Working From Home Megathread

Naos

Ms. Newbie18 wrote: »

We have learned over the years to keep work drinks to Friday evening. To many showing in late (the drivers) or arriving half cut on bikes :pac:. Best for the sanity and safety of everyone to be hungover on the Saturday

Which is why it's better to schedule them for a Thursday if you're WFH on Friday. You know you can't drive until at least 5pm on Friday due to having to be working, whereas you may slip out on the Saturday.

Additionally, avoiding Friday traffic, able to slip away easier for a weekend etc.

Marcusm

Lumen wrote: »

Do they siphon the alcohol down your throat like a fois gras farmer force feeding fowl?

Lovely alliteration.

Ms. Newbie18

krissovo wrote: »

Work drinks hangovers should be in company time especially now with WFH, I do not want to waste my precious weekend time recovering from a work event.

In am ideal situation id be hungover in work but alas it is not too bad:(. We'll unless I wanna get drunk by myself but where's the fun in that.

irelandpride

Lumen wrote: »

Do they siphon the alcohol down your throat like a fois gras farmer force feeding fowl?

When it's free it's hard not to.

Ms. Newbie18

Naos wrote: »

Which is why it's better to schedule them for a Thursday if you're WFH on Friday. You know you can't drive until at least 5pm on Friday due to having to be working, whereas you may slip out on the Saturday.

Additionally, avoiding Friday traffic, able to slip away easier for a weekend etc.

Not a bad suggestion! I will present this option to the group 😀.

Mrs OBumble

krissovo wrote: »

Work drinks hangovers should be in company time especially now with WFH, I do not want to waste my precious weekend time recovering from a work event.

Lads, thanks for these priceless posts illustrating the "benefits" of WFH.

hmmm

Deleted User wrote: »

This is one of the things that I hope continues and might provide some much needed additional revenue to village pubs. In that period of relaxed restrictiona last year, my uncle's local in Westmeath did a deal for WFH - €15 for the day, with free coffee refils and sandwich & chips It was pretty popular and I would love to see that as a standard across rural Ireland

I would imagine that once most people of working age are vaccinated, and the local pubs etc. are allowed to reopen we are going to see the true impact of WFH. Perhaps not a huge impact in "rural" areas, but commuter towns and areas where people would normally have commuted into work are going to suddenly see huge opportunities for lunch/coffee/after-work activities as people no longer travel to the city centres and also have more time on their hand.

irelandpride

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Lads, thanks for these priceless posts illustrating the "benefits" of WFH.

Everyone gets your anti work from home.

Yes it is a benefit of working from home, not having to drive to work with a massive hungover and been miserable all day.

100 times easier if your working from home and can have an extra few drinks if you want.

It's also great you don't have to go to bed as early. I save 90 minutes in the morning and 90 minutes in the evening on commuting.

I also go to bed 90 minutes later which gives me back 4.5 hours each day.

This is not particularly nice with a massive hangover.

moycullen14

Deleted User wrote: »

Agreed. Wednesdays and Thursdays are for work drinks....not Fridays. I don't know when I last went to a work event on a Friday (or at least if I did I was out of there by 8pm). A number of years I think. But happy enough to still be out at 3am on a Friday morning when I have to be in work at 8am.

That could be a throwback from half a career in London though, where work drinks rarely happen on a Friday. The bars and clubs in the City are jammed at 2am on a Friday morning. But on Friday nights you can see the tumbleweed after 10pm.

Ah, the joys of working in the 'City' as a callow youngfella!

The liquid lunch was a great institution. If you did it today, you'd be arrested, never mind fired.

Sultan of Bling

moycullen14 wrote:

The liquid lunch was a great institution. If you did it today, you'd be arrested, never mind fired.

This is what I look forward to when everything re-opens and wfh.

A Friday lunchtime pint(s)

Frank Bullitt

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Lads, thanks for these priceless posts illustrating the "benefits" of WFH.

Because no one be be hungover in an office...no, not at all :rolleyes:

moycullen14

moycullen14 wrote: »

Ah, the joys of working in the 'City' as a callow youngfella!

The liquid lunch was a great institution. If you did it today, you'd be arrested, never mind fired.

Where I used to work in London, there was a bar in the building.
How times have changed!!!

Antares35

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Lads, thanks for these priceless posts illustrating the "benefits" of WFH.

Ah lighten up You were extolling the virtues of junkets a few pages back!

moycullen14

moycullen14 wrote: »

Ah, the joys of working in the 'City' as a callow youngfella!

The liquid lunch was a great institution. If you did it today, you'd be arrested, never mind fired.

When I started work in the late 90s for a major bank, liquid lunch was in a dark pub behind
Smithfield market complete with with poles. Doesn’t feel long ago, but at the same time is a different era.

This was pre Euro, when there were still armies of currency traders filling the trading floor pits, all characters, trading 27 currencies against each other. The day that they all lost their jobs was the start of the end of liquid lunches

Mrs OBumble

Antares35 wrote: »

Ah lighten up You were extolling the virtues of junkets a few pages back!

Ya, and there are people posting here about how much more productive WFH is.

Sometimes, for some people, they're right and it is.
Sometimes, for some people, it's SOOOOO not. But they SOOOO don't want to admit that these cases exist.

moycullen14

Deleted User wrote: »

When I started work in the late 90s for a major bank, liquid lunch was in a dark pub behind
Smithfield market complete with with poles. Doesn’t feel long ago, but at the same time is a different era.

This was pre Euro, when there were still armies of currency traders filling the trading floor pits, all characters, trading 27 currencies against each other. The day that they all lost their jobs was the start of the end of liquid lunches

For me it was close to Borough Market. Not much activity in the Guilder/Kroner market today? Off to the pub. Vodka and red bull being the tipple of choice.

The traders were gas. Essex boys to a man. One group I knew used to alternate between city trading and car selling - they were constantly being fired and rehired. Didn't matter what it was, they could sell it. Doing IT support in that environment was not for the faint-hearted. 'Oy, Paddy, the computer's fawked!'

The euro really screwed them. No wonder they voted for Brexit :-)

Antares35

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Ya, and there are people posting here about how much more productive WFH is.

Sometimes, for some people, they're right and it is.
Sometimes, for some people, it's SOOOOO not. But they SOOOO don't want to admit that these cases exist.

I soooo do not know what point you are trying to make

Naos

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Lads, thanks for these priceless posts illustrating the "benefits" of WFH.

How about this then.

I and am sure others have been gently 'encouraged' to head out on work nights mid-week when you have visitors over - the junkets as you previously posted about.

When you can't WFH, you have to arrange alternative transportation into the office. The following day, you're a little self-conscious in case you smell of alcohol as well as feeling generally run-down because you didn't get the proper sleep you'd normally get as you got home late and had to be up early to commute into work with a slight hangover.

This isn't getting smashed drunk either, I'm just talking about a few drinks.

If you choose not to drink (and you normally enjoy a drink), well, it's just not that much fun and you've just burned up 5/6 hours of YOUR free time.
If you choose not to go, you hear about it.

zebastein

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

See thats the trouble. There are those of us with very few potential employers out there. Two in all of Cork, actually. Next nearest one in Limerick.


So unfortunately we do not have the ability to resist a belligerent manager. If they say "back in", in you go. No arguments.

That will be a key point:
-Companies which have difficulties to hire and retain specific skill sets will roll out the red carpet to WFH. That does not cost much and that will please the employee and reduce the turnover, so all good.

- Companies that have a low turnover and/or feel like their workforce can be replaced and trained easily will not see why they should bother with a WFH policy.

dkav9

25 and I never want to hit the office again

I've recently moved home and am scoping out property in my area .. it's sickening to think that my partner and I might have to pay 1600+++ between us for a reasonably livable apartment in dublin when we could pay around 700 each for a house we could WFH down here!

dreading the return tbh

a_squirrelman

Carbman wrote: »

Enough whinging, Chief. You'll be back in the office when your employer tells you to be back.

There's a good lad

Plenty of jobs out there. I'm sure the poster can find something better if the boss has the same attitude as you.

a_squirrelman

Carbman wrote: »

Maybe he can and maybe he can't, Chief

Ok chief.

Antares35

Mr.S wrote: »

I'd say this is going to become a lot more common, even for people who return to the office on a part time basis. Lots of people in our place are extending their house search areas as they wouldn't mind a longer commute if it's just 1-2 days a week.

It's an interesting point though, if you could work 100% remote and base yourself (for example) in rural Ireland - would you expect your salary to stay the same as when you where employed in Dublin?

Most Dublin salaries are inflated due to cost of living, what happens if staff don't actually live or have to commute to Dublin?

I had a look around at equivalent jobs in one particular rural area we were considering. If my current job doesn't offer at least a hybrid model going forward then I'll be going elsewhere. I would probably take around an 8k cut to do the same work there that I currently do in Dublin. But, if it means we can have a nicer house with more outside space for the kids, a better quality of life, less traffic and congestion and parks you can't get into at the weekend etc like we have in Dublin, I'd definitely consider it worthwhile.

I'm not sure if employers could reduce a salary you're already on, on the basis that you will be remote working, but it could certainly be a factor if applying for a new job. It might be something that happens organically tbh.

JTMan

The FT have an interesting article here (paywall) about how, if staff can choose which days they work at home and which in the office, most will stay home on Mondays and Fridays.

i.e. there is evidence from Australia, and from London, that is you give your staff the right to choose their own days, in the office, they will not show up on a Monday and Friday.

Anecdotal evidence that I have seen points towards offices being dead on a Friday but not so much on a Monday.

If offices are largely not used on 2 specific days of the week that has knock on effects.

_Kaiser_

Mr.S wrote: »

I'd say this is going to become a lot more common, even for people who return to the office on a part time basis. Lots of people in our place are extending their house search areas as they wouldn't mind a longer commute if it's just 1-2 days a week.

It's an interesting point though, if you could work 100% remote and base yourself (for example) in rural Ireland - would you expect your salary to stay the same as when you where employed in Dublin?

Most Dublin salaries are inflated due to cost of living, what happens if staff don't actually live or have to commute to Dublin?

The job should pay based on experience, skill set and scarcity, not location I'd think.

If I'm at home 2 counties away or in the office, it doesn't change the workload, pressures, hours or responsibilities on me.

Also, rents/mortgages aside most costs are the same regardless of location - fuel, food, utilities etc and some will increase vs others - eg: rent might be cheaper, but add in a week's commuting costs and by the end of the month you might be close to the rent of that place in Dublin anyway.

Chris_5339762

I have a one day per week WFH in the health service... guess thats gone now for the foreseeable with the cyber attack... can't see them letting anyone remote desktop in anytime soon!

hmmm

JTMan wrote: »

Anecdotal evidence that I have seen points towards offices being dead on a Friday but not so much on a Monday.

If offices are largely not used on 2 specific days of the week that has knock on effects.

I can't see that being allowed. If companies are paying for a certain number of seats they will want to smooth the usage of those seats over the week. You might express a preference not to work in the office on a Friday, but you might be told you have to.

Infoanon

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

I have a one day per week WFH in the health service... guess thats gone now for the foreseeable with the cyber attack... can't see them letting anyone remote desktop in anytime soon!

Why ? , there has been inaccurate reporting of the risks involved in WFH Vs in the office.

Instead of giving the simple solutions to reduce the risk of WFH , technical 'experts' who should know better have been hyping up risk.

The reality is that eg opening a phishing email , is as likely to happen in the office as it is wfh. But never let a good story get in the way of the truth. ....

Marcusm

Deleted User wrote: »

Where I used to work in London, there was a bar in the building.
How times have changed!!!

Southwark Towers? Overlooking the swimming pool for extra perving?

Marcusm

moycullen14 wrote: »

Ah, the joys of working in the 'City' as a callow youngfella!

The liquid lunch was a great institution. If you did it today, you'd be arrested, never mind fired.

You mentioned Borough Market. One client of mine would regularly call up for 4pm meetings knowing I would find it hard to get a meeting room at short notice and my own office was filled with his competitors paperwork. wee would alternative between the Market Porter, The Bunch of Grapes or even All Bar One for me to be briefed before he took the 5:43 to Purley. To be honest, they were some of the most productive meetings.