Will companies want workers to work at home when covid has disappeared?

[Swindon On Tour]

Takes some getting used to and providing you have structure and discipline then no reason why you can’t.
If you can get the results working from home then employers will not have a problem. My Boss is always telling me to work from home more thus no issue.
Definitely going to change the way we work in the future.

 

[elder]

most companies already have fewer desks than employees as a cost saving measure and are geared up to hot desk. however no one will want to hot desk for the foreseeable future so having staff working from home will help but how they work out where to sit everyone when they are in the office is going to be a challenge. very few will want to wfh 5 days a week i reckon

 

[Parkmaverick]

if you are required to work from home, they should contribute to your utility bills, and your tax code should be adjusted for the better

You can claim some money back but it is £1.20 a week.

 

[WildTurkey]

For a lot of employees (including me) this has been the first time we have worked from home.
My employers already allowed us to work from home for a couple of days a week but I declined saying as I was concerned that if anything went wrong I would be 15 miles from work and have no one to ask.
However, this is now week 8 of working from home and yes a couple of problems happened but they were soon sorted after a couple of calls to IT.
so now I don’t want to go back.

Do you not drive?

 

[Gala]

You can claim some money back but it is £1.20 a week.

I’ve claimed for last year already and me and the wife are 7 weeks each so far this year. £16.80 windfall on top of the travel expense savings.

 

[Harry Angstrom]

Done it for over 2 year now and the office environment is a big miss

However if I went into an office I know after half an hour I’d be wanting to wfh again

I work for myself but have a few places I go and I am part of that. I would hate to be stuck at home 5 days a week.

 

[Fletch]

Think mix n match will become the norm , maybe 2 day week office and 3 at home or the reverse .
Couple at ours are dying to work home now full time , but for all the wrong reasons

 

[Bob Fleming]

We've found a way of working using Teams but it's much better being side by side.

Teams has been a godsend. We upgraded hardware and to office 365 just before this happened. Works really well.

It works fine, we've got dev pairs located in different countries and they use the tech to whiteboard etc.

It's fine. It works and remote teams can have other benefits over co-located. But co-located is and always will be better IMO. And I simply can't be convinced otherwise.

 

[Hep]

Teams has been a godsend. We upgraded hardware and to office 365 just before this happened. Works really well.

It's fine. It works and remote teams can have other benefits over co-located. But co-located is and always will be better IMO. And I simply can't be convinced otherwise.

I see your point but I've seen a lot of devs discuss things to death when they are together. Having that remoteness means they'll talk when they need to, not when they fancy.

Also, you get the pick of the world, not just the locale.

 

[Bob Fleming]

You can claim some money back but it is £1.20 a week.

£6 a week now innit? I forgot to claim it last month. Double up this month. I'll spend it when the pubs open.

I see your point but I've seen a lot of devs discuss things to death when they are together. Having that remoteness means they'll talk when they need to, not when they fancy.

Also, you get the pick of the world, not just the locale.

Yeah that's the major benefit. Being able to source a bigger talent pool.

A dev in my last team was a right gasser. Clever as owt but when in the office it was hard to get him to do stuff as he'd just be talking on for so long. He moved to working remotely and it turned out he was a right lazy bastard and did fuck all. Too busy on his Xbox and would try to catch up on a night. He got binned.

 

[Jap Stammer]

Yeah that's the major benefit. Being able to source a bigger talent pool.

Unfortunately, it's no benefit where we work - we use a software package/workflow system that is not that common and requires specific training to use. The only people who are trained to use it in our organisation are my team. They are effectively learning on the job despite having used it for over three years as it's so complex - we have barely scratched the surface of what it is capable of - and often the best way of solving an issue is to have a brainstorm session around one desk. It wouldn't be as easy or practical doing it online.

 

[Bob Fleming]

Unfortunately, it's no benefit where we work - we use a software package/workflow system that is not that common and requires specific training to use. The only people who are trained to use it in our organisation are my team. They are effectively learning on the job despite having used it for over three years as it's so complex - we have barely scratched the surface of what it is capable of - and often the best way of solving an issue is to have a brainstorm session around one desk. It wouldn't be as easy or practical doing it online.

It wouldn't no.

Ideally I would think organisations would have offices which run at, I dunno 50% capacity or something. And you rota when teams are in or have bookings for desk/collaboration spaces. No one way will fit all and it's up to organisations to adapt. But I hope flexible working will end up the accepted norm for most places.

 

[zwartekat]

Unfortunately, it's no benefit where we work - we use a software package/workflow system that is not that common and requires specific training to use. The only people who are trained to use it in our organisation are my team. They are effectively learning on the job despite having used it for over three years as it's so complex - we have barely scratched the surface of what it is capable of - and often the best way of solving an issue is to have a brainstorm session around one desk. It wouldn't be as easy or practical doing it online.

That sounds like some pretty poor software.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Great news for poorer places like the NE. More scope for remote working means some good jobs will be less centred around London and SE office bases.

Problem is when you expand that further. If you can do your job from home then there's no reason somebody from India or China etc couldn't do that job from their home and they'll do it for a lot less money than you.

 

[GuestServices]

Do you think WFH will become the norm for office workers?
If so will companies offer lower salaries as they'll be equally attractive when commuting costs are taken out?
Will your company prefer to have you where they can see you?
Asking as a mate of mine said if the choice was go back to the office for the same pay or WFH for 3k less, he'd WFH.

It'll be the norm or people will work 2/3 days per week at home. Office space will reduce massively imho.

 

[Jap Stammer]

That sounds like some pretty poor software.

It's a pretty good package - very powerful and very versatile. Unfortunately, because of the age of some of the legacy systems it has to interface with, and the short-sightedness of some of the previous account owners, we have to 'bespoke' a lot of the code and we barely scratch the surface of it's capabilities.

For it to work to it's full potential we need a complete overhaul of the legacy systems it runs alongside, and nobody is prepared to fund that kind of investment - either in time or actual money.

The wonderful world of IT development in ex-government departments where short-term contracts to run the account are awarded to the cheapest bidder.

 

[zwartekat]

It's a pretty good package - very powerful and very versatile. Unfortunately, because of the age of some of the legacy systems it has to interface with, and the short-sightedness of some of the previous account owners, we have to 'bespoke' a lot of the code and we barely scratch the surface of it's capabilities.

For it to work to it's full potential we need a complete overhaul of the legacy systems it runs alongside, and nobody is prepared to fund that kind of investment - either in time or actual money.

The wonderful world of IT development in ex-government departments where short-term contracts to run the account are awarded to the cheapest bidder.

I see this a lot. I don't really understand why people buy packages that don't really fit their systems. Not having a go at you, btw.

 

[Jap Stammer]

I see this a lot. I don't really understand why people buy packages that don't really fit their systems. Not having a go at you, btw.

No bother, mate.

I've lost count of the times I've been literally banging my head off my desk in frustration when know-it-all suits higher up the ladder ask why we can't get it to do this, that and the other because they've read something in the glossy blurb about it's capabilities.

Telling them it's like sticking a Typhoon engine onto the body of a Sopwith Camel just doesn't get the message across.

 

[rudd]

As one of the more forward thinking trusts community staff have had laptops with remote working via wifi and 4g sim cards as well as phones for years. We've always had the possibility of working from home/in the community in the main but most tend to come into the office a couple times a day even if there isn't a real need to do so. I think the social side is the main driver, secondary to the informal supervision/clinical discussions.

 

[Chalks]

I personally think it will increase but by not as much as people think, maybes 10-15% max.

progressive employees will push it but many many will not , call centres , banks , anything that will risk personal information , gdpr etc.

also need to take I to account city centre footfall and the effects it will have on cafes, shops , bars etc.

the fact that people will have the option will be better, however the cynic in me says it will most likely go back to normal in 12-18 months