Who wants to go to the office?

[TheGlossy]

I suppose now restrictions have been lifted they can get staff back in whenever they want. Its hard for people to pay the train fares again. Staff wfh have experienced a better work life balance and I can totally see why people won't want to go back to 5 days in.

Well, in Ireland we're a bit behind as compared to the UK. September is when the compulsory WFH is due to be lifted. I'm saying this, but there's so much conflicting information that the time frame is unclear.

Tons of people have left Dublin to go back to where they're originally from or rent/buy outside the city. Realistically speaking, it's going to be difficult for people to just up and leave all over again to come back to the city. I can't even begin to imagine the rent inflation if there's a mass return to the city in the fall. I doubt it will happen though.

 

[Homebird44]

Yep,

I live in London and the tube this morning was packed, like pre covid packed, half people either not in masks, or wearing them incorrectly. All of my colleagues take different tube lines and there is no distance in the office. I am terrified.

Yep, my husband had a working from home day today as he's been in all the way through. He said the trains are busy again and I noticed the traffic where I live was rammed tonight, like pre covid. Its normally dead in the school holidays. People are probably not going away and having local days out instead. People will be off once my office is back in two weeks. Some are ill and have just been at home.

 

[emm]

Yep,


Yep, my husband had a working from home day today as he's been in all the way through. He said the trains are busy again and I noticed the traffic where I live was rammed tonight, like pre covid. Its normally dead in the school holidays. People are probably not going away and having local days out instead. People will be off once my office is back in two weeks. Some are ill and have just been at home.

even just central london in general is rammed, despite the fact that it was raining most of today. I am finding it so nerve wracking

 

[Homebird44]

even just central london in general is rammed, despite the fact that it was raining most of today. I am finding it so nerve wracking

Easy for me to say, as I'm not the one doing it, you'll be fine once you're back in. I was the same last summer. Restrictions eased a bit and we has to go back in. Within ten minutes of being in the office it was like I'd never been away. It just a change of routine again. Getting up earlier and getting to the office.

 

[Hendrix]

I just think it’s a bit daft the Scottish government are more than likely going to be sending us back to the office right before the winter bug season starts.

I told my manager today if anyone in the office so much as comes in with a sniffle I’ll be going home. My immune system will be crap since I’ve been at home for over a year and not been in a room with more than a few people.

 

[Dak1988]

I’m 100% not ready to go back to the office. We are meant to be going back three days a week from September. No one wants to, and the numerous colleague surveys have also said the same yet they’ve just decided we are going back.

 

[emm]

Easy for me to say, as I'm not the one doing it, you'll be fine once you're back in. I was the same last summer. Restrictions eased a bit and we has to go back in. Within ten minutes of being in the office it was like I'd never been away. It just a change of routine again. Getting up earlier and getting to the office.

I was anxious about the tube and crowds for various reasons pre covid, which has obviously just worsened since then, I have found the whole last week in a central london office just awful, even without the whole office back and no external clients in

 

[Homebird44]

I was anxious about the tube and crowds for various reasons pre covid, which has obviously just worsened since then, I have found the whole last week in a central london office just awful, even without the whole office back and no external clients in

Its such a fast paced environment, I did it for a bit and hated it.

 

[TheGlossy]

A lot of US companies are now pushing return to office because of the Delta variant. Amazon pushed the return to 2022, BlackRock and Wells Fargo after October etc... Right now the cases are obviously lower because of the vaccine, but also because it's summer. The cases dropped during last year's summer too. The real impact of the Delta variant will be seen after September I think. Employers will probably need to re-think their plans.

 

[Homebird44]

A lot of US companies are now pushing return to office because of the Delta variant. Amazon pushed the return to 2022, BlackRock and Wells Fargo after October etc... Right now the cases are obviously lower because of the vaccine, but also because it's summer. The cases dropped during last year's summer too. The real impact of the Delta variant will be seen after September I think. Employers will probably need to re-think their plans.

This makes sense. My employers won't change anything once we're back, unless we lockdown again. We all went back into the office in a July last year. A few of us were off ill with Covid for a while, including myself. Once Boris called this lockdown in January, we had phone capabilities in our laptops and can answer phones from home.

 

[emm]

A lot of US companies are now pushing return to office because of the Delta variant. Amazon pushed the return to 2022, BlackRock and Wells Fargo after October etc... Right now the cases are obviously lower because of the vaccine, but also because it's summer. The cases dropped during last year's summer too. The real impact of the Delta variant will be seen after September I think. Employers will probably need to re-think their plans.

I assume after this happens for such a long time there just will never be full time office working after people start to go back, it is the same with some banks here in the UK

 

[Flowergirl14]

We have been told the plan is to go back 3 days into the office and have 2 days WFH. No dates yet though! Can't believe some of the stories on here. Employers trying to get staff back into small offices, so that they can micro-manage them. Feel blessed and grateful. My company has gone to great efforts to make the office safe during Covid. WFH, unless you want to come into the office - due to living in a small place, sadly domestic abuse, noisy neighbours, MH, or whatever your personal circumstances are.

 

[Giggling Squid]

Reading through this thread, I feel very very lucky. My employer has been great. We’ve been told we will be going back to the office from November time, on a flexible basis. We’ve lost some office space so our office will be at about 180% capacity- so flexible working is being brough in, and the reason it’s so long til we go back is that they’re redesigning the office space to make it more suitable for collaboration.

what our ‘hybrid’ working pattern looks like is down to a team by team decision. Some teams are going in two days a week every week, same days for the whole team. Our team are going to have a team meeting in the office every month that we have to be in for, but aside from that we are expected to be in if asked for workshops etc but there isn’t the space for us to be in more than 2 days a week- and no expectation for us to be unless we want to

 

[TheGlossy]

Some parts of Australia are back in lockdown because of the Delta variant and the virus is resurfacing in Wuhan as well. Good luck to employers in Europe and the US who think we'll be back to normal in September with senior management posting about how great it is to be back in the office.

 

[Homebird44]

What makes me laugh is the only reason my head office have asked us back in, is because our phone lines open until midnight and since thr January lockdown we have only been taking calls until 8pm. I spoke to the evening staff in a meeting a few days ago, there are only four, they all offered to WFH, taking calls until midnight. They just want us back. I get it now restrictions have lifted but they also can't be surprised if people get ill.

 

[AllSeeingEye123]

Minister wants to slash wages of civil servants not in office

A Cabinet minister has suggested that civil servants who refuse to return to the office should be paid less than those back at their desks.

www.dailymail.co.uk

I hope it gets leaked who the minister is. People don't get paid for where they work from, only the work they do. So the idea of cutting WFH wages wouldn't happen and it's cheeky to say you don't know if they are watching television at home because their boss will give them tasks and know if they have been done or not.

 

[jaymie]

Minister wants to slash wages of civil servants not in office

A Cabinet minister has suggested that civil servants who refuse to return to the office should be paid less than those back at their desks.

www.dailymail.co.uk

I hope it gets leaked who the minister is. People don't get paid for where they work from, only the work they do. So the idea of cutting WFH wages wouldn't happen and it's cheeky to say you don't know if they are watching television at home because their boss will give them tasks and know if they have been done or not.

They would be surprise how many people would willing to take a pay cut to wfh. Why do minister that hardly know the value of working dictates what employees should do.

 

[Tyla73]

The fact that IDS thinks that being in the office ‘fosters better mental health’ proves he has has no idea about the daily pile of bullshit that working in a lot of offices entails .

 

[jaymie]

The fact that IDS thinks that being in the office ‘fosters better mental health’ proves he has has no idea about the daily pile of bullshit that working in a lot of offices entails .

Unless you are civil servant, most of us don’t get London weighting. I like when he said people are essentially getting de facto pay raise because they aren’t travelling to the office

 

[emmer_moans]

The fact that IDS thinks that being in the office ‘fosters better mental health’ proves he has has no idea about the daily pile of bullshit that working in a lot of offices entails .

Exactly, apart from someone having the odd terse word in a Teams call our office has avoided drama for one because no-one’s been near the kitchen at work in order to tit-stir, lol

And to that minister who says we should slash WFH wages, eff off! This would disadvantage women disproportionately.