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Forced to work from home

Padre_Pio

Just got word today that work is downsizing their offices and the COVID work from home policy is going to be a near-permanent WHF policy.

Basically, the new office will only have hot desks, maybe half as many as there are staff. Employees have to book a desk in advance if they need to come into the office, but your permanent desk is expected to be in your own home.

There's uproar from certain people, but the response is basically put up and shut up.
Personally, there's no mention of home working in my contract. I was looking forward to getting back into the office and I barely have the space for a desk where I'm living at the moment, never mind a full setup.

Anyone have any experience of this? Places like Google and Facebook have said they're looking at similar policies. Any ideas how that went down with staff?

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Sconsey

newuser99999 wrote: »

I can guarantee no graduate is enjoying WFH.

No you can't.

lawred2

newuser99999 wrote: »

I can guarantee no graduate is enjoying WFH.

a minority might but it's ridiculous to think that most graduates would actively seek WFH and would enjoy it.

it's akin to thinking college kids would enjoy remote learning for the entirety of their college years.

The J Stands for Jay

VG31 wrote: »

That's a bit simplistic. While it's much better to have a dedicated home office it doesn't have anything to do with why some people prefer going into the office.

I have a home office, with a dual screen set-up, a bigger desk than I had in the office, a proper chair, but when we open up again, I'll be doing Fridays in the office, just for a bit of socialisation (autocorrect wants a bit of socialism, bit I'll have to see how things go).

[Deleted User]

newuser99999 wrote: »

Well has there been a study carried out in your place of work that shows that they are? You seem like the type of boss who wouldn’t even be bothered asking.

I am talking about friends that I have spoken to and my own experience.

You are talking about your friends, so about a dozen at most. Case closed then.

As for your assumptions about me, I couldn't care less what you think. I know who I am, you know nothing.

[Deleted User]

Sconsey wrote: »

No you can't.

Sconsey, he's spoken to his friends, like. It's beyond proven.

kathleen37

shadyslimshady wrote: »

Always a Karen in every office.

And every day an everyday sexism day....

whippet

Ger Roe wrote: »

Not over dramatic at all. It's my true experience. in my office I have health and safety dept making sure I am safe in my sitting and working environment - for the past year.... no one has even asked how I was managing.

Obviously your experience is different, and I am glad for you. In my job I still need access to paperwork and equipment that I have to have around me and above all, I want all of my living space in my home to be just that - living space. I didn't pay my mortgage to donate working space to my employer.

Of course then you should be able to go back to the office when the whole COVID thing is gone.

As has been repeated on this thread many time WFH does not suit everyone and obviously your one that it doesn’t suit.

Your experience does not reflect the experience of everyone and vice versa.

For me - my home office is my man cave .. which always had my computer in it .. so logistically no change there except I was able to buy some decent office furniture and claim it back on expenses.

My wife has been working from home for 15 years - and when we bought the house we are living in - we did so based on this requiremnt. It has a purpose built office in the downstairs .. so we both have dedicated work space.

If I were inclined to think that my company were getting office space rent free from me - I’d also balance that with the not insignificant amount of money I have saved on my commute - tolls, diesel, wear and tear, after school care etc

But everyone has a different outlook on life I suppose

Christy42

jakiah wrote: »

As someone who has had flexible working for the last ten years or so in various roles Im amazed at the attitides to work from home, hotdesking etc. like it is a completely new thing. I would have thought flexible working was much more prevelant here? My current employer doesnt give a ****e where I am as long as I am delivering.

I am really curious if people are forgetting hybrid roles in all of this. For our graduates we had them in the office a few times in September to help and mostly work from home. I don't see why a graduate needs to be there every single day to get integrated.

I also don't see many places allowing a lot of employees to never see the light of an office.

WFH however should be easier once it is a hybrid approach. Bring everyone in on a team for a specific day and have a team event after to help people get to know each other. A lot of my life these days is sitting around the same laptop. I feel like I can handle that better than most and separate when I am looking at work vs not looking at work. However it will be easier once more things open and I can go out and do more things in the evenings.

maestroamado

Cyrus wrote: »

while the company will save at some stage due to less people being in the office i think its naive to hope that they will pass any of that saving to employees. And to be fair once your equipment is sorted the incremental costs you incur working form home arent that much i wouldnt have thought.

I know a person who is paying €700 Month for a room in a house Glasnevin.
They was working from home (teaching) for a time but now back in class.
If this person was working from home why would they be paying the rent if this is also their workplace.
I think there needs to be a serious conversation about this....

newuser99999

[Deleted User] wrote: »

You are talking about your friends, so about a dozen at most. Case closed then.

As for your assumptions about me, I couldn't care less what you think. I know who I am, you know nothing.

Sorry I can’t interview every graduate in Ireland for you.

I will assume that most of us don’t enjoy working with people we’ve never met face to face, in house shares or family homes, having hardly any interaction with colleagues.

That’s such a bold claim.

Cyrus

newuser99999 wrote: »

Sorry I can’t interview every graduate in Ireland for you.

I will assume that most of us don’t enjoy working with people we’ve never met face to face, in house shares or family homes, having hardly any interaction with colleagues.

That’s such a bold claim.

its the i'm alright jack approach, so why would anyone else be unhappy.

[Deleted User]

newuser99999 wrote: »

Sorry I can’t interview every graduate in Ireland for you.

I will assume that most of us don’t enjoy working with people we’ve never met face to face, in house shares or family homes, having hardly any interaction with colleagues.

That’s such a bold claim.

Speaking of bold claims.

newuser99999 wrote: »

I can guarantee no graduate is enjoying WFH.

No. None. No one. Zero.

Have a nice day, kid.

newuser99999

Cyrus wrote: »

its the i'm alright jack approach, so why would anyone else be unhappy.

Yep his situation obviously facilitates working from home so can’t see why anyone else would ever dislike it.

Christy42

newuser99999 wrote: »

Sorry I can’t interview every graduate in Ireland for you.

I will assume that most of us don’t enjoy working with people we’ve never met face to face, in house shares or family homes, having hardly any interaction with colleagues.

That’s such a bold claim.

Even the original post mentioned that you can book desks in the office so I would presume most would end up in the office at some point. How long are you going in such a hybrid system without meeting your colleagues? You can also message them and ensure you book the same day to work from the office if it becomes an issue.

WFH does not mean being barred from the office.

ineedeuro

newuser99999 wrote: »

I can guarantee no graduate is enjoying WFH.

We have graduates working for us and no problem. Some hired prior to lockdown and some hired during. Now they could be lying but I was talking to one of the ladies the other day and she hopes we don't open the offices till next year.

HildaOgdenx

circadian wrote: »

There will be hotdesks and permanent desks for those who prefer to go to the office. I think this is the best approach as I work with quite a few people who are in house shares and don't really have any personal space away from what has become their workspace so it's completely understandable to wish to return to the office.

I think striking a balance like this is key and maybe your employer is a little gung ho into the plans since most people will welcome the change. I'd bring it up with HR/Manager that you'd prefer to be in the office full time and see where that goes, in the end, you're being honest about what would be more productive for you. If they wish to follow the less productive route, then it's on them.

Agreed. Balance is key, and as has been said upthread one size does not fit all.
A company I worked in had started working on some initiatives including one to enable working from home, which was to be made available to all.

Interestingly, I had a control freak manager, from whom I wrested one day wfh with difficulty before the initiatives started. It was an ideal balance, (she graciously permitted Wednesdays, eventually), and it split the week nicely, for me, in terms of a long commute.

The company has downsized now, and let office space in Dublin City centre go, so I presume it's going to be mostly a hot desk set up. I know some people who did not want to wfh, for various reasons, so I presume it will balance out most of the time, in terms of desk availability for those who cannot or do not want to wfh.

I think also they were assigning (broadly) areas of the office to various teams, so that teams were still sitting together when in the office.
Not sure how the control freak manager will cope

but thankfully she is no longer my problem.

[Deleted User]

ineedeuro wrote: »

We have graduates working for us and no problem. Some hired prior to lockdown and some hired during. Now they could be lying but I was talking to one of the ladies the other day and she hopes we don't open the offices till next year.

I know grads who opted to stay at home rather than move to Dublin and are able to build savings, as a result. They seem perfectly happy with the situation for now, even though it will change eventually.

Wabbit Ears

WFH suits us as we both have flexibility to work from teh office on alternate dates so we dont have to pay childcare and we really love the saving on commute times. That said we had to invest heavily in creating two office spaces in our home which neither company contributed in any way towards.

My work is all hotdesks now but since Im engineering an we need loads of test kit, we kept desks on one of teh smaller offices so thats good.

I see people on calls who are working from their bedroom. they work and sleep in the same place. Thats a horror. Huge investment in 'WeWork"/dogpatch type deskspace for hire scattered throughout the country and comnaies to subsidise using them would alleviate that a fair bit.

one thing for sure, LAW (Living at work) will be the absolute norm if people dont start making more clear demands from their companies on what they have to contribute.

irelandrover

ineedeuro wrote: »

We have graduates working for us and no problem. Some hired prior to lockdown and some hired during. Now they could be lying but I was talking to one of the ladies the other day and she hopes we don't open the offices till next year.

This pandemic is only going on 15 months. So most graduates would only be in the job about a year. What graduate is really going to tell their boss that they dislike their job because they have to work from home in the first year?

Graduates might be doing the job well but id seriously doubt they are integrated into the company. And by that i mean that they would be likely to stay if another job came along.

For me the social aspect of a company was just as important as the work itself when i was a graduate.

ineedeuro

Deleted User wrote: »

I know grads who opted to stay at home rather than move to Dublin and are able to build savings, as a result. They seem perfectly happy with the situation for now, even though it will change eventually.

Exactly. Not every grad or person wants to live in a city.

jakiah

Christy42 wrote: »

I am really curious if people are forgetting hybrid roles in all of this.

Exactly, its not an either or situation. Ive always gone into the office (or to a customer site) for meetings some days, worked from home others. There seem to be a lot of dinosaurs working in Ireland.

newuser99999

ineedeuro wrote: »

We have graduates working for us and no problem. Some hired prior to lockdown and some hired during. Now they could be lying but I was talking to one of the ladies the other day and she hopes we don't open the offices till next year.

Why would I tell my boss that I hate work from home and I’m not enjoying the job? I’m thankful to have any job this year. I know lots of graduates who didn’t get one or their graduate program was cancelled.

jakiah

Wabbit Ears wrote: »

WFH suits us as we both have flexibility to work from teh office on alternate dates so we dont have to pay childcare

You wont be able to look after children all day in a WFH situation post-Covid, thats not how it works.

Cyrus

irelandrover wrote: »

For me the social aspect of a company was just as important as the work itself when i was a graduate.

absolutely

some of my best friends are people i met in my first job (it was a graduate programme so effectively an extension of college years in the social aspect)

ineedeuro

irelandrover wrote: »

This pandemic is only going on 15 months. So most graduates would only be in the job about a year. What graduate is really going to tell their boss that they dislike their job because they have to work from home in the first year?

Graduates might be doing the job well but id seriously doubt they are integrated into the company. And by that i mean that they would be likely to stay if another job came along.

For me the social aspect of a company was just as important as the work itself when i was a graduate.

Im not their boss, they work on my team and are colleagues.

[Deleted User]

jakiah wrote: »

Exactly, its not an either or situation. Ive always gone into the office (or to a customer site) for meetings some days, worked from home others. There seem to be a lot of dinosaurs working in Ireland.

I've been working some form of hybrid for three years, maybe longer. I was one of the few people in my office availing of it. Now that the pandemic has forced our hand, everyone wants hybrid.

One of the few benefits of covid, I say.

Cyrus

Wabbit Ears wrote: »

WFH suits us as we both have flexibility to work from teh office on alternate dates so we dont have to pay childcare and we really love the saving on commute times. T

so is the person who is WFH also minding kids

facehugger99

According to a recent survey in our place of work, the vast, vast majority of people favour either full-time WFH or 1-2 days a week in the office.

less than 10% would favour going back to the office full time.

I know we are adopting a hotdesk model when we do eventually return and I'm sure the tiny percentage of people who want to be in an office everyday will be able to do so. Personally I'd hate it and if it was insisted that we needed to go back to fulltime office working, I'd leave and get a job elsewhere.

[Deleted User]

newuser99999 wrote: »

Why would I tell my boss that I hate work from home and I’m not enjoying the job?

Why wouldn't you? Minus the hate part. Unless your boss is an asshole, they should try to help you with this. They hired you, they should want to retain you.

jakiah

facehugger99 wrote: »

According to a recent survey in our place of work, the vast, vast majority of people favour either full-time WFH or 1-2 days a week in the office.

less than 10% would favour going back to the office full time.

I know we are adopting a hotdesk model when we do eventually return and I'm sure the tiny percentage of people who want to be in an office everyday will be able to do so. Personally I'd hate it and if it was insisted that we needed to go back to fulltime office working, I'd leave and get a job elsewhere.

Should be trivial for your company to provide a permanent desk for 10% and hostdesking for the rest. Everyone wins. Just the usual jobsworths whinging about this stuff.