Will Workers Ever Return To The Office In The Numbers We Had Before?

[youngmafbog]

Johnson is still banging on about this, even though few civil servants are returning.

What did he expect? Months of scaring people witless to control them is not going to go away, couple that with the millions to bring it 'covid safe' why would a company entertain this?

Then the workers, commuting to London is a nightmare - I did it for quite a few years. 2.5 hours each way on top of a full working day and you have no life, and the cost was astronomical. Now you wouldn't be able to mix, probably be eventually forced into a face nappy to get a cuppa or go to the bog, huge queue for the lifs (they were bad enough anyway at peak times) Who would want to go back?

[dannyk13]

My granddaughter has bee informed by her firm that she will be working from home until at least April. It is not that a lot of workers do not want to go back to work.

[pixie374]

People will need to, though. And the more unemployment there is, the more these jobs will end up being filled somehow. We have been really lucky, in that it has only made a small difference to our business, but the job choices in general are likely to be a lot fewer for a while.

[dannyk13]

Also my daughter has been informed that she will not be going back until October at the earliest because the firms that represented by the solicitors she works for are not re-opening at the present time.

[teacake44]

You need to also take into account that many employers have seen this to be a great opportunity to get rid of many workers, and replace at a latter date if need be by cheaper labour.

[New Judge]

Those who crave for permanent home working should be careful what they wish for. Having saved a fortune on office space having got all their workers to sit at home with their laptops propped up against the toaster or on a pillow on their bed, they will see richer pickings still. They will wonder why they are paying people in this country £30k a year when they can get the same work done in India or other parts of Asia for a quarter of the price. After all, if their people are not coming into an office it doesn't matter how far away they are. They will also wonder why they should be liable for their employees developing back, joint and eye problems just because their homes are not properly equipped for them to do their work. A case or two under HASAW legislation will make them understand.

When the country finds the marbles it has lost over the past six months and accepts that the virus is here to stay and that some people will catch it, some semblance of normality may be restored. Until then the damage continues to be inflicted.

[pixie374]

If only it would stop HS2 as well, as blatantly unnecessary.

[teacake44]

^^ May be the next U turn, albeit an expensive one.

[pixie374]

Not as expensive as it will continue to be. They will be shortly destroying one of the local woods here (where Roald Dahl based Fantastic Mr Fox) which is always popular with dogs and horses... just seems madness

[Ellipsis]

The world has certainly changed since HS2 was approved. There's a lot more video conferencing and a lot more Government debt.

But I get the impression that HS2 is somehow very rewarding to Boris and/or chums, and therefore this will be one place where there's no U-turn.

[teacake44]

14.02, Well of course it depends on how many ministers have there fingers in the pie, with the amount of companies involved, and there's many.

[Old_Geezer]

Maybe not the same percentage but it's likely to stay the norm.

I accept some say home working suits them, but for me, part of the attraction of a job is getting out of the house and interacting with others. They are there and one helps another, or just the social aspects lifts the mood. Plus fewer distractions, and one isn't paying for stuff that ought to cost the business not the employee.

I know the moment the company I worked for pulled that awful WFH scam my days with them as my employer were numbered. IMO this constituted a change of job, we should all have been offered the option of redundancy. But large businesses have good lawyers and the chance of winning that seemed low. Still rankles though; I was, in effect, forced to leave as there was no way I was going to allow myself to be abused like that.

If one has a long tedious commute, it is in one's own hands to either seek a job nearer home, or a home nearer to the job. That's what I did.

[woofgang]

I used to WFH for about half of my hours in my last job and I LOVED it. I was undisturbed, had no travel time or costs and to an extent, could set my hours. The hours I didn't WFH were where I was seeing patients and face to face managing staff. I suspect that things will change and WFH will become more common. It will suit some companies and employees and not others but I don't think its going away.

[burlyshirley]

14:00 that's really upset me. Imagine all the wildlife that lives in that wood watching their home being destroyed, many will probably die. All for faster rail travel - makes me want to vomit!!

[fiction-factory]

Your home and the roads you drive on were probably woodlands once, burlyshirley

[burlyshirley]

Probably so, but I fervently believe we don't need this new rail travel, especially when it destroys ancient woodland and people's homes, as I believe it will be doing. My house was built in 1899, plenty of woodland around in those days I'll warrant, not so much now.

[Gromit]

Desk based work has changed forever.
Employers will have noticed that they don’t need all that expensive rented office space anymore. They can save huge amounts of money by reducing it. Employees can work from home most of the time, only going to work for half a day to be assigned their work and for assessments of work they have done. Employees would hot desk. Employers will save on cleaning, maintenance, equipment and insurance.
There will be lots of time saved on unproductive commuting. I suspect even absenteeism would be reduced. Congestion and pollution will massively decrease.
We will never go back to pre covid working because his suits everybody more.

[Gromit]

We need new high speed, city to city electric rail infrastructure. We are way behind our nearest trade competitors, which puts us at a disadvantage.
Some of the old track can be disused and made into nature trails for walkers, cyclists and horse riders.

[naomi24]

I know many who intend working from home in future, but as NJ says they really should be careful what they wish for. The chances are companies will realise they can get the same job done elsewhere for less money.

[tiggerblue10]

I'm not going back into the office for the foreseeable future. They are only allowing up to 600 people in the building at any one time although not sure how they're monitoring that.