Employer Work-From-Home / Covid Troubles

Employer Work-From-Home / Covid Troubles

Author
Discussion

cossy400

3,165 posts

185 months

Sunday 30th August 2020
quotequote all
anxious_ant said:
eliot said:
Working link:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8677655/C...

they surveyed the staff and the majority wanted to stay at home. In my division (IT) there was no impact to productivity and things carried on.
I’ve been home based for 8 years - the rest of the world just caught up.
Cheers, I've fixed the link in my post smile

I was initially under the impression that WFH (where the role is suitable) will never catch on in the UK. Mainly due to the mentality but also how the city centre and businesses are built for people coming into offices. London is a very good example of this. Lots of restaurants, cafes, shops etc are fully reliant on the custom of office workers.

It will be interesting to see if this will cause a shift in how and where we work..
This is the concern, that all the town shops are going to shut and go out of business is people dont return to the office.

Its all dont to trust now IMO my relatives team have all hit target and in some cases a better hit than the same time last year.

They are getting the work done.

Sadly theres going to be more and more casualties as we carry on in to winter etc.

Waste of time trying to get anything done and in place until next year as if we get a hard winter with it then its all for nothing as they shoudl have stayed working at home.

eliot

11,447 posts

255 months

Sunday 30th August 2020
quotequote all
upsides - when we get 1mm of a snow the country wont grind to a halt getting to work
More upsides - Transport unions now have exactly zero leverage any longer. The headline that the tube drivers are going on strike will be met with a resounding ‘so what’

Countdown

39,986 posts

197 months

Sunday 30th August 2020
quotequote all
I think it would be an excellent idea to turn 50% of office space into accommodation for singles/couples.

Hypothetically turn the top 5 floors into accommodation, the next 4 floors into hotdesking type office spaces and the ground floor into coffee shops/gym/high street shops.

Jakg

3,474 posts

169 months

Sunday 30th August 2020
quotequote all
Countdown said:
I think it would be an excellent idea to turn 50% of office space into accommodation for singles/couples.

Hypothetically turn the top 5 floors into accommodation, the next 4 floors into hotdesking type office spaces and the ground floor into coffee shops/gym/high street shops.
That assumes that people want to live in those locations, and that retailers think those units are viable.

The town I work in has a couple of units designed like that from scratch, but they've struggled to fill them.

eliot

11,447 posts

255 months

Sunday 30th August 2020
quotequote all
Jakg said:
Countdown said:
I think it would be an excellent idea to turn 50% of office space into accommodation for singles/couples.

Hypothetically turn the top 5 floors into accommodation, the next 4 floors into hotdesking type office spaces and the ground floor into coffee shops/gym/high street shops.
That assumes that people want to live in those locations, and that retailers think those units are viable.

The town I work in has a couple of units designed like that from scratch, but they've struggled to fill them.
That’s based on the assumption that there are jobs i a city centre - which i think is changing. I think people would now rather spend their money outside city centres on a larger house with a garden and room for a reasonable home office

Johnnytheboy

24,498 posts

187 months

Sunday 30th August 2020
quotequote all
eliot said:
That’s based on the assumption that there are jobs i a city centre - which i think is changing. I think people would now rather spend their money outside city centres on a larger house with a garden and room for a reasonable home office
As I said on another thread.

A lot of the high earner, location independent people will move out of the cities now they don't have to be there.

A lot of the low wage, office-servicing jobs will go.

The Government seem very keen on planning reform.

A lot of empty offices will get turned to cheap flats for people with no income.

The large cities will become ghettos.

Countdown

39,986 posts

197 months

Sunday 30th August 2020
quotequote all
Jakg said:
Countdown said:
I think it would be an excellent idea to turn 50% of office space into accommodation for singles/couples.

Hypothetically turn the top 5 floors into accommodation, the next 4 floors into hotdesking type office spaces and the ground floor into coffee shops/gym/high street shops.
That assumes that people want to live in those locations, and that retailers think those units are viable.

The town I work in has a couple of units designed like that from scratch, but they've struggled to fill them.
I think people definitely would. I have several under-30's working in my team and pretty much ALL of them complain about excessive rents. They WANT to live in the centre of Manchester and be close to all the nightlife. I think there has to be a critical mass of houses/restaurants/nightclubs/gyms/cinemas/pubs for it all to work and that sometimes doesnt happen in the suburbs. But City centre locations are already a hotspot for residential properties

CubanPete

3,630 posts

189 months

Sunday 30th August 2020
quotequote all
Depends on the role. Other considerations are:

Some roles although appear to be able to be home based rely on software that the licence doesn't actually allow for off site work.

Training of Juniors.

Collaboration. In my role bouncing ideas of people at the coffee machine is important. As is 'knowing who to talk to'.

Stagnation, no visibility of how skills and thinking progress.

I need to be in work for about 50% of the time. That would suit me, I can concentrate better at home, but do miss the interaction. A lot of my work I am required to be at work to do.

My commute is doubled working from home as I have to drop off / pick up my daughter which is almost next to work!

anxious_ant

2,626 posts

80 months

Monday 31st August 2020
quotequote all
CubanPete said:
Depends on the role. Other considerations are:

Some roles although appear to be able to be home based rely on software that the licence doesn't actually allow for off site work.

Training of Juniors.

Collaboration. In my role bouncing ideas of people at the coffee machine is important. As is 'knowing who to talk to'.

Stagnation, no visibility of how skills and thinking progress.

I need to be in work for about 50% of the time. That would suit me, I can concentrate better at home, but do miss the interaction. A lot of my work I am required to be at work to do.

My commute is doubled working from home as I have to drop off / pick up my daughter which is almost next to work!
Most VPNs should resolve issue regarding sofrware license used remotely, when used on company issued equipment. Unless of course the nature of the software is highly sensitive.

Training and collaboration can be arranged on a as-need basis. WFH doesn't mean completely not coming into the office.

No comments regarding your commute but I don't think that would account for the majority of others smile

I suppose WFH has to be flexible, it's not that people working from home are not allowed to come into the office anymore. For majority of businesses it would be completely viable to reduce office footprint by offering flexible WFH arrangements. There are quite a lot of benefits in this (congestion, pollution, work-to-life balance etc) however there would also be an initial negative impact on businesses solely reliant on custom from office workers.

anonymous-user

55 months

Tuesday 1st September 2020
quotequote all
i was due to be back in the office at the end of the month, but due to an internal re-shuffle, my "home" office has moved 200 miles away to Bristol, so can work @ home for the considerable future.

Suits me, just received my covid tech pack, which consists of Herman Miller desk and chair, 2 x 24" monitors, and keyboard and mouse.

anxious_ant

2,626 posts

80 months

Tuesday 1st September 2020
quotequote all
Vandenberg said:
i was due to be back in the office at the end of the month, but due to an internal re-shuffle, my "home" office has moved 200 miles away to Bristol, so can work @ home for the considerable future.

Suits me, just received my covid tech pack, which consists of Herman Miller desk and chair, 2 x 24" monitors, and keyboard and mouse.
Herman Miller desk AND chair, lucky boy!
Starting to see more employers embracing WFH.

vaud

50,637 posts

156 months

Tuesday 1st September 2020
quotequote all
Vandenberg said:
i was due to be back in the office at the end of the month, but due to an internal re-shuffle, my "home" office has moved 200 miles away to Bristol, so can work @ home for the considerable future.

Suits me, just received my covid tech pack, which consists of Herman Miller desk and chair, 2 x 24" monitors, and keyboard and mouse.
Contractual move of office?