Dunning1874 Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 11 hours ago, Todd_is_God said: Good job we are preventing travel to keep new variants out. We can ditch that nonsense then... However This “Yorkshire variant” carries three mutations associated with other variants of concern: E484K, which is also found in the South African variant and can in theory lessen the effect of vaccines; N439K which is also associated with immune escape; and P681H, which is in the Kent variant and linked to greater transmissibility. Why should we be concerned by a strain which contains mutations that the vaccines handle in their sleep? Enough of this bullshit. "In theory" doing Sisyphus amounts of lifting in that sentence. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
effeffsee_the2nd Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 23 minutes ago, Billy Jean King said: I've had an email 3m ago from one branch of my LA work to say after a workplace review my staff are now regarded as "hybrid" and as such we will only be able to access an office for essential reasons (basically accessing systems too secure for home networks). All our work will basically be WFH and we will be issued with new contracts to this effect with details of an appeals process for those who feel they fall into specifically identified categories that may enable a very few individuals to return in very specific circumstances. Certainly never saw that coming and although it's only part of my work persinally and I have always had an element of home working , we have a good number of staff who have publicly stated if this ever did happen they couldn't cope so it looks like being a fraught day. I had always assumed if this was to happen it would be on a personal decision level but it appears it's a blanket end to office work as we knew it. I'm sure the pubs, cafes, kiosks etc that relied on the office staff for business in Ayr, Irvine etc will be gubbed by this. my work has made clear that when the pandemic is over they will be expecting all office staff to return the the office full time. probably outliers on the other end of the spectrum no one likes us we don't care! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Jean King Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 my work has made clear that when the pandemic is over they will be expecting all office staff to return the the office full time. probably outliers on the other end of the spectrum no one likes us we don't care! We kinda expected that too but rumours seemed to grow legs recently culminating in today's announcement. Meeting later about it (should have been more consultation imo first) but it looks like a done deal. As with every walk of life in this shit show some staff will be delighted some will be devastated, it will force a few to leave and those in the middle will just shrug and get on with it. Seems the appeals process will focus on those physically not able to WFH for good as opposed to the mental health implications.If you had presented this scenario to me 18mths ago I would have branded you a lunatic fantasist ! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd_is_God Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 6 minutes ago, Snafu said: At what number is the population vaccinated regarded as majority? Or is the idea of a majority percentage down to opinion? In terms of first doses we are already there. The last (barely) credible delaying tactic is to continue pretending the first dose doesn't do anything, and that you need two doses to be protected. From a UK perspective, we are at 39.3% of all adults / 31.8% of the population. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
effeffsee_the2nd Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 6 minutes ago, Billy Jean King said: We kinda expected that too but rumours seemed to grow legs recently culminating in today's announcement. Meeting later about it (should have been more consultation imo first) but it looks like a done deal. As with every walk of life in this shit show some staff will be delighted some will be devastated, it will force a few to leave and those in the middle will just shrug and get on with it. Seems the appeals process will focus on those physically not able to WFH for good as opposed to the mental health implications. If you had presented this scenario to me 18mths ago I would have branded you a lunatic fantasist ! yeah, i have a desk and chair and 32" monitor in the house to use and thats only for part time WFH, i wouldn't fancy it 5 days a week and it would put me off applying for a job where that was the expected norm, f**k knows what it would be like for those on the kitchen table 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hk blues Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 2 minutes ago, effeffsee_the2nd said: yeah, i have a desk and chair and 32" monitor in the house to use and thats only for part time WFH, i wouldn't fancy it 5 days a week and it would put me off applying for a job where that was the expected norm, f**k knows what it would be like for those on the kitchen table I've been working from home for about 4 years now - the most important thing is to be able to close the door between the working space and living space and keep them both physically and mentally separated. Not everyone can do that though as you say. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin_Nevis Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Billy Jean King said: I've had an email 3m ago from one branch of my LA work to say after a workplace review my staff are now regarded as "hybrid" and as such we will only be able to access an office for essential reasons (basically accessing systems too secure for home networks). All our work will basically be WFH and we will be issued with new contracts to this effect with details of an appeals process for those who feel they fall into specifically identified categories that may enable a very few individuals to return in very specific circumstances. Certainly never saw that coming and although it's only part of my work persinally and I have always had an element of home working , we have a good number of staff who have publicly stated if this ever did happen they couldn't cope so it looks like being a fraught day. I had always assumed if this was to happen it would be on a personal decision level but it appears it's a blanket end to office work as we knew it. I'm sure the pubs, cafes, kiosks etc that relied on the office staff for business in Ayr, Irvine etc will be gubbed by this. The same is happening here. We have had 2 or 3 hilarious consultation sessions which are to give staff the impression that they actually have any say in this. I'll be in some sort of hybrid situation as well, office-based 2 days, home for 3 which I can just about accept. The sessions were laughable with folk trying to convince us that every communication issue could be resolved through MS Teams, but ignoring that our IT infrastructure is shite and has fallen over f**k knows how many times in the last year. The icing on the cake was my link to a video appeal tribunal crashing several times thanks to our shite provision, and me posting an absolute rant about it on our work social platform. This caught the attention of IT's Head of Service who had a total meltdown and complained to my manager. I'm not surprised all our senior managers love WFH. They have plenty of space and perform almost exclusively back office functions. If you're dealing with the public it's much harder. One of our clerical assistants has been WFH since last March in the kitchen of her 2 bed flat with 2 young kids at home and was at the end of her tether until the safety lot allowed office access again. Total nonsense. Edited May 21, 2021 by Day of the Lords 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mizfit Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 The same is happening here. We have had 2 or 3 hilarious consultation sessions which are to give staff the impression that they actually have any say in this. I'll be in some sort of hybrid situation as well, office-based 2 days, home for 3 which I can just about accept. The sessions were laughable with folk trying to convince us that every communication issue could be resolved through MS Teams, but ignoring that our IT infrastructure is shite and has fallen over f**k knows how many times in the last year. The icing on the cake was my link to a video appeal tribunal crashing several times thanks to our shite provision, and me posting an absolute rant about it on our work social platform. This caught the attention of IT's Head of Service who had a total meltdown and complained to my manager. I'm not surprised all our senior managers love WFH. They have plenty of space and perform almost exclusively back office functions. If you're dealing with the public it's much harder. One of our clerical assistants has been WFH since last March in the kitchen of her 2 bed flat with 2 young kids at home and was at the end of her tether until the safety lot allowed office access again. Total nonsense. I was in a meeting this week where we’d been told it would be a hybrid and no one would be allowed to remain at home every day but would need to come in at least once a week. One guy in the meeting though basically said in his eyes we should all be in the office and kept saying he wants social distancing in place and all in the office. Despite being told we don’t have the space. I’m happy enough with a day or 2 a week officebased. I’ve got quite used to my routine now working from home. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Aldo Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 I'm working from home permanently and I'm quite happy with it. The main thing for me is it saves a good hour at each end of the day as well as around £120 a month given I no longer have to commute.I'm quite fortunate in having a spare bedroom I can work out of which I've sort of turned into an office. I can understand that folk might not be so keen if they're working from the couch or the kitchen table or wherever. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elixir Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 This Brexit Tory Government wants greater freedom of movement than Devi and the 'progressives' who fawn over her. Let that sink in. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Left Back Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 6 minutes ago, Day of the Lords said: The same is happening here. We have had 2 or 3 hilarious consultation sessions which are to give staff the impression that they actually have any say in this. I'll be in some sort of hybrid situation as well, office-based 2 days, home for 3 which I can just about accept. The sessions were laughable with folk trying to convince us that every communication issue could be resolved through MS Teams, but ignoring that our IT infrastructure is shite and has fallen over f**k knows how many times in the last year. The icing on the cake was my link to a video appeal tribunal crashing several times thanks to our shite provision, and me posting an absolute rant about it on our work social platform. This caught the attention of IT's Head of Service who had a total meltdown and complained to my manager. I'm not surprised all our senior managers love WFH. They have plenty of space and perform almost exclusively back office functions. If you're dealing with the public it's much harder. One of our clerical assistants has been WFH since last March in the kitchen of her 2 bed flat with 2 young kids at home and was at the end of her tether until the safety lot allowed office access again. Total nonsense. I haven't a clue what my works policy will be at the end of this but out of the goodness of my heart if there are people at my work in the same situation as your clerical assistant I'd volunteer to give up any allocated days in the office so they can have my desk. There will be no need to thank me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael W Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 34 minutes ago, hk blues said: I've been working from home for about 4 years now - the most important thing is to be able to close the door between the working space and living space and keep them both physically and mentally separated. Not everyone can do that though as you say. Living space is definitely the key differentiator. I'm soon to be moving house in which there is room for a separate office. At the moment I'm in the bedroom and also have a two year old running around the flat three of those days. I have largely hated homeworking as a result. Mentally, it is just very hard to separate work and home life given I am spending just about my entire day in one room. Our offices are now open but we've to book a desk and that's what I'll be doing at least a couple of days a week. I can't think what it's been like for those in flat shares round a kitchen table. The decisions on this are of course made by those who almost without exception live in houses with plenty space. Even if I were staying in this flat hybrid would be fine, but 100% remote I think would drive me up the wall. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin_Nevis Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 4 minutes ago, mizfit said: I was in a meeting this week where we’d been told it would be a hybrid and no one would be allowed to remain at home every day but would need to come in at least once a week. One guy in the meeting though basically said in his eyes we should all be in the office and kept saying he wants social distancing in place and all in the office. Despite being told we don’t have the space. I’m happy enough with a day or 2 a week officebased. I’ve got quite used to my routine now working from home. I'm happy being office based 2-3 times a week. It's also good for my partner. Although our flat is decent-sized, it's still only a 1 bed studio affair and I don't have a dedicated separate room i can work in. Indeed going by the WFH pre-pandemic guidance, I shouldn't be WFH at all as we are supposed to have locking storage cabinets at home and a dedicated room etc. I expect the rules will be changed over the coming weeks. WFH saves me f**k all as i live literally 500 metres from the office 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingscot Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 I have a flat which I converted a spare bedroom into an office after doing the dining table approach for months. It's less than ideal but it works fine for me. My commute was short anyway, but it will be good for others with longer commutes. I'm pretty sure we will be going back to mostly office based. I think it is OK for people on occasion or a day or two a week, but overall it doesn't really work permanently. Some people have really struggled with it, training younger staff members is harder and productivity is not as good- probably down to all these teams calls! Last summer loads were keen on being more home based but opinion shifted over the winter as this dragged on! I suspect a lot of firms will use this as a 'cost saving' to dispense their expensive offices. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hk blues Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 21 minutes ago, Michael W said: Living space is definitely the key differentiator. I'm soon to be moving house in which there is room for a separate office. At the moment I'm in the bedroom and also have a two year old running around the flat three of those days. I have largely hated homeworking as a result. Mentally, it is just very hard to separate work and home life given I am spending just about my entire day in one room. Our offices are now open but we've to book a desk and that's what I'll be doing at least a couple of days a week. I can't think what it's been like for those in flat shares round a kitchen table. The decisions on this are of course made by those who almost without exception live in houses with plenty space. Even if I were staying in this flat hybrid would be fine, but 100% remote I think would drive me up the wall. I'm lucky as I live in a big enough house where I can work upstairs undisturbed all day and then close the door and go downstairs and not need to go upstairs until next morning. This "overnight" move from office-based to WFH was a necessity but more work needs to be done before companies jump in with fixed policies on continuing it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheScarf Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 I'm using the spare room at home too. Had to buy a desk as the dining table is fairly small and shite. I hate WFH and try to come up with any excuse to go into the office. I enjoy the getting up, putting smart clothes on, driving to work and interacting with folk, rather than sat in a t shirt and jogging bottoms and not seeing anycunt all day. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Connolly Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 I'm sure any money saved by having people work from home rather than maintaining city centre offices will be redistributed across wages 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
effeffsee_the2nd Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 I noticed a big shift in peoples attitudes over the winter, which i predicted last summer, There was definitely a honeymoon period that was bound to wear off after the social isolation dragged on and on, 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hk blues Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 2 minutes ago, Mark Connolly said: I'm sure any money saved by having people work from home rather than maintaining city centre offices will be redistributed across wages Won't employees be looking for allowances for WFH if it becomes a permanent feature though? The companies I worked for in the past (15 years ago) always paid allowance for home-based employees. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDoddyKane Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 If working from home becomes the norm then people will be wanting to buy houses with a spare/room office or if possible some extension/office Wages ofcourse wont go up to accomadate Some of the loudest pro home office in past i know are now dreading it if it becomes full time. It was great when they could choose what days they worked from home and when they did no one else was working from home at same time. Nothing worse either than having a day off through the week only to find yourself having to listen to someone working from home 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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