mizfit Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 I’m in a glorified call centre and I can work from home. I highly doubt we’ll be back to work in normal capacity anytime soon even after restriction are lifted 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honest Saints Fan Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 I work in an open plan office but currently working from home. They plan to reopen the office on Monday to 10% of staff which is equal to 2.5 people. They've already had the English offices open and they are going up to maximum of 40% capacity soon. I'm happy working from home so will wait until they make me go back to the office. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 3 minutes ago, virginton said: Can you give some examples of office-based roles that are completely incompatible with home working? I'm sure that some legitimate positions still exist but if your job is both non-essential and can't be done with all the remote technology now at hand then it's quite likely to be a bullshit role ready to be culled this autumn regardless. Cleaning, facilities, catering staff are the three immediate examples I can think of of people who work in offices but don't do office work, so can't really do it from home. As I acknowledged above, there is the capitalist argument that if offices are closed then these jobs are meaningless anyway, which I understand, but it's still a pretty poor way to lose a job if your office is forcibly closed. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigkillie Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 5 minutes ago, virginton said: If the government is planning on allowing spectators outdoors according to a 'limited capacity' then I think it would make sense to explore opening office spaces on a similar principle to a fraction of the workforce at any one time. The problem perhaps is that they fear some employers will just try to fire as many people back into the office as possible, which is also the shrieking narrative of many daily newspapers who need the mass commute back to prop up their failing business model. Aye, I'm hoping they'll be able to at least allow some access to work for a day or two here and there. I'm lucky enough to actually have my own office, which should make things easier in theory, and it would be nice to be able to go in if there's a day I need to work without the screaming of what I am sure will be my beloved bundle of joy. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 Just now, Gaz said: Cleaning, facilities, catering staff are the three immediate examples I can think of of people who work in offices but don't do office work, so can't really do it from home. You've also got all the sandwich bars, shops and pubs etc that are dependent on office workers. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Moonster Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 1 hour ago, Billy Jean King said: Very little to complain about today. I'm sure someone will find something. Oh look... 25 minutes ago, Tenkay said: Not all office jobs can be done from home. Can chefs in the works restaurant "work from home"? I am pleased that gyms are reopening, but it should have been later than offices reopening. I've not stopped working my office job since this started, I spent about 4 weeks at home then I was back in with social distancing measures. We have a office/home rota so we don't have too many people in the office and everyone gets their shot of coming in/working from home. Nobody is being made redundant. I fail to see why most if not all offices couldn't operate a similar sort of thing. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madwullie Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 3 hours ago, Stellaboz said: Can you give 3 examples? Lakes, whales and Ben Nevis 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael W Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 23 minutes ago, craigkillie said: I'm working from home right now, and while it's fine I would definitely like my office to be open at some point soon, not least because I'm about to be welcoming a newborn baby into my "home office". However, I think it's fair enough that these are amongst the last things to go back if the businesses involved are able to facilitate home working anyway. Agree, I'd love to go back to the office. Not least because my flat doesn't have air conditioning and can become boiling hot and uncomfortable. However my job can largely be done from home without too much interruptions and to have us all back just increases risks from commuting etc. as well. It's not worth it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhaleOilBeefHucked Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 9 minutes ago, Gaz said: Cleaning, facilities, catering staff are the three immediate examples I can think of of people who work in offices but don't do office work, so can't really do it from home. As I acknowledged above, there is the capitalist argument that if offices are closed then these jobs are meaningless anyway, which I understand, but it's still a pretty poor way to lose a job if your office is forcibly closed. I am working from home and had to go into the office to use the network to resolve a problem with updates downloading to my laptop. The only other people in the building were the security guard, the facility manager and one of the cleaners. Offices and office kitchens haven't been sitting for months on end not being cleaned and the same staff will be involved in planning for staff returning to work offices. Roughly 500 people were given laptops and those who don't normally use a laptop were shown how to use it and we are all working from home, if there is any form of distancing required in the building then I am unlikely to be returning to work in the office full time. In fact there was an announcement of a recruitment drive recently which means I might never return to working in the office full time. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgecutter Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 18 minutes ago, Honest Saints Fan said: They plan to reopen the office on Monday to 10% of staff which is equal to 2.5 people. Nice job opening for Bairnardo there. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingTON Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 10 minutes ago, Gaz said: Cleaning, facilities, catering staff are the three immediate examples I can think of of people who work in offices but don't do office work, so can't really do it from home. As I acknowledged above, there is the capitalist argument that if offices are closed then these jobs are meaningless anyway, which I understand, but it's still a pretty poor way to lose a job if your office is forcibly closed. Can't imagine that experienced cleaners at least will struggle to find a new place of work in the current context. It's obviously not great if you're in a support capacity but the impact can only be assessed based on those who are directly working in an office role and not on all the cascading links of who else might be affected. If you only have say 10% of workers in the building then the catering service will be getting patched or at least massively scaled down anyway. 7 minutes ago, welshbairn said: You've also got all the sandwich bars, shops and pubs etc that are dependent on office workers. 'Get the offices back at full capacity because Pret a Manger needs to hit its minimum sales floor' is a truly abysmal argument. The overall costs to society of commuting everyday to a city-based office in terms of congestion, air pollution, carbon emissions etc. would make it desirable to phase out the practice anyway: the pandemic is rapidly accelerating that process of change and secondary businesses will have to adjust to that. Remote working is still 'to be encouraged' under Phase 4 of the guidance so there won't be a return to normal anytime in the near future anyway and hopefully never at all. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bairnardo Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 The office folk from my work who could (almost all of them) got punted home at the start of this. They now seem to have reverted back to an office rota. Not sure how it all working as its frankly none of my business but I imagine a lot of offices might go down that road. This model obviously combines the need for less people in a central office with a general deep seated mistrust of employees. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Jean King Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 You can't work and watch York races in the office (well technologically you can but it would get me the bullet I suspect) 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mizfit Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 You can't work and watch York races in the office (well technologically you can but it would get me the bullet I suspect)One thing that homeworking has made me realise is how shite daytime telly is. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Detournement Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 Just now, mizfit said: One thing that homeworking has made me realise is how shite daytime telly is. BBC daytime TV is completely mental. It's literally just people buying houses, buying and selling antiques/junk and shows about illegal immigrants, baillifs and benefit cheats. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mizfit Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 BBC daytime TV is completely mental. It's literally just people buying houses, buying and selling antiques/junk and shows about illegal immigrants, baillifs and benefit cheats. I’ve got can’t pay well take it away on in the background just now. Not sure how anyone can be happy at doing that for a living. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillonearth Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 1 minute ago, Detournement said: BBC daytime TV is completely mental. It's literally just people buying houses, buying and selling antiques/junk and shows about illegal immigrants, baillifs and benefit cheats. One I've found unintentionally fascinating is the one where some lumpen couple from Burnley or somewhere gets taken across to Australia only to somehow be amazed that the proceeds of the shitehole they live in won't buy them a mansion with a pool over there. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgecutter Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 (edited) 41 minutes ago, Bairnardo said: This model obviously combines the need for less people in a central office with a general deep seated mistrust of employees. As we still largely have a culture inherited from the older generations whereby work starts at 9 and you 'clock-off' at 5, there certainly seems to be a mistrust that employees aren't working during that time. My personal viewpoint is that salaried workers should be judged on whether they get their jobs done / targets met over the course of the year, not some daft set-times as if they've been specifically paid for that hour that they used to pick up their kids or whatever, which often ends up mismanaged anyway. For example, I had recently been sub-contracting work and as long as the reports are supplied to expected standard, I couldn't give a f*** if they went on holiday and pulled two last minute all-nighters once home to get it done. The exception would relate to day-rate workers, which I would expect to be using that time honestly, although I tend to set an agreed price that essentially says "this job is is e.g. three days work, which would equate to £X on a day rate, that's the offer". As we gradually move away from the 9-5 mentality, which we almost certainly are as many jobs become more flexible, there will probably be more trust over time. Additionally, if working from home is seen as a relative norm for folk, then they don't have that novelty of a single day at home that is tempting to dick about with. I know that I've been guilty of the latter in the past. Edited August 20, 2020 by Hedgecutter 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northboy Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 4 minutes ago, Detournement said: 7 minutes ago, mizfit said: One thing that homeworking has made me realise is how shite daytime telly is. BBC daytime TV is completely mental. It's literally just people buying houses, buying and selling antiques/junk and shows about illegal immigrants, baillifs and benefit cheats. Not the BBC but history and documentary channels show an uncomfortable number of programmes about serial killers and Nazis. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Detournement Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 1 minute ago, Hillonearth said: One I've found unintentionally fascinating is the one where some lumpen couple from Burnley or somewhere gets taken across to Australia only to somehow be amazed that the proceeds of the shitehole they live in won't buy them a mansion with a pool over there. Surely a lot of these people are just getting a free holiday? The entertaining/depressing twist on that show is how often it's a couple who are both on their second marriage and the woman is clearly a psycho who is trying to get the guy away from his kids with the ex. The kids getting interviewed is brutal "So are you excited about your Dad completely abandoning you?". 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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