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Working from home - pros and cons

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EssexGonzo

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Those who argue they can work at home all the time are also effectively admitting their jobs can be outsourced abroad, so anyone who argues that could end up regretting it.

That's a more niche argument than it once was. I work for a firm with a huge offshore arm in the usual places. The business case for offshoring roles as part of a contract bid is getting smaller and smaller. Controls, oversight, regulatory requirements, client preferences - they're all tough nuts to crack for offshoring roles, even more so with homeworking.

Also, offshoring to India is beginning to look like this: UK-based (London) role can now be performed £10k p.a. cheaper with substantial homeworking needing fewer desks. India roles and people don't lend themselves to homeworking quite as well due to more densely populated housing in general, cultural views about office working and (this is a fact about criminal gangs rather than the staff) risk and fraud management. The cost gap between the two is about to narrow significantly. Having one's customer data viewable in overseas living rooms is not a big draw for large financial services, telecoms and other clients.

No gobby ******* next door having a loud 2 hour conference call.

OMG - I'd almost forgotten about that. Operating in a hotdesk world, there was always a high likelihood if finding Mr/Ms Gob****e!
 
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westv

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No, we hotdesk. Bring in our laptops, connect them to a monitor, then pack them up and take them home with us when the office closes.
Same thing really. The system is still switched off.
 

d9009alycidon

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I love working form home
1) I am saving £80 pcm on fuel costs and associated wear and tear to the car
2) I won't have to worry about heading out on dark mornings where there is the risk of snow and ice
3) I have a little more flexibility to be available for my wife's doctors appointments
4) I can do just as much on the laptop as I can at my desk.

Cons
1) I normally travel for supplier audits about a dozen times a year around UK and Europe, much of that involves train travel - miss that a lot
2) I miss access to the works laser printer for clandestine printing of Scalescenes Kits
 

nlogax

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Same thing really. The system is still switched off.
Not really. When we went into offices many of us would leave before schools ended for the day to avoid the traffic nightmare - and then we'd open our laptops at home to finish the working day. In my case, get into office for 7.30 - 8am, leave at 2.30pm, home by 3.15. Very few in my industry work 9 to 5.
 

al78

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The important part of this is "With many living a few steps from their offices, America’s always-on work culture has reached new heights." The same can't be said for all employers - certainly, it's a lot less so in many UK companies. As usual, many European companies are way ahead of us, with many companies enforcing a work/home balance through things like meeting requests outside of working hours being auto-rejected, Teams going to "No not disturb" at the end of the day or emails sent outside working hours not being delivered until the next morning.
Luxury. I am responsible for maintaining a public and business website and I can get contacted anytime if something falls over. E.g. 10 pm on a Sunday evening, or when I on leave. It is challenging to do website administration on a smartphone. I don't get paid extra for being on standby out of hours.

Not sure why. When you leave an office you switch your system off on your desk so I don't see why people don't do the same when at home - I do.
I don't always. If I have to run a job that takes hours I will run it overnight.
 

najaB

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Luxury. I am responsible for maintaining a public and business website and I can get contacted anytime if something falls over. E.g. 10 pm on a Sunday evening, or when I on leave. It is challenging to do website administration on a smartphone. I don't get paid extra for being on standby out of hours.
But that's quite different to a "regular" 9 to 5 office worker though.
 

al78

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But that's quite different to a "regular" 9 to 5 office worker though.
I am a regular office worker with regular in-office hours. My job is somewhat more complicated because I work in academia and my line manager many years ago started a business venture to bring in money. I've taken on the responsibility of all technical IT administration relating to this venture, hence if something IT related goes down, I have to get it back up asap, no matter where I am at the time.

If the website's that critical you should get an on call allowance.
Not going to happen, and is impossible. The business venture for which I am responsible for the IT administration is technically a failure, it brings in money but not enough, and is propped up by my line manager paying for the server rental out of his own pocket. He can't really do any better because he is effectively trying to do two jobs, manage a business and carry out the responsibilities of a full time university professor, so he literally has no time to bring in new clients. A couple of years ago I had to take a 40% pay cut because otherwise he would run out of money in a year, this eventually led to me going down to a four day week (why should I take a big pay cut and still work full time?).
 
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telstarbox

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I am a regular office worker with regular in-office hours. My job is somewhat more complicated because I work in academia and my line manager many years ago started a business venture to bring in money. I've taken on the responsibility of all technical IT administration relating to this venture, hence if something IT related goes down, I have to get it back up asap, no matter where I am at the time.


Not going to happen, and is impossible. The business venture for which I am responsible for the IT administration is technically a failure, it brings in money but not enough, and is propped up by my line manager paying for the server rental out of his own pocket. He can't really do any better because he is effectively trying to do two jobs, manage a business and carry out the responsibilities of a full time university professor, so he literally has no time to bring in new clients. A couple of years ago I had to take a 40% pay cut because otherwise he would run out of money in a year, this eventually led to me going down to a four day week (why should I take a big pay cut and still work full time?).
Sounds like a nightmare for both of you - what are the upsides?
 

D365

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Onboarding new starters to our teams has been hugely difficult this year. None of them have physically met any of their colleagues so far. Don't know about you but I can't imagine starting in a new company and not physically meeting anyone I'm working with for potentially the first full year of employment.
I get the feeling that this is partially why a number of post-university graduate jobs (originally due to start between May and September) that several of my acquaintances were offered, have been postponed until January 2021 the earliest. Not that I'm sure what difference it will make, as remote working will be a de facto for the foreseeable.
 

route101

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I get the feeling that this is partially why a number of post-university graduate jobs (originally due to start between May and September) that several of my acquaintances were offered, have been postponed until January 2021 the earliest. Not that I'm sure what difference it will make, as remote working will be a de facto for the foreseeable.

Mine was cancelled, they said they may transfer application over for next year, not sure what happens when next years new starts join! Next years scheme is open now for applications. I emailed saying im free for work experience and still interested. I guess they expect people like me to find something else! I've asked companies to do work experience and had they've said because of covid its not possible, its a role that requires site visits too !
 

najaB

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Don't know about you but I can't imagine starting in a new company and not physically meeting anyone I'm working with for potentially the first full year of employment.
It's going to be a reality for us. The business continuity team have decided to extend global WFH until April 1st. Just in my team we have at three techs whose 1-year work anniversaries are in March.
 

xotGD

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It's going to be a reality for us. The business continuity team have decided to extend global WFH until April 1st. Just in my team we have at three techs whose 1-year work anniversaries are in March.
Yes, a year without visiting the office is looking highly likely. I can't see myself returning until I have been vaccinated. Even then, will I really need to?

It is a very good job that I didn't leave any fruit in my locker!

Our team's Christmas drink has been arranged. Virtually. Using Teams. We're all in Tier 3.
 

D365

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Mine was cancelled, they said they may transfer application over for next year, not sure what happens when next years new starts join! Next years scheme is open now for applications. I emailed saying im free for work experience and still interested. I guess they expect people like me to find something else! I've asked companies to do work experience and had they've said because of covid its not possible, its a role that requires site visits too !
So they cancelling their 2020 starters but are hiring again for 2021, without giving you a guaranteed opportunity? I can see why graduate employers have delayed new starters into 2021, in order to work out how to make WFH work for everyone. But to cancel 2020 starters entirely sounds like a very poor way to treat those who've put so much hard work into their applications and interviews.
 

C J Snarzell

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I personally couldn't work from home full time.

I enjoy being 'out & about' and physically engaging with people at work instead of using Skype/Teams. I also feel more active and alert in the workplace and definately much more motivated.

I even miss the commute into the workplace - listening to the radio in the car and watching the world go by as you travel. Because I've worked mainly shifts most of my adult life - I've never really travelled during peak rush hours.

One thing I've learned during this recent lockdown - I cannot mentally cope with being in the house all day, every day. Some people are saving a fortunate in travelling expenses which is fine, but for me I'd rather spend that bit more money and be more mentally content.

CJ
 

route101

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So they cancelling their 2020 starters but are hiring again for 2021, without giving you a guaranteed opportunity? I can see why graduate employers have delayed new starters into 2021, in order to work out how to make WFH work for everyone. But to cancel 2020 starters entirely sounds like a very poor way to treat those who've put so much hard work into their applications and interviews.

They only said they may consider transferring my application over to next years, phoning them this week. I am looking for role at the moment but would be nice to have that as back up.
 

TravelDream

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It's a tough one, that's for certain. I think a lot of what has been written is right no matter which side you are on.
I'm in a bit of an unusual situation though I guess. I moved back to the UK in January after working overseas for several years. I worked for the same company overseas, though I am now in a slightly different role.

Negatives for me:
- I live on my own and really miss interacting with people. I can go days without seeing a soul.
- I have never met most of my colleagues face-to-face despite working for 11 months in my current team.
- I have never had a real onboarding/induction and still feel out of the loop with some of what's going on.
- It's amazing to think how much work is done with quick chats with people at the desk next to yours. If I have a little issue, it means contacting people through teams/ via email. Before I'd just have a quick chat with someone in the know. What took a minute now takes at least an hour and makes me feel a little embarrassed tbh (it's almost a year, not my first week!).
- Online meetings seem to go on and on and are far less productive than face to face. Sometimes I look at my calendar and wonder how it is so full when so little has been achieved.
- My hours are a lot more irregular. I can go days doing very little other than logging in yet, on others, I can work from 7.30am until 10pm or later. Overall, I am definitely doing less though.

Positives for me:
- I can work on the sofa wearing my PJs (I actually bought PJs so I could wear them to work!) whilst watching daytime TV. Not sure if this a positive, but I go days without shaving or wearing proper clothes.
- Saving time and money on commuting. Though for the last few years my commute was a 20 minute pleasant walk each way which I actually miss.
- No chance of popping into the cafe for a sandwich or coffee saving cash.
- I am still living in South Wales despite, supposedly, working in London.
- All these things mean I am financially a hell of a lot better off than this time last year.


I think a lot of businesses like mine will have a lot of tough decisions to make over the next couple of years. Productivity is definitely down overall, but WFH allows business to save a lot of money if they can jettison office space. There are lots issues with WFH outside of the obvious though. I do wonder whether we are going to go down to the whole team working from the office 2-3 days a week and from home the other 2-3.
 

najaB

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I do wonder whether we are going to go down to the whole team working from the office 2-3 days a week and from home the other 2-3.
That is going to be the case in a lot of businesses. My location, for example, had too much space for the staff (a planned expansion never happened) but the next smallest available unit in the building would have been too small.

Shifting to a model where no more that ⅔ are in office on any given day means that we could move and save on rental costs.
 

D365

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I can work on the sofa wearing my PJs (I actually bought PJs so I could wear them to work!) whilst watching daytime TV. Not sure if this a positive, but I go days without shaving or wearing proper clothes.
That’s pretty much what my housemate does. I’m starting a wfh job very soon, my biggest fear is ending up in a ”slump” and spending days inside the house without going out for exercise. For me it will be a case of being disciplined and separating work time from ”home” time.
 

Ianno87

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That’s pretty much what my housemate does. I’m starting a wfh job very soon, my biggest fear is ending up in a ”slump” and spending days inside the house without going out for exercise. For me it will be a case of being disciplined and separating work time from ”home” time.

You could 'disclipline' yourself by arranging video calls at 0900 each day?

Yes, you have to actively structure your day, both to "get going" in the morning and switch off at night. It does require some self-responsibility.

Down side is that days then easily become an endless series of calls!
 

The Ham

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That’s pretty much what my housemate does. I’m starting a wfh job very soon, my biggest fear is ending up in a ”slump” and spending days inside the house without going out for exercise. For me it will be a case of being disciplined and separating work time from ”home” time.

Something that some find useful is walking to and from work by leaving your house and then going back in to "go to work" and then doing the same to "go home" at the end of the day (not so pleasant this time of year though), as it gives you 5-10 minutes to give yourself separation between the two.
 
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