an office full time during this period.

Lots have offices have found that working from home can be far more efficient. It certainly has been for my wife's job which has people from all over the world working together. There is definitely room for new office business models.
As an editor my job is me locked away in a little room. That could be an expensive room in central London or just me in my garden office. It doesn't make any odds if the people I talk to on the phone are in another building round the corner or the other side of the world.

He's just worried about property owners, conserving the status quo. Hopefully there is a new economy and a new way of life around the corner.

 

[8ball]

Hopefully there is a new economy and a new way of life around the corner.

Sentiment is nice, but I can't see that happening.

 

[marty21]

My job is difficult to do from home , as I do need to visit properties (have done occasional visits over the past 12 months) and meet with tenants, much easier to deal with issues face to face. We also show flats, and the current covid system involves people going to the main office to pick up keys, going to see the flat , then returning the keys . The flat they are viewing could be around the corner from where they live , the journey do our main office can take 40 minutes or so . And we used to show several applicants at the same time , now those several have to wait days to allow keys to be collected and returned . So I'd like to go in a couple of days a week at least, and I get my vaccination next week, thanks to being old .

 

[Artaxerxes]

It’s tempting because 90% of the reason I applied to work where I do is because of where and what it is and I've not been there for a year now.

Probably not though, I'm staying put until I can leave London and find work elsewhere. I need a bigger flat or a house. Wfh is cool but I'm in far to small a place to do it.

 

[8ball]

My ideal environment for getting work done is actually being in the office while everyone else is wfh.

 

[tommers]

We've had numerous people ask to get co-working spaces, which is what we have done for them