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Rural hubs for remote workers... €60 per week to use!

MegamanBoo

I'm a rural dweller and I think I'll be a long-term remote worker, so I had been looking forward to the introduction of these rural hubs. Health wise I think it would be great to get out of the house a little more and socialize, and I think if done right this kind of scheme could really breath life back into small villages.

I was so disappointed then to see what this scheme, which if I recall correctly, was one of the central pillars of the program for Government, looks like after we got a first peek yesterday.

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/hundreds-of-remote-working-hubs-announced-by-government-1261759.html

Aside from the website not really working, the real disappointment was the price quoted by my local hub for a desk.... €12.50 per day. Who can afford that? I can't realistically see anybody much using this service at these prices, so why are we pumping so much money into it?

If you look through the article they talk about the transformative effect this is going to have, allowing for tens of thousands of workers to work from the countryside. Not a hope! As dark and dank as my spare room/office year there's no way I could afford €60 a week for a decent office, effectively I'd be paying to work!

I don't have much faith in this government but I naively believed they would get this somewhat right. It would have been such an easy win for them. How difficult could it be to provide basic offices at a minimal cost, given the state's resources and the related costs they already have towards climate, transport, rural development, dublin congestion and competitiveness, mental health and so on.

For me this just feeds into the narrative that this lot are utterly incompetent, Dublin centric and elitist. I mean €12.50 a day is nothing if you're on a CEO's or TD's salary.

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MegamanBoo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118674503#Comment_118674503

It's not a private service so I don't think that really applies, and before you accuse me of looking for a freebie, bear in mind my tax dollars are funding it anyway. For me personally though I wouldn't pay more than a euro or two above the cost of ESB and heating the spare room for the work hours*. I'll be paying for broadband anyway.

Maybe I've grossly misjudged how much disposable income people have, but I just can't see the uptake unless it's a nominal fee.

And if it doesn't have considerable uptake I don't see the point of it, not at this cost and priority. Sure it's a nice to have for people already remote working, and I can see that and I might even use it myself the odd time, if say we had visitors using the spare room or what not.

As a public expenditure though I can't see the benefit unless it has a transformative effect and that's what this has been sold as (see article). I don't see that it would really help convince somebody to stop commuting. I don't that think it would really make somebody think about opening a shop, garage or creche in a small town or village unless it draws a mass of people in. If there's people working remotely already, it's not going to bring them to a shared space to save on the c02 of otherwise heating individual homes.

So another waste really especially given that some those derelict buildings might have gone towards housing.

*I see Clareman has already given a figure of €10 for this. I'd put it at €2 or so. He really needs to look at his energy usage, Eamon Ryan might want a word.

whippet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118674348#Comment_118674348

that is the Mill in Drogheda - and those pods are really good - single person, two person and 4 person pods.

Brussels Sprout

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058234274/rural-hubs-for-remote-workers-60-per-week-to-use

What do you think would be a fair price for this service?

Clareman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118674142#Comment_118674142

Considering I wouldn't have to heat the house or use as much power (laptop, chargers, coffee machine) I'd imagine the €10 isn't that much really.

It's not something I'll probably use that often but it's a brilliant service to have available, the 1 here is ran by the Council.

thomasj

Looks promising what you're getting for your money 😀

Photo taken from an article on that booking site about the minister launch yesterday

L1011

If there's even vague demand in an area, 12.50 a day is not going to stop it being booked solid. Fraction of the commuting cost for most people.

Plenty of employers will pay that, or even twice that (125/week was the limit in a job I worked in before, pre COVID too) for the saving on paying for an actual desk space in a city.

whippet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118674142#Comment_118674142

that isn't the only use case. These hubs will develop in to small communities of small / micro businesses and remote workers. Sharing ideas, splitting infrastructure costs and more importantly keeping people living and working in regional towns.

[Deleted User]

This falls into the "pack of smokes" index for me. If something is cheaper than a pack of smokes, then it's a fairly trivial daily amount for a lot of people in Ireland.

MegamanBoo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118674115#Comment_118674115

It's great for you personally. I just don't think then it warrants being such a cost and priority if this is the use case.

whippet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118674112#Comment_118674112

A bit of both. When I am meeting clients I'd expense the cost of the meeting room. I had a month of building work going on in my house a couple of years back and spent the month working there as the noise would have been mental in the house and the other option was to go to the head office.

These do not replace offices or home offices - they are another option for smart / remote working. Days on end in a pokey spare room office isn't good for anyone and even a day or two of mixing with others in a hub is very enjoyable.

My wife has no interest in going in to the hub - she has been WFH for over a decade and has a purpose built office in the house so is happy out there.

[Deleted User]

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118674086#Comment_118674086

Have a look at the main site: https://connectedhubs.ie/

Honestly, the original article is kinda misleading.

Clareman

That's brilliant, there's 1 near me that's €10 a day or €40 a week, I'll definitely be going there some days during the holidays when the children are off.

MegamanBoo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118674101#Comment_118674101

Did you pay for it from your own pocket, or your employer?

Where people do use the one near me I think they're mostly funded training courses.

whippet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118674066#Comment_118674066

the one near me is really busy, it has a mix of hot desks and small full time offices. Great kitchen, coffee facilities, meeting rooms and small pods for making calls etc. Open 24/7 as well.

Another great use for it was booking meeting rooms - a few times I'd have customers or colleagues meet me there rather than having to go to the head office in Dublin.

road_high

I think these kind of defeat the purpose of wfh- no company that is sanctioning wfh will be bothered whether you do it from a hone office or these hubs- but will be far more reticent to stump up a weekly fee plus pay for a central office that you aren’t in already.

Unless you have no at home office facilities then these serve little purpose in my opinion. They are almost obsolete with the likes of Microsoft teams etc now

MegamanBoo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118674056#Comment_118674056

What's an internet cafe? Haven't seen one of those in years!

I know there will be a cost to running these, especially if they have to be staffed. But do we need to build them then if they won't be used? Are they just a rural internet cafe? What's the point in that?

MegamanBoo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118674023#Comment_118674023

I can't see that there'd be tens of thousands of people having work done at home at the same time.

A good few of these facilities already in place, I don't think we need more unless there's mass appeal. I think the one near me is empty most of the time.

[Deleted User]

Edit: Never mind. I had a look at the connecting site for it. Wasn't impressed. In my midlands area, there's only a meeting room costing 65 euro per hour...

That's just wonderful for something gaining so much State support. And yes, they're operated by businesses, so it's not really a service provided by the govt. More of a initiative to link existing centres.

[Deleted User]

36.90 a day for me.open 9 to 5.30 so not much good.

MegamanBoo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118674026#Comment_118674026

I'll be saving nothing on travel costs. I'll be staying in my dank little spare room.

I can see though that if you had a very long commute and no home space this might be attractive. But do we need to provide tens of thousands of these spaces for what must be quite a small number then of potential users.

Mrs OBumble

That's cheap.

Market rate is more like €100 per week where I live.

How much will you save in travel costs?

whippet

I'd have a totally different view to yourself - I've used these hubs in the past quite a bit and €60 per week is an absolute bargain. Especially considering what the commute to my head office was - €50 in diesel a week alone.

If you have a home office you might only want the desk for a day or two a week. I used it when I was having work done in my house and when broadband was a problem.

But I know you can't appease everyone, and regardless of what the government do or don't do you will have people saying it is too much or too little.