Working From Home Megathread

Not sure how this is remotely relevant to the claim that the main reason businesses want RTO is because of sunk cost leases. It's conspiratorial nonsense, the answer is more straightforward - they think the business works better in the office. Workers may disagree but that doesn't mean either party are wrong or right.

Except that independent research repeatedly finds that productivity increases when blended/remote working is available, over office only.

I am doubting him :-)

Who wasn't working in the office pre-pandemic? Precious few. Absolutely, some companies are looking for more office attendance. Even where independent academic research - not 'productivity surveys' - shows it's counter-productive.

There is a round of job layoffs in certain sectors that has everything to do with cutting costs and maximising profits, and nothing to do with the presence of absence of blended/remote working. A prime example would be Microsoft - laying off nearly 2,000 employees in Blizzard Activision despite profits of $5.3 billion in 2022.

The reality is companies and organisations that are actively hiring are finding it really hard to do so where there is no remote or blended working possible. And yes, that means "down the line" availability. It's perfectly normal to expect new hires to spend more time in the office assuming colleagues are there too until they're up to speed.

If anything, I've seen the opposite occurring, India are becoming more expensive in comparison to Europe, main issue these days is visa availability so it's strategic to have centers in India/China but knowing there will be a high turnover of staff.

Indeed. The tech forums I'm on with jobs/employment channels? 95% of job postings are blended or remote. Has it right in the subject line, usually.

There doesn't have to be any logic. It's a power and control thing. If the company want you back, you have two choices.... They don't have to justify their decision.

It may be good, it may be bad but either way, it's the companies call.

Interesting that the 'alpha' tech employers - Google, Meta, Apple - want people back and are in a position to enforce it. Other companies look at these boys and thing 'If Apple, etc. think it's a good idea.....'

Smaller companies (or more enlightened ones) may have to take a different view.

I know a large tech company with an office in Galway that came to the end of their long term lease last summer. They decided not to renew the lease and agreed with the employees to go 100% WFH. They had to update the contracts and they did offer to pay for serviced desks in those hubs if employees wanted. Saved the company a fortune. Everyone happy.

This thread went very quiet. How are people finding WFH now? Are companies still supportive. Must say I'm seeing a trend to get people back to office. Fully remote jobs (IT) seem very thin on the ground. 2-3 daqys in the office seems like them norm now.

Currently starting to job hunt. I guess the mandated in-office time will be greater that the actual? You can't tell someone at interview that they must be in 2 days a week and then change it to 3 or 4? What are peoples experience of the actual vs official figures?

Out of curiousity, why do you plan to continue working after 66? I am having the same thoughts myself. I don't know how well I would handle a sudden stop.

Unless you're a public servant, there's nothing stopping you from drawing down your contributory OAP and continuing to work

You can delay the drawdown until 70 and get a bit more, but probably not worth it for most people.

A bit of humour to brighten things up.

I recently left a job that mandated a one day return. As with others, easily the least productive day of the week by some stretch, spent a lot of the day with my headphones in, if I had a meeting I had to search for an empty meeting room or battle with someone who “tried” to book it.

The reasons given were to create connection, if anything it drove me out, so maybe it worked? 😂

I mean just comparing a normal day going in or staying at home.

Going in

Gone before the kid is gone to school.

Dog is in the house alone from 8 till 6.

Rush home and try cook, do homework, spend time with the kid and walk a depressed dog.

Get much less work done as their are far too many distractions.

So basically a dog neglected, less time with family, exhaustion, stress and commuting money.

Working at Home

Spend the morning with the kid and drop off at school.

Use my breaks to walk the dog and prepare dinner.

More time in the evening with the family.

More work done without needless distractions.

So basically a happy family, happy dog, more money, less stress and more productive at work.

Then the office is open to anyone who wants to go in their every day.

I go in 1 day and I pointed the reason to my manager on why I am not getting as much done in a week as I used too.

I think depending on your situation at home, the office might be a preferred choice.

Younger people may not have the set up at home or are more likely to want to socialise.

Elderly people or people with no kids may like to go in to socialise.

People with young kids and who need to do so many things during a day just find it so much easier at home.

The good thing is everyone has a choice to what suits their circumstances.

We all got on with it before Covid, but this is a different world, and it's hard to justify bringing people who don't want to go back.

Forcing people back will reduce morale and performance will drop and people will leave to go somewhere who allows them to work in a way that suits them.

I've been WFH 95% of the time since the beginning of the pandemic, and I'm pretty sick of it now, to be honest. At the same time, I love the flexibility and no commute. I think for my own sanity I need a hybrid role. I feel quite isolated a lot of the days and I don't think video calls makes up for normal human interaction. It doesn't help that my colleagues are quite boring, in my opinion, ha. Maybe it's just finally time for a change all round!

Does anyone else feel like their attitude to work and career in general has changed a lot since the pandemic? I've been thinking a lot recently about the meaning of work in our lives. It seems really hard to find an interesting job where you work hard, but without killing yourself as a lot of jobs these days seem to come with risk of burnout.

As someone hybrid (fighting a full 5 day return) I personally find the office a much worse place to work to be honest. I much prefer working at home, more productive overall (while actually working less) and just less of a chore. Even when on-site the vast majority of our calls are done online anyway even when there are a few of us in the same room as there is always other sites or fully remote people involved (even excluding calls with external clients). I find this better anyway as its easier share screens etc or get your point across and on calls you are only listening (which I end up on a lot) I can keep working away on other stuff while listening in - I've grown to really dislike meeting room meetings. That being said I have lots of interaction at home - wife works from home, family close by that I see during the day, kids are around some days so I don't find it isolating or this type of thing.

With that all being said I do have parts of my role that requires interaction with production and hardware development areas that do require semi-regular onsite presence so fully remote is not an option in my current role.

Ideally I would like to come in only on the days I specifically need to be there - that is probably 1 or 2 days most weeks but could be 5 days on occasion and no days reasonably often. Instead I have been doing 2 fixed days at home (moving around things to suit this) while having to come in days where I sit all day on calls due to it being a WFO day. To make matters worse we are under mounting pressure to be in the office 5 days per week every week which I am losing sleep over I find it that stressful a prospect.

The push back to the office has finally come. Expected to be back minimum 2 days a week, I did 3 days then following week I done 1. It is not entirely monitored yet.

One thing going for me is my manager or team doesn't work in my office so I can't see her jumping on my case if I only get 1 of those days!. At least I can still pick my days and I'll try Mondays as its quite and Fridays with the same logic. If they happen to fall on a public holiday that's not my problem 🤷

It was and even changed to make it stronger but I still think it has no teeth and is easily got around by an employer leaving little to fight them on it bar going nuclear like the WRC which you might as well leave rather than do in this case.