Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[Bairnardo]

11 minutes ago, Dons_1988 said:

Are many employers accepting less productivity? I suppose if that's the case then enforced return to work is more likely.

I think the reason it's likely here to stay is that productivity hasn't really suffered in certain sectors. Certainly my work has been fine.

Yeah I mean I doubt it applies to everyone. There have always been folk who could work just as well from home. I suspect there might be a "honeymoons over" moment coming for some though. 

[The Stig]

2 minutes ago, Bairnardo said:

Yeah I mean I doubt it applies to everyone. There have always been folk who could work just as well from home. I suspect there might be a "honeymoons over" moment coming for some though. 

you know that the middle management guys that love the feeling of power and that used to do f**k all before, will now be tasked with getting in depth analysis on the productivity of everyone working from home and the will love judging if they are doing enough.  

[Honest_Man#1]

I see this morning it’s been revealed that Edinburgh City Council had done the same as Aberdeen in telling the teachers to turn off the app. I wonder what the real scenario would be like in schools had they not been at it like this, given how bad it is anyway.

[mizfit]

I see this morning it’s been revealed that Edinburgh City Council had done the same as Aberdeen in telling the teachers to turn off the app. I wonder what the real scenario would be like in schools had they not been at it like this, given how bad it is anyway.

Is this whistleblowers releasing information? If it’s true they need to address it ASAP.

[super_carson]

5 minutes ago, Honest_Man#1 said:

I see this morning it’s been revealed that Edinburgh City Council had done the same as Aberdeen in telling the teachers to turn off the app. I wonder what the real scenario would be like in schools had they not been at it like this, given how bad it is anyway.

I can't say that I've been told that, so it may be a school by school thing. 

Edited November 12, 2020 by super_carson

[Rob1885]

See for the WFH contingent on here, this has been touched on before and opinion is somewhat split but I think the majority who can would like to continue WFH...

Is anyone worried now, with some light at the end of the tunnel in terms of regaining normality, that the attitudes of employers will change? Not only some who will enforce office return, but for those who allow WFH, as a choice rather than an enforced, do the best we can scenario during a pandemic. Does anyone think a return to higher productivity will result in higher demands, less slack etc for them personally?

In an ideal world it would be a choice for the employee. Can only speak from personal experience but it's been a bit of a mixed bag. 1 or 2 love it, 1 or 2 really have struggled and the rest see it as a means to an end but are looking forward to coming back in next year. Theres been no upshot, on the whole regarding productivity or a decrease in absence rates (despite an initial drop around May, June).

[D.A.F.C]

Must be tough for someone wfh to go back full time.
I struggled at first after only two months off.

[ICTChris]

This is the story about Edinburgh

https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/covid-scotland-edinburgh-teachers-told-19265668

My wife is a teacher in an Edinburgh school and she hasn't been told to turn the app off, as far as I know.  I guess there could be issues if people don't have their phone on them but could they not just tell you to turn your phone off if you don't have it on your person? 

In addition, today's Times has a story about the lobbying from Universities for the Scottish Government to allow the return of students.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/coronavirus-in-scotland-distancing-ditched-after-universities-frantic-lobbying-d6srd3mzb

I wonder how many cases can be traced back to this decision?  Hundreds, possibly thousands of students, have seeded the virus in communiities, many will have been significantly ill.  It's an absolute disgrace.  I can see people suing Universities for this.

Edited November 12, 2020 by ICTChris

[Dons_1988]

34 minutes ago, Todd_is_God said:

I think I read in the Metro yesterday that around 70% of employers had seen no increase in productivity.

Granted that doesn't mean a decrease, but it does cast doubt on the "WFH leads to increased productivity" line, with the obvious caveat that it may not be a fair test due to circumstances.

I doubt it would increase productivity, but if you can maintain it and also significantly reduce your cost base from running a large office then companies will do it. I suspect my work will be moving to going into office to meet up in teams as and when you need, once a week/fortnight etc. Whether that's sustainable to be paying for a large office that very few people use full time remains to be seen.

I would say that if companies are seeing things drop off/folk obviously taking the piss then they'll be hooked back in.

[D.A.F.C]

This is the story about Edinburgh
https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/covid-scotland-edinburgh-teachers-told-19265668
My wife is a teacher in an Edinburgh school and she hasn't been told to turn the app off, as far as I know.  I guess there could be issues if people don't have their phone on them but could they not just tell you to turn your phone off if you don't have it on your person? 
In addition, today's Times has a story about the lobbying from Universities for the Scottish Government to allow the return of students.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/coronavirus-in-scotland-distancing-ditched-after-universities-frantic-lobbying-d6srd3mzb
I wonder how many cases can be traced back to this decision?  Hundreds, possibly thousands of students, have seeded the virus in communiities, many will have been significantly ill.  It's an absolute disgrace.  I can see people suing Universities for this.

Calling the uk response to this a disaster would be a compliment.

[Michael W]

I'll be delighted to go back into the office. Utterly fed up of working at home which is not set up brilliantly for work, but is tolerable. It's a means to an end and putting everyone back in will put us back where we were in March. Sounds a bit daft, but I really miss is going into town to buy my lunch. 

Then again, my commuting costs are low. Were I still paying £5k a year for my season ticket then I would not be wanting to go back any time soon. Similarly the employer angle is the unknown - my company is vacating the lease on a small number of offices and people in those locations will move to home working, but the rest are (at least for now) remaining open. How much money will this save us is essentially the determining factor and if productivity hasn't suffered or the effects are marginal, money will win. 

 

[effeffsee_the2nd]

23 minutes ago, Dons_1988 said:

I doubt it would increase productivity, but if you can maintain it and also significantly reduce your cost base from running a large office then companies will do it. I suspect my work will be moving to going into office to meet up in teams as and when you need, once a week/fortnight etc. Whether that's sustainable to be paying for a large office that very few people use full time remains to be seen.

I would say that if companies are seeing things drop off/folk obviously taking the piss then they'll be hooked back in.

I only switched to an office job from one where I had to physically be there in mid august, barring the first couple of weeks bedding in I've never actually been there which is weird to say the least,  so far it has been pretty sound, barring scheduled online meetings we don't need to follow the clock like we would if we were there. we can within reason fill the day as we see fit so long as the work is done, other departments however have been getting monitored and told to work exactly as they would in the office including tea and lunch breaks which I thought was mental .  I asked about the rules on working remotely ie from anywhere in the world as some other companies have allowed,  definitely a no no as we stll have to be available to come in in person if requested,  also got a slight slip from a manager who said " AT THE MOMENT , there's no requirement for you to do your wfh at your primary address ( the one that HR has for your details) but that may become a thing once HSE get involved"

couple of downsides, every day is the same, I feel slightly couped up and it's hard work me and the mrs( also wfh) being in the same space 24/7

Edited November 12, 2020 by effeffsee_the2nd

[101]

38 minutes ago, Honest_Man#1 said:

I see this morning it’s been revealed that Edinburgh City Council had done the same as Aberdeen in telling the teachers to turn off the app. I wonder what the real scenario would be like in schools had they not been at it like this, given how bad it is anyway.

I think a lot better considering the biggest risk to the classroom environment is the teachers having Covid. This is a disgrace from the councils.

[Steven W]

1 hour ago, Paco said:

ICT themselves have always targeted the home match against Raith on November 21st. I presume there’s a bit of box ticking to get through and they were caught a bit off guard. Shouldn't have been - Highlands were always likely to be Tier 1. To that extent they've had a couple of weeks notice Elgin have the added complication of being the first team to work with terracing rules. True in that they're the first, but again plenty notice. And hardly insurmountable.

In practice what real differnce does a terrace make. You can only do so much - admit X amount of fans (X to be determinded by SFA), put a ton of signage up, make all games all ticket, have adequate stewarding etc 

Ross County on the other hand had already done the work for the Celtic game in September, and so had fans in last Friday. So after a succesful pilot event, why the same amount for their next game? And still only 300 for the game v Stirling on Saturday.

Or alternatively, it’s all some sort of SFA and wee Nippy conspiracy for unknown reasons that we should be completely outraged about. Or that the SFA are a shambles??

When pubs were allowed to open on 15th July, you know what? They opened on 15th July

Edited November 12, 2020 by Steven W

[8MileBU]

1 hour ago, Bairnardo said:

See for the WFH contingent on here, this has been touched on before and opinion is somewhat split but I think the majority who can would like to continue WFH...

Is anyone worried now, with some light at the end of the tunnel in terms of regaining normality, that the attitudes of employers will change? Not only some who will enforce office return, but for those who allow WFH, as a choice rather than an enforced, do the best we can scenario during a pandemic. Does anyone think a return to higher productivity will result in higher demands, less slack etc for them personally?

I’m in this boat as my role is semi-office based, but since March my office days have been from home as the building I’m normally based at has been limited to essential staff only and the office sections of the building re-purposed “temporarily but for the foreseeable”. To be fair my employer (or at least in my department) has been totally understanding of the challenges and distractions whilst working from home and also pro-active in respect of what we actually do, with numerous jobs/projects given priority and others put on hold. Think it helps that my department head has a couple of teenage kids so he understands the reality and challenges of prolonged working from home. However, to answer your question; I fully expect employers attitudes will change as the pandemic situation improves and I’m fairly confident they’ll be very aware of where and who has had a significant drop in productivity, but how they manage that moving forward will no doubt differ by manager/department/roles.

Personally, I am keen to return to the office as I prefer having my office desk and chair, miss my colleagues and the ease of having a verbal conversation and look at things together as opposed to trying to share information via email, calls, Skype or MS Teams. The main disadvantage of enforced WFH for me is that we often need to look at PI&D drawings which are often large A1 size sheets and often next to impossible to read on a screen when scaled down and/or scanned to PDF format. 

Tbh, I’ve never been a big fan of working from home anyway and normally only use that option when it’s essential for me (i.e childcare, waiting on a delivery or tradesman etc), or on the very rare occasion I have an easy day I might WFH so I am available if required but can use the easy day to catch up on some tv or get stuff done about the house.

[die hard doonhamer]

My work are expecting us to be part office and part home based when the offices reopen properly. I really don't enjoy the working from home, but I think I would be much happier with it if I was in the office a day or two a week. The other issue with it all id IT equipment. To get set up at home we just cleared our desks of everything and walked out of the door. If the expectation is that that equipment would return to the office and we'd be left with only laptops to work on at home, then there is no chance I'd be doing that.

[John MacLean]

Got into work this morning to be told that because someone who came into my office last Friday without wearing a Facemask has subsequently tested positive for Covid that I now have to self isolate. 

Abundance of self pity right now. I've been fortunate enough to get to the football. That's now gubbed. I can't get out for exercise and it's my birthday on Saturday. But I'm just one many that have to deal with this kind of thing and I don't have any symptoms. Nor does my partner. 

Of greater concern though is a medical issue that has been hanging over me since March - one of these previously routine hospital referrals that were cancelled - and after waiting 8 months for an appointment that appointment was due on Monday. Now cancelled because some ignorant individual didn't bother to show respect for others and wouldn't stick a bit of cloth over their face for a few minutes. 

To finish my rant. Show consideration for others and wear a fucking facemask. 

Edited November 12, 2020 by John MacLean

[mizfit]

My work are expecting us to be part office and part home based when the offices reopen properly. I really don't enjoy the working from home, but I think I would be much happier with it if I was in the office a day or two a week. The other issue with it all id IT equipment. To get set up at home we just cleared our desks of everything and walked out of the door. If the expectation is that that equipment would return to the office and we'd be left with only laptops to work on at home, then there is no chance I'd be doing that.

You just reminded me I need to check my internet speed.

Must admit I’m not looking forward to returning. I got rushed out the door so quick in March I don’t think I got the chance to clean my mug...

[Donathan]

Moderna vaccine trial results to be announced within a week

[Steven W]

13 minutes ago, John MacLean said:

Got into work this morning to be told that because someone who came into my office last Friday without wearing a Facemask has subsequently tested positive for Covid that I now have to self isolate. 

Abundance of self pity right now. I've been fortunate enough to get to the football. That's now gubbed. I can't get out for exercise and it's my birthday on Saturday. But I'm just one many that have to deal with this kind of thing and I don't have any symptoms. Nor does my partner. 

Of greater concern though is a medical issue that has been hanging over me since March - one of these previously routine hospital referrals that were cancelled - and after waiting 8 months for an appointment that appointment was due on Monday. Now cancelled because some ignorant individual didn't bother to show respect for others and wouldn't stick a bit of cloth over their face for a few minutes. 

To finish my rant. Show consideration for others and wear a fucking facemask. 

I faced a simliar scenario myself a month or so ago. I, and you, aren't entitled to a test until you / we start showing symptoms. I thought then, and still do, that this is where Test & Protect could be vastly improved. Especially as we're nearly a year into this thing