Get back to the office! But why?

People with caring responsibilities will be more able to incorporate them into their day.
Getting children to school, popping in to see elderly relatives.

Anyone can get distracted by anything and forget to pass a message on, whether they are on the work premises or at home.

This wretched government never gets it right.

We know that a second wave as well as flu is a real and existential threat this autumn/winter.

So what do the utterly incompetence of government do? Encourage crowded travel, offices etc.

Grandad the person working from home was inefficient and negligent and their inattention to their job role should be addressed in accordance with disciplinary procedures. The person who took it upon themselves to drive a 40foot refrigerated truck, whilst knowing that they were neither qualified nor authorised to do, should be similarly dealt with. Surely his first thought would have been to call an agency himself as soon as it became apparent that his expected driver wasn't coming? Whilst I can see your problem in your scenario, I feel that you've been unlucky with 2 employees who failed to do their jobs properly and didn't think proactively.

I've experienced similar problems gillybob long wait for service because "colleagues are working from home" it either works or it doesn't and a lot of the time it doesn't.
I think there needs to be a mix of office and home working. People will become quite isolated.

I think that one benefit of working from home might be in fewer sick days being taken.

Less contact on public transport and with colleagues might mean fewer coughs and colds, and hopefully if WFH means a less stressful life, fewer mental health issues.

Chewbacca

^nobody seemed particularly worried about town centres when they were being destroyed by^ out of town shopping complexes.

I don't know whereabouts you live MaisieD but there was outrage and protests for months when our local council published plans for an out of town retail complex; for exactly the reasons that you describe. Nobody wanted it, stating that people's shopping preferences have changed so much and they'd prefer a cinema complex with places to eat out. We were ignored and got the retail complex instead. And it's now empty.

It's too late for my area, Chebacca, home to the first UK out of town shopping centre (1986), which is huge. Local town centres are dead.

Your post about the night supervisor Grandad1948 illustrates what I meant by saying the return from home working will depend on what the employer decides. The workplace that you describe will want all the employees back on site because that suits their business.
Other companies will prefer their employees to continue to work from home because that will suit their business better.

Companies will make their own decisions with no regard to how it will impact other companies.

Ilovecheese

Anyone can get distracted by anything and forget to pass a message on, whether they are on the work premises or at home.

That person was being employed and paid to pass on that message and could not have become distracted in the way they had if they had been in the office that is attached to the Distribution centre in that case.

Instead of doing that work proficiently in a correct setting, a serious safety incident was brought about.

I have recently gone down to three days a week and am loving my days at home. However as an NHS admin worker I had to go in to work. I actually realised I prefer to go in to work, though could perhaps do one day at home. I think people need to actually “go to work”, to interact with others, and generally to have the discipline it takes to get out of bed in the morning and to have a certain ritual. I have noticed that some of the people I know who have been working at home have become very insular and Inward looking. I’m not saying how others should live their lives, people must do what they think best, though I can see the demands and cost of public transport might be a deterrent to going in to work. The roads have been lovely and empty the last few months (I live in London), not looking forward to the traffic next week!

"nobody seemed particularly worried about town centres when they were being destroyed by out of town shopping centres"

Well I was! I think large shopping malls often suck the guts out of the high street, I always thought those humongous malls I encountered when I first went to the US awful, exhausting even then when I was younger, but I think they appeal to a young demographic, hence the two Westfields in London and now there's a third in the pipeline I gather. Not for me, but even they must be suffering right now.

As to the point about long waits an answer to a phone call. The right technology has to be in place for the employee to be able to access the information that they need to answer your query or solve you problem using their own laptop. Not all companies have got this far yet, but when they have they will be able to help you from anywhere they have their laptop.

My youngest son and wife are both wfh and their lives have been transformed- my son had a one hour commute each way - 2 hours per day, 10 hours per week, 40 hours per month - so that’s a whole weeks work he gains by wfh, now he gets to see his children everyday rather than only at weekends. It’s got to be a bonus for those who can do it. They shouldn’t be forced into unpleasant commutes just to keep cleaners and coffee shops in business- btw- he always took his own lunch and never bought sandwiches or coffees.

Ellianne

In addition Chewbacca we shouldn't forget the transport workers who serve office personnel. TfL is in big trouble because fares income has fallen by 90 per cent during covid. Londoners have done the right thing and stayed at home – so there simply isn’t enough money coming in to pay for the services. I forget the exact amount but they are several billion short. This could result in laying off many many staff.

This is why we need a proper policy to manage a shift from citycentric working to whatever takes its place.

Nationalised or subsidised transport should in any case be a priority in my opinion, as it seems madness to have so many cars with one person in each, belching out fumes and clogging the roads. A lot of small towns and villages have virtually no public transport, and what there is is expensive and unreliable.

If there were shuttle buses or revitalised railways between these smaller towns (ones that people could afford to use on a regular basis) then people wouldn't be so isolated and there would be a chance for business to thrive outside of busy city centres.

* Asylum Seekers * it should have read, not Illegal immigrants.

I can't work from home, but I think in some ways work isolates people.
It takes so much effort to work full time, meet targets, training, shopping..
Nobody has time to go out and about.

I noticed my mistake was addressed but not the post itself !
Goes without saying I suspect.

The reason that the government is trying to pressurise office workers, in London and other cities is because they and their financial backers have a huge amount invested in commercial property.

Distractions happen in offices all the time, I would say more so than at home. It astounds me how upset people get about people doing things differently to them.

Work/life balance is important and wfh certainly helps achieve that.

Very true varian - but things have now moved on, with employers and employees having been forced to work in a different, more flexible way. Many have found it a better way too. Things will not just go 'back to normal'.

I have noticed that some of the people I know who have been working at home have become very insular and inward looking.
That's interesting Sallywally1 and someone else said the szme thing earlier on here.
Maybe that is why our so many more European counterparts have returned to the office, because they are more sociable, demonstrative types, whereas the British are happy to be more reserved and insular.
I lived in France for many years and couldn't obtain so much as a house insurance quote without going into the office to fill out the paperwork, sit down face to face, shake hands (and have a quick tipple!) And their 2 hour lunch hour means that the restaurants in the town are busy every day. It is win win all round.

I have just read that workers spend 221 hrs a year commuting. That is a whole month of stressful travel, cancelled trains etc.

I hate working from home. It's really isolating and I miss the office gossip and banter. I've been doing it now since March and we've been told we won't return to the office until at least next spring!

MaizieD Were the age 65+ respondents in that survey all fully aware of the workers who were actually still working although not doing it in the office, or did they think they were all sitting around skiving, as a surprising number of people believed all teachers were doing? If they thought that"go back to the office" meant "start working again" it is not surprising they were in favour.