Working From Home Megathread

That's just your take on things. We've been doing designated two days at home per week and I find my productivity is just as high on those days. I use days at home to get more challenging / strategic work done free from distractions, office days I work on more collaborative tasks with my colleagues. It's down to employers and teams to make the hybrid model work. I save 1.5 hours of my day not commuting and I use this time to walk the dog before work and get out for a walk at lunchtime as well. Id have no interest in 100% WFH or Office going forward.

Absolutely it's my take on things and I know that it's not universal, but I still think hybrid as it seems to be implemented by most companies, i.e mandatory in on certain arbitrary days for no other reason than having to be in on certain arbitrary days, is an utter cod and something that will in time vanish.

Companies , in certain sectors, will either have their people always working from home or always in the office.

If you have an organisation, and the hybrid agreement is that everybody works 2 days per week in the office, then it stands to reason that each Section or Unit will have to choose certain days of of the week and rotate their time in the office accordingly. Basically, everyone would have to have set days.

Otherwise the employer would have to continue to rent/service/maintain an office that can accommodate 100% of the workforce just in case everyone decides their day in the office is Friday.

Hybrid working is now expected by employees after (what will be) 2 years of it operating, and it works for employers too.

But why have an agreement that everyone works two days a week in the office ?

Where is the value add in having people two days a week in the office when they are well capable and happy to do their job from their homes ?

And where is the value add in sending someone who prefers to work in the office home where they may not have the suitable facility to work ?

It just something that the above will become resentful of and make them consider other opportunities.

And as a result you will have the people who are capable and happy to do their job from their homes moving to companies that facilitate that without any hybrid agreements.

I always see hybrid as a "comfort blanket".

It gives employees who feel very lucky to be able to do some sort of WFH the comfort to know that they are not going to have to be in the office all week.

And it gives companies the comfort to know that their office investment is not totally down the drain.

But in reality it will cause a divergence and in time it will be come rarer, with both companies and employees finding out which works best for them, 100% WFH people will migrate to companies that allow 100% WFH, 100% in the office people will migrate to companies that have full office facilities i.e no restrictions etc.

There will be a small in between that like to mix it , but it will be small.

By the way this of course only applied to sectors where working from home is suitable, the knowledge sector as I have seen it referred to.

A lot of people, as referred to earlier, would prefer a hybrid, because it gives you the social aspect of working with your teammates, seeing your work buddies, and getting out of the house, while also cutting down on your wasted commuting time. It gives you the best of both worlds.

As for your point about the investment in the office; a company can sell and move, or adjust their office space and reduce the rent their paying.

IT, sys admin, so it's easy for me in that regard.

As I have said before around here, 100% WFH is obviously only an option for some sectors

Same as our place, senior manager waxing lyrical about our survey that showed most wanted a hybrid model.

But ignoring the fact that 0 days in the office was not a option on said survey

Offices and public transport are unlikely to be major contributors though. WFH is fiddling on the margins.

What is the next step with WFH for the government?

NPHET letter has been published to the government re-introduce WFH where possible restrictions.

When do the government meet to discuss the letter?

Nuts that several days are wasted, causing more unnecessary spread of the virus in indoor offices while we await what should be a simple decision.

They need to get the big games in the Aviva over and done with before locking down the country again.