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

[starfish]

My office has been open the whole time for the scientists & other people needed to work on the really really important like scientific type work. What i do i can do from home & they know that. Whether or not im still doing it after July is another story.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Nope, I'll be happy if they don't open the office, ever. Just pop up to Reading once a month for a meeting with colleagues, in the pub.

Even those colleagues who do want to go back aren't going to quit their jobs if it doesn't happen soon.

This is just Sunak talking bollocks again.

There is going to be a big shift socially and economically though, and the government are scared of that. There's a lot of money in sandwiches for office workers etc, and a lot of high street footfall is office workers, esp during the week. It could lead to a big drop in GDP.

If the government was serious about getting people back to work in city centre offices, they would cut the cost of commuting and make it a slightly less miserable experience. But they've put rail fares up during the lock down.

Its a real opportunity for communities to get some life back but from the start governments been obsessed with returning to normal asap.

Imagine if all those flat pack empty housing estates in the suburbs shopped locally instead of fucking off to London to work for 40 hours a week.

 

[spanglechick]

I suspect this question doesn’t really work for teachers, but yes. If I had to WFH indefinitely, I now realise I would need to seek alternative employment.

so many people have commented over the last few weeks since we returned, how happy I seem. I realised today that it’s entirely down to the social aspects of my job. It hadn’t occurred to me before this month that a major reason I have spent 20 out of the last 26 years in full or part-time teaching is that my job is exclusively, entirely about interacting with human beings. To the extent that I teach one of the only curriculum subjects that cannot be done as an individual learner. Drama must be learned, practiced and performed as part of a group.

 

[chilango]

The Station Hill development near Reading Station has been going on for a few years now. I've watched as they demolished the Bus Station and the Top Rank, C&A (!) and Friars Walk. They were building 100,000 sq ft of new office space.

This is all I can find as an update. I really can't see why anyone would build 100,000 sq ft of offices now. But as you say, property developers ........

I'd be in favour of more residential in this development, but it's being built as "build to rent" and will be flogged off to investment funds, rather than being affordable housing for local people.

Anyone local eg chilango got any more up to date info? The first phase demolition had finished when I was last in town. Have they started building, or is this going to end up as a big hole?

Huge £500m Reading development set to get bigger

Lincoln MGT already has permission for more than 1,000 homes on the site in Reading town centre

www.getreading.co.uk

I've not been into town since December and haven't heard anything. My feeling is even the residential developments are stuttering a bit (I'm thinking of ones nearer me like Cemetery Junction and the Newtown Gas Tower). I do wonder if WFH has not only hit office spaces but commuter hutches too?

 

[Tankus]

All just in time for covid 22

 

[BigMoaner]

Its a real opportunity for communities to get some life back but from the start governments been obsessed with returning to normal asap.

Imagine if all those flat pack empty housing estates in the suburbs shopped locally instead of fucking off to London to work for 40 hours a week.

could also reverse some of the damage of gentrification, easing the pressure on london house prices? hope so, despite having my own place.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

There’s large parts of my work that obviously can’t be done remotely, but as I slowly move towards a more management based rather than live show role I hope I’ll be working from home more and more. It’s great.

 

[BigMoaner]

will someone think of the train companies shareholders? (((((((((((((train company shareholders)))))))))))))))))

 

[SpookyFrank]

will someone think of the train companies shareholders? (((((((((((((train company shareholders)))))))))))))))))

They're fine they were bailed out on like day one of this whole thing.

Turns out the government knew all along that private companies running essential infrastructure for profit is a shit idea.

 

[quiet guy]

The Station Hill development near Reading Station has been going on for a few years now. I've watched as they demolished the Bus Station and the Top Rank, C&A (!) and Friars Walk. They were building 100,000 sq ft of new office space.

This is all I can find as an update. I really can't see why anyone would build 100,000 sq ft of offices now. But as you say, property developers ........

I'd be in favour of more residential in this development, but it's being built as "build to rent" and will be flogged off to investment funds, rather than being affordable housing for local people.

Anyone local eg chilango got any more up to date info? The first phase demolition had finished when I was last in town. Have they started building, or is this going to end up as a big hole?

Huge £500m Reading development set to get bigger

Lincoln MGT already has permission for more than 1,000 homes on the site in Reading town centre

www.getreading.co.uk

It's a big fucking merry go round for property developers. Knock down closed stores, redevelop, offer incentives to businesses to move in, older developments empty as the tenants move to new development and hey presto the developers move in to upgrade or redevelop ad infinitum in some city centres.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

One big reason for me picking my current job was that they put an emphasis on social contact and developers working in face to face teams - my previous job was split up across multiple countries and generally that just didn't work. (It can work but you have to plan it properly, and I was sick of all the real discussion happening elsewhere and you only ever finding out about it once you got told to do something stupid. If I wanted to do that I'd be a contractor and get paid more.) It was always a toss-up between hating commuting - really hating commuting - as well as the whole miserable parasitic office-adjacent ecosystem, vs working and feeling better in the physical presence of other people. Living alone, it's by far my major social contact.

Of course lockdown happened before I even started the job so this didn't happen, but I would find it hard to deal with never having contact with other people all week. I'm in no hurry though, going to an office in an even potentially unsafe environment is worse than that. Also if the company insisted, that would make me think very negatively of their attitude to people's safety, and that might well make me quit.

Also fuck Rishi Sunak. Obviously.

 

[cybershot]

The sub headline of the article is correct however. I started line managing some people that I haven’t yet seen in person. The onboarding process has took probably 3 times longer from home and they are certainly not picking things up as quick as they would in the office. Arranging time with colleagues to show them things is also a pain in the arse and I’m finding getting to know them difficult as every time I speak to them it’s forced and work related.

I prefer being in the office but I’d like a hybrid approach and I think we’ll be going for it. I’ve been in every day myself the past 3 weeks but will wfh next week.

 

[Voley]

I think I'd be looking at getting a new job if they wouldn't let me work from home now. Current thinking from my employer is 'a couple of days a week in the office' which will suit me, although just the one day would be my preference.

I did see a similar job to mine advertised last week on a 'wfh with occasional office visits' basis so I'd look to get one like that if it came to it.

Rishi Sunak's line about workers voting with their feet cuts both ways.

 

[muscovyduck]

I had the opposite situation to most of you - working from home wasn't a problem the whole time I'd worked there until a few months into corona when an anti-wfh faction built up a bit of momentum. It's not just landlords and pret that are struggling, the workplace bullying sector has faced a massive shift too.

If they closed the office and never opened back up I'd go work somewhere else but it wouldn't be some dramatic decision, I'd just be looking for another similar job and moving when I found it rather than suddenly quitting because I couldn't tolerate the thought of it any more. However if I was forced back in before I'm ready the steps I'd take would be a lot more drastic.

 

[sleaterkinney]

I’ve found out my office has been open over a few weeks so I’ve applied to go back in, I can cycle in but I’d crawl if I had to, I hate the lack of work/life separation.

 

[Cloo]

I guess I have a relatively low stress job and my work brain just doesn't work after about 5.30 so I don't find separating life and work all that hard. I've got better at WFH since lockdown - when I did my day a week at home in The World Before, honestly unless I was quite busy I didn't do an awful lot on WFH days, but now I'm pretty productive I'd say.

 

[Poot]

I'm only paid to work 9.30 - 2.30 but I'm finding at home I'm doing almost fulltime hours to prove I'm not swinging the lead. I'm studying for a professional qualification at my manager's insistence, so the lines become blurred.

I work from home and attend site meetings, and it's actually lovely. I just wish I got paid for the amount of work I do and the amount of responsibility I have. I wrote my manager's manager an email last week when I explained that what has happened is a little bit of sexism. So that may have solved that problem.

But yeah, my office is in a busy depot and there is zero value in me being there. So suck it, Rishi.

 

[William of Walworth]

I struggle to join in with this (fascinating!) conversation in a normal way

Because as I stated before/elsewhere, I either have to go into work to do what I do in the CS, or I had to be put on 'special leave' , as with last March to early last August**

(**No Glastonbury or Festival Season 2020 though!!!! Not as great as it sounds )

That NWFH (aka yes, shirking from home ) thing was a rare and special CS featherbedded privilege for me, I appreciate , but I go to work now, as before, at stupidly early times on the days I do work .... and I'm absolutely fine with it tbh

Mostly because with our continuing and only slowly decreasing backlog, we're on a £--pounds-an-hour overtime regime at the moment -- as opposed to my generally ill-paid (albeit with great leave-rights!) situation of normo-times ...

This never-seeen-before overtime regime, valid even for part-timers like me, unlike usually -- has just been extended from 31st March to 30th June ....

Other great reason for being OK (and beyond!) with coming into work : A significant proportion of our normal gang are genuinely working from home on less (physical) paperwork-based duties.

So in the offices, that means a reduced number of arsehole-level workplace 'chatterers' to have to 'tolerate'

For now .....

Plus, no pointless 'team meetings; in cramped meeting-rooms for the indefinite future,.

And no more 'hot-desking' either, until at least after I retire ....

For very good safety reasons that apply to everyone in the offices, I now have a fixed desk ... and for me, that's in a handy location, not too near any twats, and with a fair bit of empty desk-space nearby .....

 

[William of Walworth]

TLDR? ( ) : In other words, I don't go into the office to socialise, and never did ......

</headphones and constant music all-day-long for a reason! >

 

[8ball]

Just realised that this year's tax return is gonna be a fucking doddle. Taxable income April 2020 to April 2021: zero pounds and zero pence.

“Liked” not liked iyswim.

 

[8ball]

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

Quite amused by how many likes that post got - I was actually working this way for a good chunk of last year (just me, security, and an admin person popping in twice a week in an office that should take 300 people). Got loads done (though if you’re not IT-impeded at home, your mileage may vary).

When the second wave hit properly after our little summer break I went back to wfh on
medical advice but thinking of going back in now I’m a few weeks past the first jab*. Have been rationalising my lack of productivity a lot in the meantime.

- actually, must be more than that now I think of it (bit pissed*) second jab May 9th

** - pissed enough that that edit took a few goes to eliminate typos - badly (no idea where those italic came from)

 

[Winot]

We (small law firm) have just decided that when the pandemic is over people can carry on working from home 100% if they wish.

Caveats - we will need someone in the office but we know that there are enough people who want to come in occasionally. Also people may have to come in occasionally for team-wide meetings or training.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

We (small law firm) have just decided that when the pandemic is over people can carry on working from home 100% if they wish.

Caveats - we will need someone in the office but we know that there are enough people who want to come in occasionally. Also people may have to come in occasionally for team-wide meetings or training.

Think a lot of companies will be like this, so will scale down the size of the office or bin it off altogether and just rent meeting space as and when.

 

[Leafster]

We (small law firm) have just decided that when the pandemic is over people can carry on working from home 100% if they wish.

Caveats - we will need someone in the office but we know that there are enough people who want to come in occasionally. Also people may have to come in occasionally for team-wide meetings or training.

Think a lot of companies will be like this, so will scale down the size of the office or bin it off altogether and just rent meeting space as and when.

I think it's particularly true for small professional firms where much of the work is centred around information processing with less need for collaboration or face to face interactions.

As an accountant so much of what I do is information review and data manipulation. Most of my software is cloud-based or comes in cloud-based flavours so for much of the time I can be pretty much anywhere as long as I have a PC and an internet connection. Considering the size of clients I deal with nearly all of the tasks are dealt with by a single member of staff (usually me!) and even when I've had someone working with me they've been able to deal with 90% of the work with little interaction with me.

What I've also found is that even clients who previously would only have considered face to face interaction have realised it's possible to deal with most of their issues at a distance. In some cases, they've actually found it beneficial as they've avoided wasting time travelling to me (or paying for me to travel to them!). So, the pandemic has provided an opportunity to do things differently.

There will still be a place for face to face interaction with clients or staff but perhaps it's not as as necessary in many situations as previously perceived.

 

[sleaterkinney]

I’ve found out my office has been open over a few weeks so I’ve applied to go back in, I can cycle in but I’d crawl if I had to, I hate the lack of work/life separation.

I'm back in now, three days a week. Had an interesting conversation about sandwiches last week. Nature is healing.

 

[ska invita]

I'm curious to see how the future job market looks, with new posts advertised as wfh
If so I can imagine, for the first time, a life beyond London for myself

 

[Winot]

Think a lot of companies will be like this, so will scale down the size of the office or bin it off altogether and just rent meeting space as and when.

Yeah our lease is up March 2022 and we will probably be looking for somewhere a third of the size.

 

[Looby]

I wouldn’t leave but I am in a job where discussion and informal support is so important. Working in isolation is hard and although we’re better at using tech than we were, it’s still not the same. It’s not healthy for us.

I’d like a mixture which I think will happen anyway as there’s half the amount of desks we need for everyone to be in the office. Our organisation was reducing accommodation anyway so this is perfect for them. Being able to focus on heavy written stuff at home without distraction is good.
I am lucky though that I can shut myself away in the space room where I have a desk for proper work and a bed desk for more relaxed reading and report writing.

They’ve now split the office. 2 days our team can use it and 2 the other. Fridays is a free for all because no one is in anyway. Just been to the office for the first time since October.
I’m about to apply for a role that’s completely home based. Not totally sure how I feel about that.

 

[marty21]

I've heard we may be allowed back in June , can't wait , I don't want wfh to be my new norm. I wouldn't leave though, I'm hoping for early retirement in 3-4 years.

 

[Leafster]

I'm curious to see how the future job market looks, with new posts advertised as wfh
If so I can imagine, for the first time, a life beyond London for myself

I'm still not sure there will be the massive shift to wfh that some people think. It does work for some businesses and some employees but it will only work where those businesses have employees who can also work from home. There's probably a mismatch at the moment where some businesses would like some of their current staff to work from home more but, for various reasons, their staff can't easily work from home. The reverse is also true. It's this which will slow down any transition to a more WFH based life. It'll take time for employees to find employers with the same mindset and vice-versa.

There's also the structural (?) issues with businesses needing to downsize their work spaces and workers to reorganise their homes (or move) so that working from home becomes possible. This will take time.

I've worked from home for many years and so have several of my friends. Some work for themselves but others are employed. We've all been fortunate that our home environments have allowed us to do it. But I think there's still a perception that this is unusual - we're outliers or oddballs. It's as if we'll go back to working "normally" (in a dedicated office or similar) at some point in the future when finances allow (set up an office) or the children are old enough not to need someone around during the day. I think this attitude will be difficult to shift so there will still be a reluctance on the part of employers or employees to consider working from home as a valid option.