Working From Home Megathread

_Kaiser_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118667324#Comment_118667324

You and the other public sector workers in this thread have the same option as those of us in the private sector who aren't happy with our working conditions - leave! Get a job elsewhere that will give you the balance you want. You may even get a pay rise out of it too if you negotiate well.

I am sick of this sense of entitlement. You already have the benefit of job security, non-performance-related salary increases, and generally a shorter working week with no real oversight or objectives... now expecting a "right" to WFH that no one else in the workforce has gotten is nonsense!

And remember, I've worked in the PS myself for a number of years as I referred to in a previous post. I've witnessed all this for myself.

Looks like the remote hubs are being promoted again.

https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2022/0221/1282094-remote-working-hubs/

TaurenDruid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118667568#Comment_118667568

You already have the benefit of job security, non-performance-related salary increases, and generally a shorter working week with no real oversight or objectives...

Job-security generally bought with lower pay than private sector equivalents, but the rest? You must have been working in an odd backwater of the PS...

It's nearly 20 years since I left the Civil Service, and most of those "perks" were already gone by the early 90s

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118667324#Comment_118667324

There is a long way to go from the lips of a minister to it actually happening.

You see wfh as something that you deserve or should be entitled to, others see it as something which they may have to move jobs to achieve if their employer doesn’t offer it. I know enough to be certain that what ministers say and what they do are rarely consistent, so, let’s check back with you in 2025.

Mrs OBumble

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118667719#Comment_118667719

Any evidence of employers clamouring to use them - and willing to pay for the service?

My main company has been very clear: you may work from your own home for some days each week . But not from a hub or other shared workspace, there are too many privacy issues with them.

Nordner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118667568#Comment_118667568

In the boom times us public servants are laughed at for our low wages and perceived lack of ambition then, when the inevitable bust arrives we are demonized for our 'gold plated' salaries and job security! You cannot have it every way! Cop yourself on.

You do not appear to be all that happy in the private sector Kaiser, judging by your outrage.

I have worked in private sector most of my adult life btw. I found it un-rewarding and precarious employment. Did you ever consider some of us actually are proud of the fact we serve the public? That we do not want to work for some unethical and ruthless tech billionaire or multinational corporation?

Why should I give up my secure employment in such an uncertain world, when it has been demonstrated, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it can be done remotely?

Would you suggest I join you in the private sector, subject to the whims of market forces, shareholder demands and the risk that my profitable private sector employer will relocate to the 3rd world or Eastern Europe in search of even more profits?

Anyway, if we fight for the right to remote work (only where appropriate, obviously) and if those rights ever find their way into the private sector, I hope you will avail of them yourself as well if you can.

Best of luck in your future endeavours and I hope you cheer up soon mate. TTFN

Sultan of Bling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118668185#Comment_118668185

I presume as you public sector you have items to print,scan and post etc.

You shouldn't in this day and age but that's the public sector for you.

How will this get done if you are WFH?

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118668185#Comment_118668185

You shouldn’t give it up, but if that means you have to stay in an office, then you will be faced with the choice of moving jobs so you can live in Donegal, or stay put. Either be brave, or take your medicine.

Nordner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118668262#Comment_118668262

Oh good lord. Another unhappy private sector worker trying to encourage me to give up my public sector job without a fight.

You seriously cannot see the irony in that?

Zero point arguing with you people anymore as there is no reasoning with you.

We shall agree to differ and move on with our lives methinks.

Lets all check in with each other in 2025. Until then, all the best 😉

Young_gunner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118668185#Comment_118668185

I'm public sector too, and paid significantly lower than in previous private sector roles, but it's worth it for the job satisfaction I have and knowing that I genuinely work for the public good - but each to their own in this regard.

As regards to remote / wfh - if it has worked for 2 years and you've been productive and performed your role well, then it's a perfectly reasonable expectation to be able to continue like this.

It would be different if the pandemic had lasted, say 3 months, but 2 years is 'long-term'. Remote is the future, the future is now!

Cyrus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118668319#Comment_118668319

you cannot see the irony in you accusing people of trolling 😂

Mrs OBumble

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118668454#Comment_118668454

Some individuals have performed well in their roles - but their employer chose to limit the services available as a temporary health and safety measure.

When full services are restored, some roles will no longer be suitable for remote working.

Young_gunner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118668598#Comment_118668598

Yes agreed, some will and some won't. Many people have realised that their roles can be done perfectly in a remote setting.

ixoy

Was interesting watch a HR rep unable to clearly articulate a reason for looking bring staff back two days a week when the work was being done fine from home. It seems to be a bit of a blunt one size fits all solution across civil service departments being brought in, regardless of any actual good reason.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118668319#Comment_118668319

Just to be clear, I am a happy private sector worker, and most certainly am not encouraging you to give up your public sector job. What I am stating is that if your employer will not allow you to wfh, your choices are either stay in Dublin and suck it up, or look for a new job which will allow you to wfh in Donegal. You seem incapable of seeing this from any perspective except the one you want.

Nordner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118669086#Comment_118669086

I am trying to see it from a logical perspective.

Public money went to a private company to roll out rural broadband. More public money being invested in Digital Hubs to enable people work remotely and re-populate and revitalise rural communities.

My job is perfectly suited to remote working.

I am a member of one of the largest Unions in the country and have been in my job for over 15 years.

Why would I not seek to secure remote working for myself in the circumstances? When this will benefit me, my family, my community, local economy and reduce carbon emissions to boot!

On the flip side, my employer will not lose out either as my work will still get done. Also, I am employed by The Government and they are the ones pushing remote hubs and rural regeneration.

I honestly do not see the problem. It appears that you lads are just intent on bashing public servants no matter what.

Anyway, I cannot put the matter any further. If you still can't grasp the facts then that is not my problem at the end of the day.

Nordner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118668547#Comment_118668547

According to Wikipedia ; A troll is a person who posts inflammatory, insincere, digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, with the intent of provoking readers into displating emotional responses...

I think I have been fairly sincere and on-topic from the get go. Not my fault if some of you lads blood pressure goes up when confronted with facts.

Cyrus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118671770#Comment_118671770

my blood pressure is fine and your definition of trolling is spot on.

TaurenDruid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118668239#Comment_118668239

Why on earth would you presume that?!

In my experience the only places that still do a lot of printing and posting are a) anywhere there's an intersection with the legal profession; and b) ok, fair enough, healthcare. Archaic systems there, still. But to be fair, the paper records came in useful during the HSE cyberattack, so...

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118671744#Comment_118671744

Seek, yes, but without a sense of entitlement please.

Nordner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118672003#Comment_118672003

It isn't a sense of entitlement, it is more a sense of injustice.

When we have had to bail out the banks, put up with decades of cronyism and political corruption, when we are now being asked to shoulder the burden of switching to a new green economy, whilst corporations and billionaires routinely dodge taxes, why should we not seek some of the benefits of the technological advances brought about by Covid?

I could go on and on about the various and costly Tribunals, Haugheys millions, horse meat scandals, austerity, etc etc ad infinitum, but what is the point? People appear to have very short memories.

If we continue to demand too little from our government in terms of accountability, better standards all round and a better deal for ordinary citizens then we will inevitably continue to get what we deserve, i.e Shafted!

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118672104#Comment_118672104

You bailed out the banks? Why are we still paying USC?

I've seen this claim from PSs on occasions before, personally I think it is/was a symbiotic relationship between public and private sector which got the country going again. Also, let’s be honest, PSs are part of the same hypocrisy, there were plenty queing to buy those expensive homes and cars prior to the bust, it wasn’t all private sector buyers.

It is also worth remembering few PS/CSs lost their jobs. But this has all been done to death on boards, I hadn’t expected to come across it on the wfh thread, but the sense of injustice/entitlement of some PSs seems to know no bounds.

The best bargaining tool an employee has is the ability to move to a job with better terms and conditions, but you don’t want to do that, so you are stuck.

a_squirrelman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118672104#Comment_118672104

Off on a tangent.

BattleCorp1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118659965#Comment_118659965

If an employee can't set up an ergonomically suitable workstation in their own home, then they shouldn't be working from home. Health and safety laws can't be abandoned just because someone wants to work from home.

Nordner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118672336#Comment_118672336

Perfect example of a short memory right there...😂

Frank Bullitt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118666350#Comment_118666350

"Pay peanuts, hire monkeys". That is basically your approach.

Thankfully, we are seeing now that the balance of things has shifted more to the employee over the employer, so the REALLY smart employers will offer more to potential caudates to hire the best talent they can. Any employer that hires the "cheapest" person will be hiring for the same position again within months.

Sultan of Bling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118671909#Comment_118671909

I was just asking Nordner if their PS job involves printing, scanning and postage etc and if so, how do they expect to get it done if they are in Donegal and their job is in Dublin.

Of course if their job doesn't involve any of the above, my question to them is irrelevant.

a_squirrelman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118673807#Comment_118673807

We all remember what happened. But it has f all to do with working from home. And it’s weird you’re trying to shoehorn all your grievances into the wfh thread.

TaurenDruid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118674608#Comment_118674608

Fair enough. But the PS (with the mentioned exceptions) has been discouraging unnecessary printing for years. Paperless offices, Digital First, all that good stuff. Apart from office attendance rosters and a job application, I've not printed anything since March 2020!