Working From Home Megathread

If people were that easy to replace then why are we not all on minimum wage? Surely any of us on more should be cut tomorrow for someone who will do the job cheaper in that case? I guarantee you they are not paying people more out of kindness so there must be other reasons. Certainly if I get hit by a bus my company will mange to move on, that I have no doubt of. However rehiring is expensive as is training up someone new. I frequently hear about 6 months before someone is actually worth their salary.

Companies that are not struggling have no desire to cut numbers. They made a decision to hire that many people. Reducing their numbers for no reason would be stupid so they won't do it for the sake of removing a perk that doesn't cost them that much. In the end this will be a perk like health insurance or pension benefits. They don't have to offer it but it will help them keep and gain new employees and thus provide savings on hiring and training costs in addition to allowing a cheaper expansion of staff without worrying about Dublin City rates to give them an office. It will vary from industry to industry depending on the practicalities as some jobs can't be done from home. However most companies I have heard from are going hybrid and most won't have the capability to even have all their staff in the office at once due to Covid either due to hiring more people or moving out of old buildings.

If I'm forced back for the sake of city centre businesses I'll be continuing to buy locally as much as possible and will do my utmost not to spend a single penny in the city.

I see people still throwing in the "health and safety" line for why they shouldn't have to return to work.

I think I would respect the arguments more if they were honest, for the majority it is nothing to do with their safety or because they actually care about covid, they want to continue WFH because it suits them better.

And that is a valid argument on its own, if employees have the power then use it and migrate to employers that will accommodate that working model. But telling employers it is still a safety issue is pretty specious in my opinion.

Maybe these people are over 50 and have diabetes or some other underlying condition. Vaccine or no, should they still be trying to avoid coming back into office to avoid catching it? Is that a rational thought/fear? The juries also still out on whether vaccines prevent long covid, isn't that another reason to avoid catching ?

I’m seeing that recruiters are now adding options to filters ie office/flexible/hybrid preferred/fully remote. So if employees push there will be changes

My company never had a WFH policy but you can read between the lines in their email updates that they are considering this as an option for those who want to WFH, given how well it has worked out for them since last March. Last week they said they would evaluate the return to office situation before end of November and give a months notice when offices are to reopen.

In my own case, I probably work longer hours than I should and last yearly review proved I performed better at home than any of the previous 10 years have been working there. I have already made my views known that I would like to continue this way. Part of it is cost savings, part of it is I work better from home, and a bit part of it is I have a serious underlying condition and very concerned that if I do catch it, I won't fare well. Manager said he will pass it up the line and is very supportive but ultimately not his decision. The feeling I get is I doubt anyone that wants to stay as they are will be made come in. 90% of my work does not involve dealing face to face with people anyway. And Teams covers the other 10%.

I'd agree with this. The commute, for me, is the deal-breaker. I was looking at an hour plus, each way before Covid and this was only getting worse and was pretty unavoidable, unless I travelled at silly times. Add to that a reasonably unpleasant office setup (bad kitchen, toilets, parking, etc) and I've decided that nothing is dragging me back to that. Will I leave the job, if forced back to the office? Definitely. Hope and believe it won't come to that though.

My place has been fully WFH since the pandemic started and have given us a return to office date and no WFH/hybrid plan in place. We're public sector.

Surprises me that Eamon Ryan and the Green Party are talking about everybody back to the office now? Transport GHG emissions were down 14% in 2020 compared to 2019. NO2 air pollution down by ~50% in Dublin City centre. Largely due to remote working! Seems like a great option from an environmental point of view!

Husband has been fully WFH since mid-March 2020. Has gone to office in Dublin 4-5 times in total since then. His firm are bringing everyone back 1 day a week at the end of October and will have a policy in place ahead of that. Expected to be 2 days a week in office minimum.

For him, he says that he does not need to be physically on-site 2 days a week ( more like 1 day a fortnight) but if needs be he will do it and then look at options. His commute time was approx 3 hours round-trip pre-Pandemic.

We are lucky that we have a home office for him in our house. It has been fantastic for our family life especially the kids who previously did not see him at all in the weekday mornings and only fleetingly weekday evenings. He also travelled a lot abroad but he switched roles during the Pandemic and his current role won't involve travel.

We'll see how it all works out.

For folks that love the peace and quiet and comfort of their own home wfh is the best thing ever. No mental commute of 3 to 4 hours per day and spending all that money on petrol.

If you want to have a chat with your colleague then just talk to them via skype or teams for free or meet up at the weekend once in a while.

Open plan offices are a nightmare as you have always a loudmouth who can't keep their mouth shut. Then the issues with open/closed windows and heating in autumn / winter..... Never mind using the small dirty kitchen at lunch time or using dirty toilets.....