ONS - Home Working Statistics

[pdq]

My wife works for a local authority. Pre Covid WFH was generally frowned upon, even though they had the tech in place to facilitate it. Now it had been thoroughly embraced to the extent that all employees in non public roles are encouraged to work from home unless they cannot. The 'encourage' is important as it is not then a contractual change. This has meant a huge reduction in the office space that's needed, and therefore a cost saving to the LA and, by extension, Council tax payers.

 

[cb00]

Trust me, if you are a consistent WFHer and there are a lot of your team in the office then your stock will be low in their eyes.

One may not care but there is a danger it could count against you.

It's an oddly persistent reality that planning office parties and pretending to care about your leaders' kids/pets/holidays actually seems to be weighted more heavily than those who do the heavy lifting. But this isn't the case everywhere, especially where leaders are switched on and aren't insecure

 

[VauxhallandI]

It's an oddly persistent reality that planning office parties and pretending to care about your leaders' kids/pets/holidays actually seems to be weighted more heavily than those who do the heavy lifting. But this isn't the case everywhere, especially where leaders are switched on and aren't insecure

Ha!

To be honest i Find its colleagues and not bosses that can have the opinions.

 

[stuu]

Trust me, if you are a consistent WFHer and there are a lot of your team in the office then your stock will be low in their eyes.

One may not care but there is a danger it could count against you.

Why? If all have been offered the same policy and choice then that makes no sense, as long as productivity is maintained. I guess it varies a lot between industries, but for my company a lot of support staff are only expected in once or twice a month, and client-facing people as much or as little as necessary. Profits rose 12% last year so it's clearly not impacting the business

 

[randompixel]

I've not taken the railway since Feb 2020, previously going in 5 days a week, then 2-3 days a week. I can't say I miss getting up at 6am and spending £37 a day for the privilege. I get actual work done from home (offices you spend half your time talking or being dragged into useless meetings) with a better work/life balance, although I _do_ miss the disconnect time between the office and home. Plus during the pandemic I got put on immunosuppressant medication, so the thought of someone breathing/coughing next to me on some cramped little train seats is a big "nope".

Might be brave enough for some leisure trips in the future at quieter times, but not a daily commute.

 

[xotGD]

Get up at 6.30 to go to the office or get up at 8.00 to WFH. Tough choice.

When I do go in, the environment is less conducive to work. Background chatter whenever you are trying concentrate or have a conference call. At home I can use the mute button on the TV.

I work with colleagues spread across multiple offices. So I still end up talking to them over Teams wherever I am. Thankfully clients have also embraced the new normal, and no longer expect you to spend a whole day travelling to attend a 1 or 2 hour meeting. A lot less unproductive time.

 

[TUC]

WFH is great for breaking the stranglehold London has had on too many jobs that need to be opened up to people across the country.

 

[43066]

lol. Oh & guess what? I got picked up on a OTMR download for being consistently 1 second short on my horn blowing again.

Oh for God’s sake. How utterly ridiculous. I’d be tempted to Jack it in and hold Horatio Hornblower themed retirement drinks, just to rub it in.

Things like that aside though it’s not that bad. During the pandemic we did at least roar ahead with training & bubbles etc which is why we are in the fine state we are today establishment wise.

Not entirely a good thing if you’re smashing out the rest days, but at least you can get annual leave! Swings and roundabouts.

It does surprise me that season tickets are still a thing especially in London with weekly capping on Oyster and contactless.

It’s reaching a tipping point. My other half has recently resumed paying for monthlies. She lives in zone 3, goes to zone 1 for work approx. twice per week, yet it still works out cheaper than weekly capping via contactless.

 

[Roast Veg]

Trust me, if you are a consistent WFHer and there are a lot of your team in the office then your stock will be low in their eyes.

One may not care but there is a danger it could count against you.

This isn't my personal experience. I'm integral to the team with unique responsibilities, and I wouldn't be replaced within my notice period. About 70% of the rest of the team are London locals, and they hybrid work at their leisure (technically so do I).

 

[Jimini]

Trust me, if you are a consistent WFHer and there are a lot of your team in the office then your stock will be low in their eyes.

One may not care but there is a danger it could count against you.

I've been reticent to get involved in the various WFH threads over the past three years -- mainly because of the effect Covid and lockdowns had in perpetuating the temporary (or maybe not so temporary) influx of others doing the same. But it's worth noting that it's been commonplace for people to 100% work remotely for a decade or more now, myself included. It really isn't that uncommon and it certainly isn't any less productive or frowned upon for those of us who had a home setup prior to 2020. The team I manage all work in other continents (as does my boss), so my popping into the office in SE1 for three days a week doesn't really make any sense, unless it's for a specific meeting or reason.

That said, I do see a fair few examples of people who were office based prior to Covid and hedged their bets on home working going forward, and are now facing some seriously long commutes now their office rules have changed!

 

[Roast Veg]

That said, I do see a fair few examples of people who were office based prior to Covid and hedged their bets on home working going forward, and are now facing some seriously long commutes now their office rules have changed!

If my employer wanted to modify my contract to increase my office hours I'd be applying for jobs immediately.

 

[Jimini]

If my employer wanted to modify my contract to increase my office hours I'd be applying for jobs immediately.

It's the inverse -- people who thought they could WFH forever more and bought houses in the home counties or further afield, only to find that their employers decided they should be in the office 3 / 4 days of the week minimum.

 

[The Ham]

Something which is interesting from the ONS dataset, WFH isn't an even split across the country.

In London about 1/3 do not have the option of WFH, in almost every other region it's 50% or higher, the two exceptions are Southeast and the East.

 

[VauxhallandI]

Why? If all have been offered the same policy and choice then that makes no sense, as long as productivity is maintained. I guess it varies a lot between industries, but for my company a lot of support staff are only expected in once or twice a month, and client-facing people as much or as little as necessary. Profits rose 12% last year so it's clearly not impacting the business

That’s human nature.

General workers don’t care about the profits as much as what they see their inputs are in comparison to others

 

[Cross City]

I worked as a chef, pulling ridiculous hours, for my entire working career till I jacked it in last year.

I now WFH 35 hours a week and absolutely love it. I have much more personal time than I ever thought possible, my productivity got better working from home vs what it was in the office when I first started here, my sleep cycle is better, I'm eating better, I'm less tired... I could continue.

I struggle to see a single tangible benefit that commuting to a soulless office would bring. I have to go in once a week and it's fine, but there's nothing I can do here that I can't do at home. It's not like there's any social benefits as most people come in on different days so the office is always 80% empty.

WFH home vs being in the office won't have nay benefit for my 'stock rising' either because almost all of the managers work remotely 95% of the time too. I can go weeks without seeing any of them. That world of sucking up to a boss is long gone.

 

[Mowgli]

Don’t get me started lol. Oh & guess what? I got picked up on a OTMR download for being consistently 1 second short on my horn blowing again. Things like that aside though it’s not that bad. During the pandemic we did at least roar ahead with training & bubbles etc which is why we are in the fine state we are today establishment wise.

The horn! It's always the bloody horn on downloads! I think managers must count to 3 veeerrry slowly....

 

[dk1]

The horn! It's always the bloody horn on downloads! I think managers must count to 3 veeerrry slowly....

I know!!! I must count to five very quickly.

 

[nlogax]

During the pandemic my employment contract was changed to fully remote. That enabled me to move from one end of the country to the other. There's still office time with clients north and south of the border most weeks but the mix of home working with occasional travel bringing some variety has vastly improved my overall quality of life.

 

[Simon11]

I go into the office as little as possible and atm, around once a month.

With a 2.5hr round commute (and of course train fare to pay!), there has to be a proper reason for going in- like a long brainstorming meeting or social with colleagues/ clients.

Our team say you should be in the office every Wednesday, however I have no interest in going to the office 'because it's Wednesday' and everyone is in- and have made this clear to my boss. This is the worst day of the week anyway for the team to pick because usually I have several regular teams meetings on Wednesday (turning the office into a call centre), the office is packed (so good luck finding a desk or meeting space or quiet space) and the tube is packed. What I found is that I may have a worthwhile 30 minute conversation with someone in my team however that isn't worth a 2.5 hour trip!

I absolutely love working from home, the ability to work around childcare/ lifestyle commitments and normally I am at my desk by 8am without any alarm needing to wake me up ready to go.

In terms of productivity, our revenue has been in double digits for the last two years straight so WfH culture isn't harming us!

 

[a1904]

Huddersfield pretty indistinguishable from 2019, wouldn't be surprised if the 22/23 ORR figures end up higher than 2018/2019

 

[pdq]

Huddersfield pretty indistinguishable from 2019, wouldn't be surprised if the 22/23 ORR figures end up higher offices n 2018/2019

But Kirklees staff generally aren't in, I'm pretty sure at least one of the Civic offices is closed permanently. Uni is doing a very high proportion of face to face teaching, but a lot of support staff like HR, finance etc are in less than 40% of the time. Prior to 2020 finding an all s day carpark space was very hard after 9am. Now it's pretty easy even with the loss of the Market car park.

 

[a1904]

WFH is great for breaking the stranglehold London has had on too many jobs that need to be opened up to people across the country.

A London business is still going to hire a London employee though 95% of the time so no, it's not done that

 

[Bletchleyite]

A London business is still going to hire a London employee though 95% of the time so no, it's not done that

I don't think that's universally true, simply because a lot of "London businesses" (like us) are no longer actually London businesses at all, with people all over the place instead.

We would not limit our selection of employees by only recruiting in London. That would not be to our benefit.

 

[ar10642]

The latter is simply not true.

Agreed, productivity is not the issue with WFH. It's more the social/human interaction side of things which is lacking, which is not something you need 5 days a week hence why hybrid is fast becoming the norm.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Feb 2023 ==

A London business is still going to hire a London employee though 95% of the time so no, it's not done that

This wasn't even true before the pandemic, people commute in from far and wide. They now don't have to do that as much as they did, which is why the season ticket sales are down and why the strikes aren't having much of an impact. At my Cambridge based office we have people working for us from Sussex (me, which I would never have even considered before WFH), Swindon, Cardiff etc. I can't believe it's not also happening in London.

 

[Simon11]

Agreed, productivity is not the issue with WFH. It's more the social/human interaction side of things which is lacking, which is not something you need 5 days a week hence why hybrid is fast becoming the norm.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Feb 2023 ==

But I have to semi-disagree with the social/ human interaction missing out.

WfH gives me more of an opportunity to get to know local people, have time for family and able to volunteer at local places, people I am likely to engage with over many, many years. With more free time, from less travelling (personal saving of 10 hours a week) it gives me that opportunity.

Whereas relationships built at work are likely to last a few years before someone moves on and you will most likely never meet them again. Plus these are mostly forced relationships with people you would have no interest in meeting outside of work or live far far away from you.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Agreed, productivity is not the issue with WFH. It's more the social/human interaction side of things which is lacking, which is not something you need 5 days a week hence why hybrid is fast becoming the norm.

It also depends on whether you can get by on social interaction on the likes of Teams calls or if you have to have it in person. What I would say is that a "daily standup" is an absolute essential, and that that meeting should perhaps be slightly longer and less formal than it might be in an office. I did feel quite lonely when I was on a project with few meetings, but my current one has lots.

That doesn't mean to say waste time and have Teams meetings you don't need, of course.

As for productivity I tend to drag the day out a fair bit because I have no commute, which means that despite being fairly prolific on here (and sometimes doing other stuff like putting a wash in or taking a longer lunch to go for a run then have time for a shower and food after) I do get a full day's work done as I would in the office, sometimes more.

 

[ar10642]

But I have to semi-disagree with the social/ human interaction missing out.

WfH gives me more of an opportunity to get to know local people, have time for family and able to volunteer at local places, people I am likely to engage with over many, many years. With more free time, from less travelling (personal saving of 10 hours a week) it gives me that opportunity.

Whereas relationships built at work are likely to last a few years before someone moves on and you will most likely never meet them again. Plus these are mostly forced relationships with people you would have no interest in meeting outside of work or live far far away from you.

I've met some long term friends at previous office jobs and I can tell you 100% that wouldn't have happened over Slack and Teams, it's just not the same. The whole volunteering/meeting local people thing isn't for me (family leaves no time for any of that), but it's not like going in day a week stops that anyway. I was talking more about building a rapport with colleagues which in my experience just doesn't happen in the same way without some face to face time.

It also depends on whether you can get by on social interaction on the likes of Teams calls or if you have to have it in person. What I would say is that a "daily standup" is an absolute essential, and that that meeting should perhaps be slightly longer and less formal than it might be in an office. I did feel quite lonely when I was on a project with few meetings, but my current one has lots.

Yes, we gave a daily standup. As you say, essential otherwise you can easily go entire days without speaking to anyone at work. I think for me the trouble with "social" things on video calls is that it feels much more businesslike - you can get the work done but that's it. Try to have some informal conversation about anything else and it feels forced and hard work. The bigger the call the worse it works as well I find. Definitely some value to meeting in real life sometimes but absolutely no need to set fire to £5k after tax on a season ticket to do it every day anymore for most office workers.