If Work From Home becomes a thing...

Examples of top paid / high risk jobs in here https://willrobotstakemyjob.com/top-paid-high-risk-jobs
- there may be more recent studies ... its just an example.
And simple computer programmers roles do have a 48% automation risk on that table. Then, I'd assume some other IT related roles (e.g. PM that only moves a pen from one place to another) would be replaced way before that

Jim2007 wrote: »

Why do you need to feel you belong to a company in the first place? My family, my friends and my local community very much so, but a company no. It’s an economic arrangement, I’m not there to socialize or be popular, I’m there to do a job and get well paid for doing it.

Was using the wording of the poster I was replying to.

In a previous job, I worked from home for over four years, only going to the office to socalise one day every 2-3 weeks. Difficult to get a day when there was a good group of colleagues in the office though.

I would happily relocate to Portugal/Malta or similar and work from there if I knew in advance which days I was required in the office and could get a cheap return flight.
Having said all of that, I'm starting a new job in July and that will involve going to customer sites 4 days a week, so WFH more than a day a week not really an option for me in the foreseeable...

I am not sure many companies are ready for full time remote working for their entire workforce any time soon. I think we all accept it is exceptional times and while it may assist company speed up the move towards remote working, most will not adopt it completely.

However, I do see many companies adopting a partial remote working week, potentially 60% as a general rule. How long it will take for 100% to be the norm is another matter.

The reasons why I think this are:
1. Very few companies have had to onboard new staff remotely at this stage. When this does kick in, it will highlight additional challenges for both HR and the teams they are being onboarded to. The 'ramp-up' time in a lot of cases are likely to be much longer
2. Wait until the whole graduate recruitment or interim's thing kicks in. Doing that remotely will be a major challenge
3. Many people simply do not have suitable working environments at home. The number of people I know who are working from the kitchen table or taking calls in the kids bedrooms at the moment is crazy. All of this is accepted now, but likely not once all of this becomes normalised
4. Managers in particular are struggling, as they feel they are losing control. Their normal ways of working are eroded and they need to be replaced. Yes of course they can be replaced, but I would be amazed if 50% of managers across the country are telling their management teams that the remote working is causing a loss in productivity etc, just so they can get back to the status quo as soon as possible. If enough people say it, people will believe it, whether its true or not

But I also agree that long term, fully remote working is likely to become more outsourced/contractor driven and in many cases the ability to be able to communicate effectively via conference/video calls will become an important skill. The same with the ability to build 'virtual' relationships. I see more 'company all-hands' conferences from time to time - but will very much depend on the industry and how quickly they adapt

BTW - something I also see triggered from the COVID crises is the demise of cash. It was of course happening before this, but is effectively on steroids at this stage. I suspect in 2 years, cash may be nearly seen as the proceeds of crime

afatbollix wrote: »

Got the word from the boss that the office will stay closed till September.

So I'm going to go in and get my chair


We have a lad who is a contractor for us who lives in Bangkok. He just joins our stand up at noon local time and its 6 pm there.

It's easy for software companies tbh, We all have scrum masters checking up on people and have our daily calls to see what we are doing that day plan. Maybe other industries need to adapt to stand-ups/ To do boards etc. Learn from other industries.


Tbh I'm busier now than I was! In the office, I was the go-to person for problems so it meant I was taken here there and everywhere to sort something out. Whereas now Im getting my work done and able to push on with other tasks I've been putting off.

Genuine question, where can I read more about stand ups....how do they work in a remote environment??

Jim2007 wrote: »

Why do you need to feel you belong to a company in the first place? My family, my friends and my local community very much so, but a company no. It’s an economic arrangement, I’m not there to socialize or be popular, I’m there to do a job and get well paid for doing it.

Many years ago I started a company with a handful of guys who I felt an obligation to. Over time it grew and grew and eventually I had to realise that my workers were just hired help and I couldn’t possibly form an attachment with them all. No one ‘belongs’ to or with a company when it goes over a certain size unfortunately. It’s an economic arrangement that has to suit both parties, it can be as hard for employers to accept this as employees,.