Never going back to the office

Leo

Well-known member
will businesses ever demand everyone go back? have they permanently lost the authority? I guess the bottom line is productivity: is shit getting done.

I work with a client that for the first time since March 2020 is just now encouraging people to come back in on Wednesdays, I guess just to test the waters and possibly get the ball rolling. thing is, that client has been more productive in developing new and better offerings in the past two years than ever before, so it's clear that 100% remote worked fine...and in fact, better than when they were 100% in person, weirdly. at what point do companies cut their loses on owning or renting huge office spaces that accommodate a few hundred empty desks?

we've all just kind of accepted it, but it's really an insane turn of events, maybe the most drastic change in business operations since the internet.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Been in three times this week, which must be a record for me since March 2020.

Monday's trip was a bit wasted, since the two people I wanted to speak to were both off sick.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
will businesses ever demand everyone go back? have they permanently lost the authority? I guess the bottom line is productivity: is shit getting done.

I work with a client that for the first time since March 2020 is just now encouraging people to come back in on Wednesdays, I guess just to test the waters and possibly get the ball rolling. thing is, that client has been more productive in developing new and better offerings in the past two years than ever before, so it's clear that 100% remote worked fine...and in fact, better than when they were 100% in person, weirdly. at what point do companies cut their loses on owning or renting huge office spaces that accommodate a few hundred empty desks?

we've all just kind of accepted it, but it's really an insane turn of events, maybe the most drastic change in business operations since the internet.
It would make so much more sense if people could work from home - no office to rent, no rush hour journeys so lots of money saved on transport plus the streets nicer and emptier.
I gotta admit that if I worked from home I would never get dressed - probably be walking around naked, wasting loads of time on the internet, taking really long lunch breaks etc so there would really be no change at ll from me coming in, I'm sure the bosses would quickly see that.
 

william_kent

Well-known member
It would make so much more sense if people could work from home - no office to rent, no rush hour journeys so lots of money saved on transport plus the streets nicer and emptier.
I gotta admit that if I worked from home I would never get dressed - probably be walking around naked, wasting loads of time on the internet, taking really long lunch breaks etc so there would really be no change at ll from me coming in, I'm sure the bosses would quickly see that.

I've managed two years of sleeping on the couch during "team meetings", I'm sure you could blag it @IdleRich
 

john eden

male pale and stale
At our place when we advertise for jobs we can now choose from people all over the UK instead of near London. Potentially all over the world barring time differences I guess.

A few people who we’ve interviewed have said that they were quite happy with their current job until they were told to go back to the office. That was the main reason they were trying to leave.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
I've managed two years of sleeping on the couch during "team meetings", I'm sure you could blag it @IdleRich
And If your organization hasn't suffered any drop in effectiveness, what does that say about how important these meetings are?

(I guess the alternative is that it says something about you, but I didn't want to be rude.)
 

wild greens

Well-known member
I like going to site personally. Would hate to sit in a room in my house forever

Do you lads think you are the norm or just a particular niche?

I don't know that many people who are working from home now if I'm honest
 

Leo

Well-known member
Yeah, don't go by me. I've been self-employed working from home since 2002, so the past few years have just been business as usual for me. plus, I'm an old git and past the point where I'm interested in office camaraderie, so I don't miss the in-person element. I'm sure it would be different if I was in my 20s/30s.

another factor in how people feel about it all is commuting. it's a snap for people who live outside of big cities, they can jump into their car, drive 10-30 minutes, and park in their office parking lot. commuting is more grueling and wearing for city dwellers who have to go through the morning and evening crush on crowded trains/buses, at the mercy of late or canceling trains/buses, etc.
 

Slothrop

Tight but Polite
I think there's a bit of a generational divide to this, maybe? AIUI it's often younger people who are more keen to get back to the office - if they want to live near the center of a big city anyway for the culture and nightlife and stuff, and hence they live in a tiny room in a shared flat which now has to double as a workspace, and they wouldn't have so much of a commute to get into an office if they had one. Whereas older people who've settled down in a family house further from the city centers have probably got more space for a proper home office and all that jazz and also have much more of a long and expensive commute.

Ironically for us it's Alison who the politicians think should be back in the office who has the bike across town + train from Cambridge to London + getting from King's Cross to Westminster commute - I only ever had a nice 15 minute cycle across Cambridge but because I work in the lean and efficient private sector they've closed our office and made me fully remote.
 

shakahislop

Well-known member
I think there's a bit of a generational divide to this, maybe? AIUI it's often younger people who are more keen to get back to the office - if they want to live near the center of a big city anyway for the culture and nightlife and stuff, and hence they live in a tiny room in a shared flat which now has to double as a workspace, and they wouldn't have so much of a commute to get into an office if they had one. Whereas older people who've settled down in a family house further from the city centers have probably got more space for a proper home office and all that jazz and also have much more of a long and expensive commute.

Ironically for us it's Alison who the politicians think should be back in the office who has the bike across town + train from Cambridge to London + getting from King's Cross to Westminster commute - I only ever had a nice 15 minute cycle across Cambridge but because I work in the lean and efficient private sector they've closed our office and made me fully remote.
from the people i know it's such a mixed bag. i think out of those people the ones who really got part of their identity from their job and what they get to do on a daily basis are the ones who seem to miss it all the most. the other dividing line seems to be that people with children want nothing to do with the office while the people without children don't want to spend all day sat by themselves at home.

i've probably said it before about two posts ago or something but it is another point of human contact replaced by the online. already to me the idea of being in offices as they once were seems like a weird thing of the past, like a landline or something
 

shakahislop

Well-known member
one aspect of all of this that i find a lot of people are lying about and doesn't seem to get expressed that much is: people are clearly all doing all kinds of other non-work stuff during work hours and not even feeling guilty about it anymore.
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
one aspect of all of this that i find a lot of people are lying about and doesn't seem to get expressed that much is: people are clearly all doing all kinds of other non-work stuff during work hours and not even feeling guilty about it anymore.
Inversely, people are also doing all kinds of work stuff during nominally non-work hours. Especially with this entirely remote work, the weekend itself is less and less of a thing, at least in certain industries.
 
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jenks

thread death
The one Covid dividend in schools is the remote parents evening - five minute online slots - teachers love them, no long meandering ‘chats’ cut to the chase, give them the news, move on. I do wonder if we’ll go back to F2F ones.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
one aspect of all of this that i find a lot of people are lying about and doesn't seem to get expressed that much is: people are clearly all doing all kinds of other non-work stuff during work hours and not even feeling guilty about it anymore.
As parents to a two-year-old, we've found that weekday 'extended lunchbreaks' while he's at the childminder are the optimal time for sex.
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
th
 

Leo

Well-known member
would actual eating lunch occur before or after the sex stuff?
 
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