Should the government encourage a return to the office?

BoroBosco said:
Of course businesses have tried to cut costs historically & now they have found a possible new way by reducing office space as they don't need to have all the staff in one place.

The next logical step is if the staff can work from anywhere and still be as productive then lets employ those in places with lower wages.
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There’s a big assumption there that you can easily find someone with the skills and experience to replace what you have. I don’t see it being a realistic scenario in the vast majority of cases, and as others have said, companies have been outsourcing and offshoring for years anyway.
 
Alvez_48 said:
Right.. 40,000 let's say 80,000 nurses... This requires going to university for 4 years taking on a further £9,000 a year in debt as well as having the qualifications to get to uni to do the course in the first place.

Similar situation for these 500,000 care sector workers.

You're suggesting people in all age ranges just find the ability to stop their lives for the required years of training to go into these roles.

You keep coming at me as if I'm a right wing person when I'm not at all, I don't have the answers but I am just pointing out that your simplistic view is just that.
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What’s your argument because at first you say no sector isn’t hiring, I then point out two without even trying and you then just point out problems.

Fees are something government can fix. Rather than paying for people to sit at home on furlough being unproductive why can’t we pay them to train in jobs for sectors we need skilled labour?

How many people serving in Cafe Nero or Subway would like the chance to have a skilled well paying job? Maybe work in engineering, as an electrician, etc? Why not start a government back green revolution with training and skilled jobs to help this country become carbon neutral?

This is the kind of thinking we need, not longing for a past which didn’t work for many and isn’t coming back.
 
Pog said:
What’s your argument because at first you say no sector isn’t hiring, I then point out two without even trying and you then just point out problems.

Fees are something government can fix. Rather than paying for people to sit at home on furlough being unproductive why can’t we pay them to train in jobs for sectors we need skilled labour?

How many people serving in Cafe Nero or Subway would like the chance to be work in engineering, as an electrician, etc? Why not start a government back green revolution with training and skilled jobs to help this country become carbon neutral?

This is the kind of thinking we need, not longing for a past which isn’t coming back.
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Ok cool, let's agree to disagree. Let's see how this plays out over the next couple of years. I hope you're right and we see the green revolution and funding for these in demand electricians and engineers.
 
Alvez_48 said:
Right.. 40,000 let's say 80,000 nurses... This requires going to university for 4 years taking on a further £9,000 a year in debt as well as having the qualifications to get to uni to do the course in the first place.

Similar situation for these 500,000 care sector workers.

You're suggesting people in all age ranges just find the ability to stop their lives for the required years of training to go into these roles.

You keep coming at me as if I'm a right wing person when I'm not at all, I don't have the answers but I am just pointing out that your simplistic view is just that.
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Simplistic view? Yep righto. You seem to be advocating forcing people back into offices and all that entails in order to keep some sandwich shops going. Pretty deep thinking right there 🙄
 
I can't wait to be back in the office. Being on my own ALL THE F***ing TIME is killing me. Life for me at the minute is not living. Get up. Do some work. Go to bed. Repeat times 5 months. Satre was wrong. hell is not other people.
 
SmallTown said:
It is, however, a horrible and drab way to work. I feel like I'm more living at my office than working form home. It's a mental health problem for me. We need human interaction and a couple of days in the office would be good for me.

Of course all the money the employers save on air con/lighting/electricity is now being spent by the employees.
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This is a good point! I do enjoy working from home but it would be good to break the monotony with the odd meeting - I certainly wouldn't mind travelling when needed (Briefings, client meetings, brainstorming etc) rather than travelling in daily, for the sake of it. I do agree that you are way more productive working from home
 
The majority in every group appear to be against it.

I was born in the 50's and I'm against it if it's possible to perform your job from home.

If the company can't find an adequate way of keeping employees safe they just be closed until they can.

I'm fed up of hearing from those who are putting many thousands out of work due to their preference of buying online blame the older generations for all of society's ills.
 
Alvez_48 said:
Ok cool, let's agree to disagree. Let's see how this plays out over the next couple of years. I hope you're right and we see the green revolution and funding for these in demand electricians and engineers.
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I’m not saying it *will* happen but that’s what needs to happen.

I have very little faith in this VoteLeave government delivering what is necessary, but you’d think “British Jobs For British Workers” would be right up their street.
 
Corcaigh_the_Cat said:
The majority in every group appear to be against it.

I was born in the 50's and I'm against it if it's possible to perform your job from home.

If the company can't find an adequate way of keeping employees safe they just be closed until they can.

I'm fed up of hearing from those who are putting many thousands out of work due to their preference of buying online blame the older generations for all of society's ills.
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Yep - I would hate to think we were being herded back to the office just because Starbuggers, Mcdonalds and sandwich shops were suffering!
 
If it takes an hour to get through on the phone to your insurer,bank or local town hall, then clearly the WFH arrangements aren't working. Time to winkle out all the malingerers and hypochondriacs and get the country working.
 
Wiseman_Vaughn said:
Yep - I would hate to think we were being herded back to the office just because Starbuggers, Mcdonalds and sandwich shops were suffering!
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That's the story, everyone can relate to those organisations, and the people who work in them.
The reason for force back is because the Richard Tice style renter class are bricking it.
Business can save huge amounts of money on outgoings. So the landlords can see this breaking the inflated commercial rental sector.
 
Ironops said:
The genie is out of the bottle in terms of large corporates realising they can save millions on city rents by either downsizing or having entire remote working staff.

there will still be an office and most people don’t mind going in 1-2 days a week but I personally think the mon-fri 9-5 in the office is dead.

all the noise at the moment is due to the impact on other businesses of office workers not buying over priced coffee and sandwiches.

maybe if the economic model relies on gig workers and minimum wages baristas to keep going its time to try a different economic model?
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Exactly this, it is not the actual WFH that is concerning them, rather the add on effects it is having on footfall and passing trade for the city centre businesses, like cafes, shops, etc.
 
Anton_Berg said:
If it takes an hour to get through on the phone to your insurer,bank or local town hall, then clearly the WFH arrangements aren't working. Time to winkle out all the malingerers and hypochondriacs and get the country working.
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Same as when they weren’t working from home then
 
the_holgate_roof said:
And why not, it works well for both parties....
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That's the nub of it all really is it not?

If the company policy will allow it, the job is undertaken effectively and cost savings realised and people are able to manage it then it will work. As I have said before I've worked almost exclusively at home and in data centres since around 2008 so I've made a point of having the facilities I need available at home. However not all people have the luxury of a nicely appointed home office. Not all people are able to manage their time well when unsupervised. Not all people want to work from home, some miss the inclusiveness or social side of work, others just need the demarcation of a home/work life and feel they bleed into each another - as shown in this very thread.

I suspect there will be a lot of organisations who will have a smaller footprint as a drop-in office or perhaps a much greater choice for those who want it - I certainly hope so anyway, because it isn't a one size fits all solution.
 
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