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Coronavirus


Bjornebye

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The reason I posted the thread wasn’t really about whether people enjoy working from home (from most surveys I’ve seen, the majority prefer it), it was more that big companies have seen over a prolonged period that it works, it saves them money, it allows them to choose from a wider range of people and there is no going back. It’s going to be the biggest change we see from the pandemic, along with the look and feel of our big cities.

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48 minutes ago, Brownie said:

I genuinely don’t know how I feel about working from home. I do miss the craic from being in the office to a degree but at the same time I like the flexibility that working from home offers you. And I used to hate working from home; I suppose we just adapt?

 

From the conversations I’ve had with my boss (who is a charlatan so I never really believe a word he says) he thinks it will be a case that people will generally work from home going forward with the odd day in an office for specific meetings/get-togethers.

 

I’d be fine with that.

 

Some of the senior managers used to have a Nazi-like attitude to people working from home so it’s been interesting to see that evolve over time.

 

Yeah I  think the model was moving towards 'flexible' before Covid anyway to be honest, the idea of offices outside the big cities where people could hot desk, come in for meetings then go home, I'd be happy with that too. 

 

Some of the people I know though are working from home all day on their own and have screen monitor technology so their employer can see what they're doing. Imagine a population doing that for five years? Fuck me, kill me now. 

 

 

 

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8 minutes ago, Vincent Vega said:

The reason I posted the thread wasn’t really about whether people enjoy working from home (from most surveys I’ve seen, the majority prefer it), it was more that big companies have seen over a prolonged period that it works, it saves them money, it allows them to choose from a wider range of people and there is no going back. It’s going to be the biggest change we see from the pandemic, along with the look and feel of our big cities.

 

The 'choosing from a wider pool of people' opens up a worrisome Pandora's box though, I'm thinking about all the Indian software developers who'll build you a website for three quid and how that impacted IT contractors over here, if that type of employers' mindset gets opened up to other roles too, fuck know where that'll end.

 

Loads of companies in LA were casting their net far and wide for freelancers last year because California introduced a bill which gave people based in that state some kind of employer rights if they'd worked for someone for a while, so basically you or me could write a blog for a company there but people who lived there couldn't.

 

If something like that gets out of hand, the idea of moving to a city or a country for a job will be old hat. I really don't know how it's gonna pan out. 

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53 minutes ago, Section_31 said:

 

The 'choosing from a wider pool of people' opens up a worrisome Pandora's box though, I'm thinking about all the Indian software developers who'll build you a website for three quid and how that impacted IT contractors over here, if that type of employers' mindset gets opened up to other roles too, fuck know where that'll end.

 

Loads of companies in LA were casting their net far and wide for freelancers last year because California introduced a bill which gave people based in that state some kind of employer rights if they'd worked for someone for a while, so basically you or me could write a blog for a company there but people who lived there couldn't.

 

If something like that gets out of hand, the idea of moving to a city or a country for a job will be old hat. I really don't know how it's gonna pan out. 

Yeah there would need to be decent legislation to stop some companies taking the piss. I think the majority of good companies would like to actually get to see their employees from time to time, so I don’t think it would be a massive issue.

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1 minute ago, Rico1304 said:

They’ll probably go into teaching. The shit ones will do TEFL. 

haha - that's what I did before I discovered sitting about in an office pretending to do IT was even easier and better paid.

 

Wasn't all bad - teaching a class of 18 year old Czech girls for 2 hours each day when I was 21 was a highlight. Certainly better than staring at a screen all day.

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13 minutes ago, M_B said:

haha - that's what I did before I discovered sitting about in an office pretending to do IT was even easier and better paid.

 

Wasn't all bad - teaching a class of 18 year old Czech girls for 2 hours each day when I was 21 was a highlight. Certainly better than staring at a screen all day.

 

Did you?

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3 hours ago, Jairzinho said:

What will happen to the hundreds of thousands of middle managers who it is becoming abundantly clear to all have absolutely no fucking purpose whatsoever?

A career in politics awaits...

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3 hours ago, Jairzinho said:

What will happen to the hundreds of thousands of middle managers who it is becoming abundantly clear to all have absolutely no fucking purpose whatsoever?

 

43 minutes ago, Rico1304 said:

They’ll probably go into teaching. The shit ones will do TEFL. 

 

Haha damn, this is some passive-aggressive stuff right here.

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3 hours ago, Vincent Vega said:

The reason I posted the thread wasn’t really about whether people enjoy working from home (from most surveys I’ve seen, the majority prefer it), it was more that big companies have seen over a prolonged period that it works, it saves them money, it allows them to choose from a wider range of people and there is no going back. It’s going to be the biggest change we see from the pandemic, along with the look and feel of our big cities.

There is definitely some interesting conversations to be had. Are these global giants going to retain massive office blocks in prime locations? They will want the option of the physical presence and probably will need to have the capability to have everyone in at the same time but paying today's rates for what will be 30%-40% occupancy can't be a runner. How the developers/investors react is anyones guess,  these blocks are generally owned day pension funds and the likes, they can't possibly expect to receive todays rate going forward. Same with shopping centres, there is a huge change on the way. It has the opportunity to revive small towns if done right. 

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40 minutes ago, No2 said:

There is definitely some interesting conversations to be had. Are these global giants going to retain massive office blocks in prime locations? They will want the option of the physical presence and probably will need to have the capability to have everyone in at the same time but paying today's rates for what will be 30%-40% occupancy can't be a runner. How the developers/investors react is anyones guess,  these blocks are generally owned day pension funds and the likes, they can't possibly expect to receive todays rate going forward. Same with shopping centres, there is a huge change on the way. It has the opportunity to revive small towns if done right. 

 

Our place just took out a decade long lease on two whole floors of offices in a city centre location, 6 months before this shit. Just awful timing.

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51 minutes ago, No2 said:

There is definitely some interesting conversations to be had. Are these global giants going to retain massive office blocks in prime locations? They will want the option of the physical presence and probably will need to have the capability to have everyone in at the same time but paying today's rates for what will be 30%-40% occupancy can't be a runner. How the developers/investors react is anyones guess,  these blocks are generally owned day pension funds and the likes, they can't possibly expect to receive todays rate going forward. Same with shopping centres, there is a huge change on the way. It has the opportunity to revive small towns if done right. 

That'd be great- where I am now is pretty much a dormer village for Glasgow and Edinburgh. 15 years ago it had 3 thriving pubs and a few decent cafes and local shops. All the pubs have closed now, the last one went a few months before the pandemic. The shops have changed hands God knows how many times and the only one that's stayed in business is the ScotMid (Co-op) and that's only through people popping in to buy booze or stuff for tea.

 

If most people are going to be working from home permanently from now on, it'd be great to see local businesses re-establishing themselves, with people popping out for a pub lunch or the cafe, and having a look round a couple of local shops from time to time, then maybe deciding to go to the pub at night as well. There's certainly enough people here for them to be viable.

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42 minutes ago, No2 said:

There is definitely some interesting conversations to be had. Are these global giants going to retain massive office blocks in prime locations? They will want the option of the physical presence and probably will need to have the capability to have everyone in at the same time but paying today's rates for what will be 30%-40% occupancy can't be a runner. How the developers/investors react is anyones guess,  these blocks are generally owned day pension funds and the likes, they can't possibly expect to receive todays rate going forward. Same with shopping centres, there is a huge change on the way. It has the opportunity to revive small towns if done right. 

 

The chat around the socially distanced water cooler is that a sizeable proportion of office space will be converted into residential space and that discussions are already underway regarding feasibility and costs. 

 

Watch this space.

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