Some People Want to Work-From-Home Forever

Mike

Mike

Well-known Member
Location
London
NO POLITICAL REPLIES PLEASE!

Some here want the law changed to make it illegal to insist
that workers return to their offices and that they should be
allowed to work from home.

I debated this last year with a friend, but not too deeply and as
I see it, at least 50% would lose their jobs, City Centres would
become derelict, Transport companies would collapse, managers
would also become extinct to a certain degree, construction of
new office space would not be needed, so those builders would
also go along with the supply chains.

We used to have a saying, "Engage the Brain, before Operating
the Mouth", this advice hasn't been used in this case, I don't
think.

Does anybody agree with my thoughts?

Mike.
 

I agree. I think it would hurt businesses that depend on people who work away from home. Plus wouldn't that keep people isolated still?

I am not saying people shouldn't work from home but I don't think it should be the only option. And businesses should be able to decide if they want them to work from home or not. Not forced on them.
 
One of our granddaughters works for an insurance agency, and only has to go to the office one day a week. She likes working from home, and it saves her a fair amount of money by not having to drive an hour a day to/from work. Anyone who is just working in an office environment all day would probably prefer to keep working from home.
 

Don M. said:
One of our granddaughters works for an insurance agency, and only has to go to the office one day a week. She likes working from home, and it saves her a fair amount of money by not having to drive an hour a day to/from work. Anyone who is just working in an office environment all day would probably prefer to keep working from home.
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I worked in accounting offices as a receptionist and I really liked it. I enjoyed the people I met and worked with. I liked dressing up to go to work. Some offices are pleasant to work in and some aren't. Depends on what you are doing too. Hard for a receptionist to work from home. I was much younger back then and more social. I lived in St. Petersburg and walked to work so it was a nice commute.
 
katlupe said:
I worked in accounting offices as a receptionist and I really liked it. I enjoyed the people I met and worked with. I liked dressing up to go to work. Some offices are pleasant to work in and some aren't. Depends on what you are doing too. Hard for a receptionist to work from home. I was much younger back then and more social. I lived in St. Petersburg and walked to work so it was a nice commute.
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You are right, a receptionist can't really work from home.

Some places are much better to work at than others. I can assume someone who didn't fit in with a clique at work or had some other issues, like an abusive boss, may chose to work from home if possible. I have been literally yelled at and verbally abused in the work place. My job is impossible to do from home.

Some people may need or crave that socialization, others may not.

I do see where it hurts restaurants and other places for working people getting lunch and public transport. There would be reduced traffic on the roads, that's a plus.
 
My bf's daughter works from home as a manager and she uses that zoom thing almost all day long with her department. They set up appointments for the local electric company going out to their customers' houses for various reasons.

I have a friend who has worked for UHS as a transcriptionst for many years now. They always provide her computer and modems and the many keyboards, she has worn out. Her boss, moved to Arizona and is still her boss just not in our local area.
 
I worked from home back in the 90's and early 2000's and actually looked forward to the 2 hour drive to my office once a month. Made a difference to see people face to face and resolve some customer issues with a team meeting. I say that it depends on the person and their responsibilities, but some face to face makes sense in order to stay a team.
 
I think there will be enough people working outside the home after getting vaccines they may feel lest scared to stay home. I think it's a good idea to also have as many work from home in jobs that can be done from home--it was done before the pandemic, too.
 
It turns out, according to the BBC news, this morning that
it is the trades unions that are pushing this idea.

Hopefully it will fail.

Mike.
 
It worries me that companies who can save money on expensive rental offices in the city by getting their employees to do the same job at home on their computers will love this, but most jobs need real people. And for them, once the CBD (central business district) of the city needs people - they will come.
 
If I were still working I would prefer to work from home. My job was in collections and could easily be done at home. You had to call on 20 accounts a day and I always got at least 25 so I could do that at home. Not having to buy or take a lunch every day, buying clothes and dealing with a abusive boss would be pluses for me.
 
I believe that the solution will be rolling the staff over,
half at home and half in the office, for how long will
be determined by the commute costs, a weekly ticket
is cheaper than five daily ones and a monthly cheaper,
per trip, than the weekly one.

If the work-at-home people decide to ask for money to
cover the electricity, that will throw a spanner in the works.

Some companies pay your hourly rate for the commute,
that will be lost, I got paid to commute, but that was a
long time ago.

Mike.
 
mellowyellow said:
It worries me that companies who can save money on expensive rental offices in the city by getting their employees to do the same job at home on their computers will love this, but most jobs need real people. And for them, once the CBD (central business district) of the city needs people - they will come.
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A lot of companies have saved lots of money with their employees working from home. Nothing wrong with that if they will then offer more benefits or wages. But work-from-home positions shouldn't be legally required. That's ridiculous.
 
I'm not sure a law would be needed, a tax incentive for companies to allow it as part of carbon emission reduction might have a chance at passing (assuming any companies are paying taxes, seems like they already wiggle out of paying?).
Hopefully competition for workers will be enough to encourage companies to allow working from home. There is only one person on the team I'm on at my job that wants to go back to the office, all the rest of us would so much prefer continuing to work from home that we'd be ripe for being poached by other companies that would allow it.
I can see it would cause a certain amount of economic shift, for example while working from home the gas station has gotten less of my money but the bird seed company and the garden/home improvement stores have gotten more.
The only thing I miss about going to the office is the super chilly air-conditioning. I don't want to pay so much in electricity to set mine to freeze-inhabitant level. I have bought a fan to help compensate.
 
I agree with the OP. It should not be illegal for businesses to require their employees work in an office. It should be up to the business to decide. Ideally they would offer their employees a choice taking into account some jobs just need to done in the office.

I am working for a company that still has a majority of the office workers remotely working. Since I am retiring soon, I am now returning to the office a couple of days a week and am really pushing to get all the work from last year processed. It is a nightmare. If I had a choice, I would have comminuted to the office every day. It would be a hell of a lot easier now. I have an admin position and I never was able to set up properly from home.
 
If the business needs you in the office, it doesn’t matter if you do or don’t want to be there. If you want to be employed, you go in.

If you’re accomplishing what needs to be done from home, it would be very nice if you could keep it up, full or part time. The owner also has to perceive that things are getting done well.

If the owner still has to maintain a large work space, it may not be to their advantage to have you stay home. Interaction amongst employees can create new ideas.

A happy employee can be a better employee, so it may be advantageous to work out a mutually agreed upon plan.

Bottom line, the business is in business, not a charity.
 
Working from home is not new to me, when doing my
Internet Business I do it from home or my car, as do the
team, if a meeting is required to introduce others, then
a conference room is hired in a hotel or theatre, even a
coffee shop or Chinese restaurant can be cheaper than a
room and the bill goes against tax.

Mike
 

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