Working in an office

[YorkshireRed]

@Rico1304 makes a lot of good points here. I guess the key will be providing choice (where possible) to employees that enables full time home working, full time office working or some kind of hybrid.

 

What choice the employee makes could be down to a number of things; e.g. career aspiration, work/life balance, daily commute, tasks that need completing, relationships that need building/maintaining and whether their are any fit birds in the office. 
 

As long as recruitment is good, performance management is done effectively and rewards are appropriate there should be no reason why this can’t happen. 

[Rico1304]

2 minutes ago, YorkshireRed said:

@Rico1304 makes a lot of good points here. I guess the key will be providing choice (where possible) to employees that enables full time home working, full time office working or some kind of hybrid.

 

What choice the employee makes could be down to a number of things; e.g. career aspiration, work/life balance, daily commute, tasks that need completing, relationships that need building/maintaining and whether their are any fit birds in the office. 
 

As long as recruitment is good, performance management is done effectively and rewards are appropriate there should be no reason why this can’t happen. 

You’ll be on a list now.  
 

Recruitment being good relies on recruiters not being the total fucking waste of skins that they are and HR departments not being the refuge of people who’ve realised they aren’t good enough to do a proper job.   

[Rico1304]

6 minutes ago, Sugar Ape said:

If everyone else was a square on zoom then why not? What are they going to do, not promote anyone ever? Maybe in some places it will increase people getting promoted based on their actual work and not if their face fits in. Or maybe people won’t have to move to other cities for a job that can now be done at home, there will be qualified people up and down the country who won’t apply for jobs because they can’t move due to family or caring commitments. 

 

I doubt many places will be 100% wfh anyway. Most will be a hybrid so people who wish to go in more often than being at home because they think it favours them getting a promotion can do so.

I agree that the pool of people available to do a job will increase. But I bet you million dollars the person who goes into the office and is ‘known’ will get the job over a zoom square every time.  Your network will become even more important and if you don’t invest in it you’re fucked.  Your output will have to be 100% better than everyone else to be noticed and it still won’t mean shit in a close race. 

[Sugar Ape]

7 hours ago, Strontium Dog™ said:

 

There's not much non-specialist stuff other than government and retail jobs up here. Plus it is dead easy and super cushy, where else can I stroll into the office whenever I feel like it and get six and a half weeks of leave a year.

I quit a job on a significantly higher wage than I’m on now to take this job. My previous job was stressful as fuck. I was working six or seven days a week and could go six months or more without any days off except for the odd Sunday. 
 

For a lot of people it’s not all about money and constantly striving to get promoted and I think some people of a certain mindset can’t get their head around that. 
 

I’ve dropped my working hours further the last few years because I have to look after my daughter and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. I’ve still got enough money to be comfortable and I’ve got loads more time to myself and to spend with my daughter. 
 

The other benefits of working in our place vastly outweigh any loss of wages, for me. The most holidays I’ve had in any job, no weekends or bank holidays in work ever again, I can start and finish whatever time I want every day, working from home. All of that is much more important to me than getting a bigger wage. 

[Sugar Ape]

5 minutes ago, Rico1304 said:

I agree that the pool of people available to do a job will increase. But I bet you million dollars the person who goes into the office and is ‘known’ will get the job over a zoom square every time.  Your network will become even more important and if you don’t invest in it you’re fucked.  Your output will have to be 100% better than everyone else to be noticed and it still won’t mean shit in a close race. 

That happens now anyway. People already get earmarked for jobs because their face fits or they get on with the boss or whatever. As SD has confirmed your ability to actually do your job well has no bearing on you getting a promotion or not in our place. Working from home ain’t going to change that. 

[YorkshireRed]

11 minutes ago, Rico1304 said:

You’ll be on a list now.  
 

Recruitment being good relies on recruiters not being the total fucking waste of skins that they are and HR departments not being the refuge of people who’ve realised they aren’t good enough to do a proper job.   

Also true and that comes from someone who spent twenty years working in HR and five working specifically for a recruitment business. 

[tokyojoe]

21 minutes ago, Rico1304 said:

You’ll be on a list now.  
 

Recruitment being good relies on recruiters not being the total fucking waste of skins that they are and HR departments not being the refuge of people who’ve realised they aren’t good enough to do a proper job.   

How. Fucking. True.

[Rico1304]

In a coincidence that would seem ridiculous in a film I’ve just bumped into someone I shagged at work 25 years ago.  She was my boss, a couple of years older than me and very, very fit.  2 years of grafting and groundwork meant she finally succumbed to my limited charms and I ended up back at hers pissed up and gave her the worst 5 mins of her life. Try doing that over zoom. 
 

(I was thinking the years haven’t been kind to her then I got in the car and looked in the mirror. She’s probably feeling ashamed of herself about now). 

[Sugar Ape]

10 minutes ago, Rico1304 said:

In a coincidence that would seem ridiculous in a film I’ve just bumped into someone I shagged at work 25 years ago.  She was my boss, a couple of years older than me and very, very fit.  2 years of grafting and groundwork meant she finally succumbed to my limited charms and I ended up back at hers pissed up and gave her the worst 5 mins of her life. Try doing that over zoom. 
 

(I was thinking the years haven’t been kind to her then I got in the car and looked in the mirror. She’s probably feeling ashamed of herself about now). 

To be fair that would make her about the same age as Stringy. 

[Rico1304]

11 minutes ago, Sugar Ape said:

To be fair that would make her about the same age as Stringy. 

I have no comeback.  

[Sugar Ape]

11 minutes ago, Rico1304 said:

I have no comeback.  

He doesn’t just kill your grannies he’s fucked them too.

[Bjornebye]

1 hour ago, Rico1304 said:

In a coincidence that would seem ridiculous in a film I’ve just bumped into someone I shagged at work 25 years ago.  She was my boss, a couple of years older than me and very, very fit.  2 years of grafting and groundwork meant she finally succumbed to my limited charms and I ended up back at hers pissed up and gave her the worst 5 mins of her life. Try doing that over zoom. 
 

(I was thinking the years haven’t been kind to her then I got in the car and looked in the mirror. She’s probably feeling ashamed of herself about now). 

Yeah she's on mumsnet 'anon' as we speak 

[Rick Sanchez C-137]

14 hours ago, Rico1304 said:

Do people advocating WFH think that getting a remote degree is the same?  

 

Is the same as what? The degree you get from bricks and mortar? Or the same as WFH, in some way?

 

I've done full time office and full time WFH.

I've done full time bricks and mortar university and full time remote Uni.

 

All possible and perfectly achievable with todays technology, and all their are ups and downs on each side. It mostly is down to personal choice/preference.

[mattyq]

I'll never do a job where they expect me in the office every day... fuck that

Companies that don't offer hybrid will suffer in their recruitment with obvious exceptions like Goldmans

[Section_31]

7 minutes ago, mattyq said:

I'll never do a job where they expect me in the office every day... fuck that

Companies that don't offer hybrid will suffer in their recruitment with obvious exceptions like Goldmans

It'll be interesting to see how companies factor flexible working into their offer and if that leads to any divides in demographic. In my next gig I want at least the choice of some sort of office working, I'd never work anywhere again that's fully remote, but by contrast there'll be loads of people that won't want any office work included at all. Will some companies start saying 'we've got an office with a canteen' as a way of selling the role? While others say 'we're fully remote'? And will you get one age group going to one company, and another to another?

[mattyq]

1 minute ago, Section_31 said:

It'll be interesting to see how companies factor flexible working into their offer and if that leads to any divides in demographic. In my next gig I want at least the choice of some sort of office working, I'd never work anywhere again that's fully remote, but by contrast there'll be loads of people that won't want any office work included at all. Will some companies start saying 'we've got an office with a canteen' as a way of selling the role? While others say 'we're fully remote'? And will you get one age group going to one company, and another to another?

That would deffo be a selling point with me - a good canteen is a thing of beauty

I agree with you... too many variables at the moment but pretty sure office working 5 days a week is dead in the majority of workplaces

[Rick Sanchez C-137]

Another idea for the future is smarter commuting. Large buses with tables, like trains, where you can "clock in" when you get on the bus, and similarly on your commute home. It would mean 2 hours commute working (for me), 6 hours in the office, rather than having commute seen like wasted time. I cant knowingly go back to wasting 10+ hours commuting a week.

[Rick Sanchez C-137]

Also, then kids are a certain age, say 6+, WFH means saving on childcare. You can do the school run, go back to work for a couple of hours while they just play/eat.

[Rick Sanchez C-137]

3 minutes ago, Colonel Kurtz said:

I met 2 of my 3 wives and numerous casual shags working in an office. For ugly blokes who rely on personality like me, it’s a god send. 

 

Hadn't thought of that. Because I'm so ugly that zoom filters will boost my chances.

[YorkshireRed]

It’s been an interesting read this thread today. I’ve learned a lot, mainly that the self confidence of several posters in regard to their personal aesthetics is low. 
 

You’re all beautiful in my eyes. It’s your personalities you should be concerned about. 

[Rico1304]

24 minutes ago, mattyq said:

That would deffo be a selling point with me - a good canteen is a thing of beauty

I agree with you... too many variables at the moment but pretty sure office working 5 days a week is dead in the majority of workplaces

When I first went down south to work at Centrica I worked for the Chairman.  The canteen there was more like a top class restaurant with everything cooked to order and silver cutlery.   There was also a bar.  I once got in the lift with a bloke restocking the wine.   I think he said there was about £15k worth on his little trolley. 

[Rick Sanchez C-137]

12 minutes ago, YorkshireRed said:

It’s been an interesting read this thread today. I’ve learned a lot, mainly that the self confidence of several posters in regard to their personal aesthetics is low. 
 

You’re all beautiful in my eyes. It’s your personalities you should be concerned about. 

 

I never denied being a cunt either in fairness.

[Kevin D]

20 hours ago, Sugar Ape said:

This has been my muted word list on Twitter for over a year. It’s also the reason I’ve got you on ignore on here you cunt. 

 

 

 

You call that an ignore list?

[AngryOfTuebrook]

18 hours ago, YorkshireRed said:

Also true and that comes from someone who spent twenty years working in HR and five working specifically for a recruitment business. 

I'll have to defend HR here. They do a lot more than just recruitment.  In our place, the HR team have had a cunt of a year, trying to sort out welfare issues, as people have been getting sick and dying. I've got a lot of respect for the way they've coped in horrible circumstances. 

[Sugar Ape]

I’m shocked the CEO of WeWork would think this. Shocked I tell you. 
 

 

Hot take on it from The Rash.