Return to normality - a double edged sword?

[Alex C.]

If you fix the problem of public transport being so badly affected by the scaremongering campaign from the Government, and reassure people that it's safe to use again, and employers retain flexibility with working practices (which I'm sure a good proportion will) then is it not possible that we'll see a reduction of cars on the roads, a more reasonable number of commuters for the capacity we have, a better performing railway (the performance figures have been the best every - and if we can afford to reduce capacity slightly, we can operate a more sensible timetable for the infrastructure in place), which in turn leads to lower energy usage, a more pleasant commute for those who want to travel and people having a work life balance which suits them?

It's optimistic and idealistic but I don't see why this can't happen long term.

 

[Bikeman78]

I think there are quite a few people hoping to do a partial work from home, my sister is hoping to do one day at home out of five. I cannot work from home but for me that's a good thing, hate being stuck in the house and enjoy the company of colleagues at work.

I've just started going back to the office and it's great. Especially in this heatwave as it has air con.

 

[Richard Scott]

Are you really claiming that none of the lockdown measures have in any way been improvements?


How about the fact that there were virtually no cars on the roads for weeks, allowing many less confident cyclists and pedestrians to properly get out, and vastly reducing levels of noise?

How about the extra free time that many people were afforded?

How about the vastly reduced energy consumption and therefore environmental benefits associated with it?

Are these not things you'd want to keep?

I hate most of lockdown, but there are a number of things that I want as they are now, or even as they were several weeks ago.

All fabulous I'm sure but what about those of us with worse mental health? Absolutely great, I'm sure you'll agree?

 

[bramling]

I've just started going back to the office and it's great. Especially in this heatwave as it has air con.

I was wondering about that today whilst I sat alone in my office which maintained a constant 19 degrees all afternoon, how much productive home-work got completed today? Likewise how many people would be happy with the effect air conditioning would have on their domestic electricity bills?

The grass is always greener very much springs to mind.

 

[Alex C.]

I was wondering about that today whilst I sat alone in my office which maintained a constant 19 degrees all afternoon, how much productive home-work got completed today? Likewise how many people would be happy with the effect air conditioning would have on their domestic electricity bills?

The grass is always greener very much springs to mind.

Everyone is going to be different - I like to have a fan on me pretty much any day, even in winter, as I like to be as cool as possible but it's generally not practical in an office with hot desking. Using the fan next to an open window at home rather than fighting over the air conditioning temperature in an open plan office certainly seemed the better option today... that's without the shirt/tie dress code in the office vs tee-shirt/shorts at home.

 

[MikeWM]

I was wondering about that today whilst I sat alone in my office which maintained a constant 19 degrees all afternoon, how much productive home-work got completed today? Likewise how many people would be happy with the effect air conditioning would have on their domestic electricity bills?

The grass is always greener very much springs to mind.

I think that one does swing both ways. If I had my own office at work at 19 degrees, yes I'd want to be there But our office aircon is set to a *minimum* of 23, and people are always moaning that this is still too cold and turning the thermostats up higher, often to levels I find quite unbearable.

At home I've bought my own aircon unit which was rather useful today - kept my main, fairly large room a pleasant 21 degrees all day. And the cost to run it all day is around £3 - less than I'd pay to commute, and only on extreme days like today is there any need to run it for hour after hour; usually a quick blast suffices.

 

[BJames]

Just wanted to ask that someone in this thread's poll voted for "keep the lockdown regulations" - if this wasn't an accidental vote I would be interested to hear your views and why, if you're willing to share.

At home I've bought my own aircon unit which was rather useful today - kept my main, fairly large room a pleasant 21 degrees all day. And the cost to run it all day is around £3 - less than I'd pay to commute, and only on extreme days like today is there any need to run it for hour after hour; usually a quick blast suffices.

I will certainly be investing in an air con unit for my room at home. London's heat today was incredibly uncomfortable for me.

 

[MikeWM]

I will certainly be investing in an air con unit for my room at home. London's heat today was incredibly uncomfortable for me.

Make sure to get one that vents to the outside (via a hose) and preferably dehumidifies too. They're not cheap - I paid about £450 for mine - but the cheaper ones that don't vent are effectively just an expensive version of running a fan over an ice bucket, moving air around but not doing a whole lot of cooling.

 

[Yew]

It seems Kirstie Allsopp has been berated by a few on the internet, she was saying that people working at home should get back as soon as they can, based on the fact if you can work at home with no issues, then you / or someone can work at home overseas and for a lot less money, and that she would be concerned for her job long term, by working from home instead of an Office

Concerning news as politicians have been working from home the last few months!

 

[BJames]

Make sure to get one that vents to the outside (via a hose) and preferably dehumidifies too. They're not cheap - I paid about £450 for mine - but the cheaper ones that don't vent are effectively just an expensive version of running a fan over an ice bucket, moving air around but not doing a whole lot of cooling.

Thanks for the advice. I'll get looking at some point soon and try and find something half decent. Will set aside the money I have saved during lockdown, as unlike some of my friends, I have not been enthusiastically online shopping

 

[LAX54]

Concerning news as politicians have been working from home the last few months!

Think there are certain jobs that do not lend themselves to being overseas but insurance companies and the like, well those that have not already partially gone, with more people doing everything online, and have forgotten what a stamp is, they could well 're-locate' !

 

[birchesgreen]

Think there are certain jobs that do not lend themselves to being overseas but insurance companies and the like, well those that have not already partially gone, with more people doing everything online, and have forgotten what a stamp is, they could well 're-locate' !

Workers can relocate too, if home working becomes a common thing. People will no longer be constricted by geography and home ties, indeed my company has just hired a new senior manager who will be working remotely from Kent most of the time, just coming up to Brum once or twice a month. They've never hired like that for such a position before and i suspect they've gone for it as they've seen how WFH didn't bring about the apocalypse.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Make sure to get one that vents to the outside (via a hose) and preferably dehumidifies too. They're not cheap - I paid about £450 for mine - but the cheaper ones that don't vent are effectively just an expensive version of running a fan over an ice bucket, moving air around but not doing a whole lot of cooling.

You can get a proper "wall wart" fitted (why do the manufacturers not make any effort to make them look nice?) with an outlet in your room if you want, though that'll cost more. Problem with that being that the external unit can be noisy and so your neighbours may hate you.

 

[philosopher]

Just wanted to ask that someone in this thread's poll voted for "keep the lockdown regulations" - if this wasn't an accidental vote I would be interested to hear your views and why, if you're willing to share.

I will certainly be investing in an air con unit for my room at home. London's heat today was incredibly uncomfortable for me.

This could be another issue for WFH. Who should pay for stuff like this, the employee or the employer? If you do not use your home for work and invest in air con, obviously you should pay for it. However if you invest in air con to make WFH more comfortable, then you could argue that your employer should be paying for it.

 

[Bletchleyite]

This could be another issue for WFH. Who should pay for stuff like this, the employee or the employer? If you do not use your home for work and invest in air con, obviously you should pay for it. However if you invest in air con to make WFH more comfortable, then you could argue that your employer should be paying for it.

That's an interesting one that probably sits in a similar sphere to company cars vs. using your own and claiming mileage. But as many such people are going to be saving a packet on commuting, putting some of that into a home working environment yourself doesn't sound unreasonable.

 

[MontyMinerWA]

I was wondering about that today whilst I sat alone in my office which maintained a constant 19 degrees all afternoon, how much productive home-work got completed today? Likewise how many people would be happy with the effect air conditioning would have on their domestic electricity bills?

The grass is always greener very much springs to mind.

If you're judged on your performance like I am you work as hard at home as you do at work. However it was great to be able to take my laptop into the garden yesterday.

 

[Bletchleyite]

If you're judged on your performance like I am you work as hard at home as you do at work. However it was great to be able to take my laptop into the garden yesterday.

It's not really feasible the way our industry works, but I'd actually love to be paid on "piece work", then I could choose how hard to work and be paid accordingly.

 

[yorksrob]

For me: 2019 normal however with a minor change:

Banning domestic flights (except those to Northern Ireland and islands cut off from mainland UK such as Isles of Scilly), and short distance international flights (such as those to Paris, Amsterdam or Brussels, for example) and having more trains to replace them. That way, international (and long distance domestic) travel can be kept like before, but in a more ecologically and environmentally sustainable way. Instead of more unnecessary domestic / short distance international flights, we should have for example: more Cross Country trains (and electrification) for domestic travel, and more Eurostar trains to more destinations (maybe Bordeaux or Frankfurt, or even all the way as far as Spain or Italy?) on the European mainland for short distance international travel.

And, hopefully, in about 20-30 years time, having the Japenese Shinkansen L0 Series maglev supersonic speed trains (the one that reached the world speed record of 603 km/h) replacing long haul flights! They can apparently go 643-804 kmh - that's only 100 km/h less than a regular plane in flight! Although of course building the infrastucture can be very difficult and very expensive, costing billions, if not trillions of money. Especially if you want to build a route across the Atlantic Ocean...

Presumably they'd have to insert a section every few years to take account of mid-atlantic drift !

 

[yorksrob]

Better to go back to 2019 normal, then decide what we want to change, rather than just accept changes that have been forced upon us by the pandemic.

 

[Jamiescott1]

So many concerts and events rescheduled until next summer. Will these be able to take place ?

 

[philosopher]

Presumably they'd have to insert a section every few years to take account of mid-atlantic drift !

Weekend engineering work would be quite a frequent occurrence for that tunnel!

 

[AdamWW]

Better to go back to 2019 normal, then decide what we want to change, rather than just accept changes that have been forced upon us by the pandemic.

Yes. But using what we've learnt during the pandemic about what works and what doesn't to guide those descisions.

 

[yorksrob]

Yes. But using what we've learnt during the pandemic about what works and what doesn't to guide those descisions.

I'm assuming we get to the stage when the pandemic has ended and the threat from the virus, if not neutralised, brought down to that of other comparable conditions.

 

[jtuk]

I'm assuming we get to the stage when the pandemic has ended and the threat from the virus, if not neutralised, brought down to that of other comparable conditions.

We have been at that stage for months

 

[AdamWW]

I'm assuming we get to the stage when the pandemic has ended and the threat from the virus, if not neutralised, brought down to that of other comparable conditions.

Sorry - I didn't mean what we learnt about coronavirus, I mean what we learned from changed behaviour, e.g. how well home working as gone for those who didn't do it before, how much people have enjoyed being able to cycle on car-free roads etc.

 

[yorksrob]

We have been at that stage for months

I take your point, although that's not universally accepted at present.

Sorry - I didn't mean what we learnt about coronavirus, I mean what we learned from changed behaviour, e.g. how well home working as gone for those who didn't do it before, how much people have enjoyed being able to cycle on car-free roads etc.

And those are precisely the things that should be properly evaluated on their own merits, rather than being aquiesced to on account of being the status quo.

 

[yorkie]

If you're judged on your performance like I am you work as hard at home as you do at work.

That's great news for you, but the reality for many people is very different.

However it was great to be able to take my laptop into the garden yesterday.

Quite! Lockdown is a luxury, and it’s a luxury that the middle classes are very much enjoying.

Social distancing and covid secure measures aren't wrecking the economy.

They are extremely damaging to certain sectors of our economy; some of these areas may not be able to recover if we do not get back to normal reasonably soon.

 

[Ian Cunningham]

Social distancing and covid secure measures aren't wrecking the economy.

They are, however, crippling certain sectors - Events, live music and especially theatre are financially unviable even at 1m distancing. This sector is worth billions to the UK economy in itself but also drives additional spend in other areas (eg travel, hospitality, tourism, hotels). We're currently shut by government decree with no timescale for restarting. There's support for venues to stop them going bankrupt but nothing for the (largely self-employed) workforce or teh companies in the supply chain

There's a whole industry at risk of complete collapse along with the collateral damage (eg the pubs, bars and restaurants in London's West End are in real trouble without the audiences from the surrounding theatres)

 

[AM9]

Better to go back to 2019 normal, then decide what we want to change, rather than just accept changes that have been forced upon us by the pandemic.

Major events have changed all sorts work/leisure issues over the centuries. Each time, there's no going back just to find out that the rest of the world has moved on. Eventually the inertia of some in society is just ignored.

 

[Scrotnig]

Major events have changed all sorts work/leisure issues over the centuries. Each time, there's no going back just to find out that the rest of the world has moved on. Eventually the inertia of some in society is just ignored.

The trouble is those previous changes generally didn't involve near -totalitarian micro-managing of everyone's daily lives.