WFH is dead and buried. Right to WFH bill is pointless

Remote working and AI are both here to stay. Lots of people are afraid of change and will fight against it but these things happen.

These days most people have a desk, chair and super fast internet. It just makes sense.

Right, lets talk about what we're talking about.

All civil service, public sector and semi-State jobs that can do so, have migrated to a permanent hybrid 60/40 home/office pattern.

The reason for that is not only family friendly policies, or union campaigning, it because the government has enshrined in law its climate targets, including a big reduction in road transport emissions. Reducing the commuting days of a couple of hundred thousand people that they have direct control over, is an easy win for them, and they are never going to roll it back.

And so, they will continue to encourage this message to the private sector too, without which they cannot achieve the goal.

Don't worry about America. Its clear that as a society they have lost their reason. They never had good statutory employment protections or work/life balance mandates anyway, so rolling back WFH is just a control flex from older white men. You need to look at the numbers who would sooner quit even a good job in America than return to 5 day commuting.

I've spoken to senior executives and country managers in US firms' Irish operations and they thank the Lord almighty (literally) for being based here and for the protections and better life balance here. In fact the staff demand to move to Irish based operations among those American businesses is colossal!

As for the JP Morgan lad ranting about WFH, its hardly surprising, as that narcissist just spent 3.5 Billion dollars on this monstrosity at 270 Park Avenue, Manhattan, as a monument to himself🙄

I recall I asked Minister Michael McGrath in October 2023 why Finance Department staff were operating 4 days from home still and also accruing flexi time. As verified by friends working here. Response “In your opening paragraph, you mention that the Department is 4 days remote working, this is not the case. The Department's Blending Working Policy has an expectation of 2 or 3 days in the office per week, with additional attendance as business needs require.”

Feb 25 same friends still four days a week at home.

is it not the case civil servants are doing 1 day a week in the office still or is it just the department of Finance? The sweeping statement is coming from the minister himself regarding a department recommendation of 2/3 days a week in the office.

I believe Pobal is also on one day per week in the office.

There is also an "expectation" that all civil servants should remote work a minimum of one day a week / 20%. That's an official government policy. Yet no one is bothered about the staff who don't meet that expectation.

why not staff the jobs with resources based in low cost locations then?

submit a freedom of information request to minister McGrath to release his offices email response if you are that motivated.
Our Ref: FIN-MO-03385-2023

Referred to
The Civil Service Blended Working Policy Framework published on 31 March 2022

if there are no measurable objectives - how can WFH be measured.

The majority of tasks could be packaged up into reference documents and outsourced quite easily. As we have seen with the levels incompetence through each department with zero accountability and zero respect for tax payers money outsourcing may be a route to value not currently achievable is existing departments. Specially as the stated the jobs can be done remotely.

This is exactly the conversation happening in every company around the world where jobs have been designated as fully remote or almost fully remote possible.

Of course riddles doesn't have a link, it's fantasy stuff.

You can't outsource it outside the country for data protection reasons anyway. Most work is geolocked.

Tbh trying to equate public sector with private sector is clueless. One is driven by profit the other is not. It's like alternate universes.

as clueless as suggesting it can be done almost fully remote which is the core of the issue. Outsourced to companies based here tasks completed at a fraction of the cost together with transparency and performance management.

Reduce the cost of doing business here in the real world economy win win.

The only tenuous link to real world accountability was adherence to office attendance. But yes dispense with that too.

Not a multinational either. :)

it was an illogical suggestion the same as suggesting the said same group whose only tenuous link to the concept of productivity was measured by office attendance. That now suddenly they can be almost fully remote is illogical. Even when in the office 30% do literally nothing 30% do something under supervision 25% carry the others and correct errors and 15% are promoted way beyond their competency and exercise no leadership responsibility.

But yes if the entire lot want a farcical free for all 80% remote setup then carve it up and go private with the tasks possible. Most functions are money down the toilet as it is.

I guess it's pointless asking for any links to the sources of any of these stats, as well.

Out sourcing in the private sector has for the most part been a disaster and a lot of outsourcing that was done when it was a hot topic a decade or more ago has been “in-sourced” again. Even then it was mostly call centre type minimum wage type roles rather than skilled roles or roles in regulated, geo sensitive or other areas where it just wouldn’t work. It’s obviously totally unsuitable for public or civil service jobs - illegal actually for the most part.

Just because jobs are being done from home does not make them any more or less “outsourceble” is the bottom line really. If they were rife for outsourcing now they would have been 5 years ago too when being done in the office.

Again nothing to do with the topic title, or anything you quoted.