Office Jobs and WFH Policies: Early 2024 Status Check

jrowls on 01/02/2024 - 15:06

My employer is currently heading toward a full-time return to the office. I keep hearing from the higher-ups that 'everyone is doing it now'.

For reference, I'm a consultant in a relatively small company, 99% of the time our jobs are desk work only (occasional fieldwork). We were previously 3-4 days office, 1-2 WFH, which I much preferred.

Thought I'd reach out and do a little vibe check with the fine and frugal folks here on OzB. First time doing a poll here (I think?) but not my first time conducting a poll. Hopefully this works correctly.

Discussion starters:

  • What's your workplace doing?
  • Has it changed recently?
  • What's the vibe among the staff?
  • In [present time], would you look to change jobs if required to be in the office full time?
  • What industry are you in? What's your role?
  • What would your ideal scenario be?

Poll Options

  • 488
    A. My employer/boss/team is completely flexible (office attendance at employee's discretion).
  • 92
    B. My employer/boss/team requires minimum 1 day per week office attendance.
  • 256
    C. My employer/boss/team requires minimum 2 days per week office attendance.
  • 387
    D. My employer/boss/team requires minimum 3 days per week office attendance.
  • 38
    E. My employer/boss/team requires minimum 4 days per week office attendance.
  • 114
    F. My employer/boss/team requires full time office attendance.
  • 72
    G. My employer/boss/team doesn't have a set approach, determined per individual agreement.
  • 8
    H. My employer/boss/team doesn't have a set approach, determined by seniority/position.
  • 101
    I. The question doesn't apply to me whatsoever; but I wanted to participate in the poll.
Education & Work

Comments

    • Jolakot on 02/02/2024 - 20:51
      +3

      That's what really bugs me, companies downsize to hotdesking and wonder why the in-office culture sucks and why nobody can focus there.

      • reactor-au on 03/02/2024 - 09:05
        +1

        It's worse if have 2 or 3 screens and large sit-stand desk with comfortable chair at home then at the office you have to use whatever substandard setup is available.

  • mskeggs on 01/02/2024 - 16:00
    +32

    Please urge them to insist on return to office.
    My 100% flexible employer is hiring outstanding staff who are leaving these arrangements, and saving on CBD rent.
    We have several people who have moved up the coast, log on to the stand up at 8:45am with wet hair from a morning surf.
    I go for a walk through the bush most lunch times.
    Anybody not pulling their weight is pretty swiftly exposed.

    When I think back to full time office presentation in big corporates, the staff not pulling their weight were pretty evident then, too, but poor managers felt ok about it for some reason.

    I sometimes see "watch out, if you can work remotely, you can be outsourced." To which I say, I worked in telco for 17 years while the industry head count shrank 80%. If I could be outsourced, my bum on a seat wouldn't have made the least bit of difference.

    • Dollar General on 01/02/2024 - 16:10
      +24

      Yeah those threats about your role being outsourced if you can work from home are ridiculous. If a business can outsource your role for cheaper or whatever the reason, than they will regardless if you work from home or not

      • freefall101 on 01/02/2024 - 18:16
        +4

        The kind of managers who demand people come back to the office are also the least likely to want to deal with the timezone differences, "funny accents" and the logistical issues of onboarding someone they can't even interview.

        My job won't be outsourced because the process I work in can't be outsourced - there's too much local hands on and local knowledge required (even if I'm not the one doing that hands on work). Outsourcing my role by itself would piss everyone else off more than it'd save them money.

      • Bobby Hill on 01/02/2024 - 20:11
        +6

        If a business can outsource your role for cheaper or whatever the reason, than they will regardless if you work from home or not

        This 100%!

        A full-time office attendance role is in no way safer, let alone a "guarantee", that your job is safe.

        The fact of the matter is that no job is safe. And if you can find a role that provides you with an extra unit of peace and well-being, go for it.

    • o53djz7qTPY4der on 01/02/2024 - 16:15
      +21

      Same… I can get up, go for a ride, have family breakfast, drop kids at school and still log on at 9am. At lunch, I can lay in the back yard or go for a walk. It's great. If my employer decided that I need to be in a CBD office 5 days a week, I'd leave. It's honestly not worth it.

    • tharlow on 02/02/2024 - 03:31

      Anybody not pulling their weight is pretty swiftly exposed.

      Just a reminder to be a little extra careful when sending naked pics

    • ippy on 02/02/2024 - 17:54

      Anybody not pulling their weight is pretty swiftly exposed.

      You work for the big T? Your managers must run your team well then. Can't say the same for mine

      • mskeggs on 02/02/2024 - 17:58

        Not in Telco anymore, but Telstra seems to be a place where there are many people coasting and a few carrying the load.

        • ippy on 02/02/2024 - 18:03
          +2

          Oh for sure, the 20/80 rule def applies but the worst part is the 20/80 rule in addition to the offshoring, like so what was the point of offshoring?

  • Ozbar Gain on 01/02/2024 - 16:21
    +14

    I'm at the office 50% of the time. All my work can be done remotely. There is no single day where my entire team is in the office at once, so we still need to do video call meetings. What's the use of even commuting to the office in the first place then?

    Having said that, I've got a cushy job and being able to WFH half the time makes the chances of me jumping ship a whole lot less

    • geekcohen on 01/02/2024 - 16:35

      All my work can be done remotely. There is no single day where my entire team is in the office at once, so we still need to do video call meetings. What's the use of even commuting to the office in the first place then?

      This was like my previous role and it was a nightmare trying to co-ordinate audio and mics on the call.

    • reactor-au on 03/02/2024 - 09:09

      This has been the case with my team as well, told to go back to office once a fortnight, tried it but then argued there was no point going to the office to have video meetings with other departments. Can't have the whole company at the office at the same time because of hot desking.

    • smartazz104 on 05/02/2024 - 09:05
      +1

      Nothing like being asked to come into the office and then spending your day in Teams meetings.

  • coffeeinmyveins on 01/02/2024 - 16:35
    +24

    People who are pushing a return to the office ALWAYS have some vested interest in it that goes against what most people want I've found.

    If you look at any news article about 'we need to return to the CBD' it's always sponsored by…..commercial real estate owners.

    No company in their right mind WANTS to have a CBD office. They are expensive as hell, you need to stock them with benefits and things like that. It makes sense to have staff that are productive that WFH.

    • hasher22 on 01/02/2024 - 17:52
      +4

      *Middle management shakes fists at you

    • altomic on 01/02/2024 - 18:36
      +3

      If you look at any news article about 'we need to return to the CBD' it's always sponsored by…..commercial real estate owners.

      But they feel so empty and unfilfilled in their polyester suits and leased 5 year old Audi's

      • coffeeinmyveins on 02/02/2024 - 09:40
        +5

        EXACTLY. Employees who wfh want to be paid for doing as little as possible, and employers who pay wfh employees want them to be accountable

        Employees who wfh want to be paid for doing as little as possible

        Yeah no duh, why should I work more for the shareholders and boss to get rich when I don't see any extra? The idea of working your ass off for someone else to get rich is such a boomer mentality.

        and employers who pay wfh employees want them to be accountable

        Right. Accountability has nothing to do with working from home. If you can't trust your people to do a good job without standing over them in an office, you are a bad employer.

      • ESEMCE on 02/02/2024 - 10:24

        This attitude says way more about you than it does about anyone who does WFH.

        Back here in the real world, it's irrelevant whether you're WFH or WFO.

        Employees who wfh want to be paid for doing as little as possible, and employers who pay wfh employees want them to be accountable

        fixed it for you…

    • Nebargains on 02/02/2024 - 14:40
      -1

      I think that is conspiracy nonsense to be honest. There are legitimate reasons that some people should be in the office, it is not always because of "real estate and cafes", why would any business owner give a crap about a cafe down the street from their office?

    • smartazz104 on 05/02/2024 - 09:05

      Now now, some people just like the taste of boot.

  • JIMB0 on 01/02/2024 - 17:45
    +7

    My job is hands on so I never got to work from home. It was great when all the office people were not there. Things ran better as they weren't there to get in the way. No traffic to and from work was also a bonus.

  • Brick Tamland on 01/02/2024 - 19:29
    +2

    Honestly, I could not go back to full-time work from office Mon-Fri 9-5.

    Currently 3 days in the office with maybe full WFH option available soon. Even with full flexibility I'd still be happy to work from office 2 or 3 days a week. 5 days in the office is murder though

  • sticky8anana on 01/02/2024 - 20:11

    I signed up for yearly parking at my office building since November last year when they announced they would make everyone come back to work min. 4 days a week and then now they said they would delay the final decision indefinitely lol
    It costs around 60 bucks/week not bad considering a private outdoor car park nearby costs $11/day
    My team is pretty upset when they heard about the 4-day. now they just laugh at me.

    • webtonmoy on 03/02/2024 - 22:00

      11/day is 55/week, considering 5 work days. Didn’t understand how you are saving (had to ask in the OzBargainer spirit)

  • nomoneynoproblems on 01/02/2024 - 21:38
    +2

    Those that are pushing for full time in the office and want to leave, have a look at some APS roles. They’re basically 80% wfh and I’m jelly.

    • Ghost47 on 01/02/2024 - 23:19
      +4

      And most of the time you don't even have to do any work.

  • miwahni on 01/02/2024 - 22:24
    +7

    My team was doing one day per week in the office with the rest WFH. This increased recently to two days per week, and 40% city attendance is now a KPI and will feed into our performance reviews. I find I achieve less on those two days but it's nice to catch up with team members in person. Not sure why the mandate, as productivity all round suffers.

    • kerfuffle on 02/02/2024 - 06:02
      +4

      This is why I like my role. Boss is in another state that doesn’t have a campus so don’t see why I need to go into the office if they aren’t 🫠

      • HollyT92 on 02/02/2024 - 13:04

        This is the way

      • miwahni on 03/02/2024 - 02:09

        We've just been notified of some new hires starting on Monday. One of these lives in a different state. I'm guessing this person won't be forced to make the commute twice weekly and I will be really annoyed if he is exempt.

        • serpserpserp on 03/02/2024 - 08:29

          Should this person catch flights twice a week to your office? Is that what you want from them?

        • Ghost47 on 03/02/2024 - 18:20
          +1

          You can always look for a fully remote job yourself if you don't want to commute.

  • iridiumstem on 01/02/2024 - 22:44
    +2

    I do WFH 3 days a week, but I was hoping to push for more days in the office. I personally cannot do working from home, too much distraction and I simply cannot maintain my focus (and it's terrible for my mental health).

    I am not saying this reasoning applies to everyone, but I think there are benefits of working from the office for some people.

    I frankly think it's better if they have a flexible arrangement and let the workers decide what works best for them. After all, I feel like meeting KPI is all that the workplaces should be interested and that does not necessarily depend on whether you are at home or working from the office.

    • hasher22 on 01/02/2024 - 23:35

      I agree with you as everyone is different, but can you request or just go in the office on your own accord if you're in the office 2 days a week?

      • iridiumstem on 02/02/2024 - 14:23

        The thing that makes it bit difficult with me is that we don't have an office that we use for full week. They are renting out a space for those days that I need to work from office (and we settled on 2 days). I probably could have dug my heels in, but it wasn't worth it (it would have been costly, and I personally don't think it's worth the hassle).

        It's kinda a luxury that I am given that I am sure others would like to have that actually isn't working out for me unforuntately.

  • Inertia-g on 02/02/2024 - 07:40
    +2

    I voted that my work requires 3 days per week, but it is a bit aspirational. They had been trying to implement the policy for a while, but kept pushing it back whenever a covid outbreak occurred, but they assure us they will be implementing the policy for sure! nowish. My specific work location (tiny subsidiary of a massive company) cares a lot less - we are a company of about 70 developers, and as soon as they didn’t have to associate in person, they went home, and I doubt they will ever come back to the office more than a day or two a week.

  • Bob Svargis on 02/02/2024 - 08:53
    +9

    Mine has asked for 1 day per fortnight (software company), but if you're young and in a dev team, you're expected to be in the office at least once a week if not more, depending on your team. And I think that's good for the young graduates because it's really the best way to mentor them.

    I'm not a software dev however, but I do go in twice a week because I need the sanity (even though I'm not a people person, it makes certain conversations so much easier and I pick up information that I wouldn't normally be able to get if I was cocooned in my home all the time). It gives me sanity. When I move out of the city to the coast in about 18 months I'll probably drop that to once a week, which is what most people seem to be doing in my org.

    I left a role 16 months ago because they fully abolished WFH - I was a manager with 6 reports there and I fully supported WFH for the 2 years during Covid by implementing twice-daily stand up calls (cameras ON), regular catch-ups and just general "are you OK?" calls unscheduled such as "Hey mate, just calling for a chat, is there any work stuff you want to cover off?" even if they didn't specifically ask - but we'd inevitably spend just as much time talking about non-work stuff. I saw that as a worthwhile investment of my time. When you're in the office managing people, you can tell if someone is struggling - well, I could - most decent managers should be able to. However you have to find other ways to do that when you've implemented WFH.

    So with WFH you have to figure out other ways to provide that human touch, so to speak. I see a manager's role as part servant too, so it's our job to proactively look out for our staff and if that means you have to change the way you work to accommodate WFH, then that's what you need to do. I still believe that a day or two in the office each week is necessary. I'm not managing staff in my new role but the level of information I pick up from conversations with others whilst in the office outweighs the inconvenience of going in for the day.

  • Powershopz on 02/02/2024 - 09:10

    What's your workplace doing?
    Varies by employee/role. Entry-Mid level managers are required to be in the office 5 days a week. Senior and above are flexible and generally do 3 days in the office.

    Has it changed recently?
    No. Has been the status quo for 2 years.

    What's the vibe among the staff?
    Most mid-level managers are annoyed and would like to WFH 1-2 days a week. Senior roles are happy with the 3/2 split.

    In [present time], would you look to change jobs if required to be in the office full time?
    Yes, if I was told I had to be in the office full time, I would swap companies the next time something decent came up. Would only sacrifice WFH for a big pay bump.

    What industry are you in? What's your role?
    Hospitality/Tourism. Business Improvement Analyst/Consultant.

    What would your ideal scenario be?
    100% WFH with the option to go into the office at employees discretion.. Would probably go in 1-2 days a week.

  • 2esc on 02/02/2024 - 09:13
    +3

    My wife is doing a 6 month contract doing housing applications due to her previous contracts work output doing the same job she was allowed to work from home.

    But if your a fulltime employee you must work in the office the Victorian government wants its staff back in the office so you spend money in the local shops.

    No one in the office is anywhere near her in processing applications due to office distractions she saw that when she did a couple days training in the office.

    They require a accuracy of 80% or better my wifes accuracy is 98% or better and her output is 80% higher in number of applications processed.(No distractions at home).

    In her particular work working from home is far superior to working in the office.

    • Brianqpr on 02/02/2024 - 10:26

      Similar to my experience, get far more done at home.

  • The Hawk on 02/02/2024 - 09:18
    +1

    Our policy is three days, our local agreement is two days, the historic reality has been closer to one, but that's changing.
    There is a drive to bring people back in (for the three days) despite the acknowledgement that our users are mostly engaged via video calls/phone.

    On one hand we need to accept it, but it's hard to see the point when people are travelling up 1 - 2 hours in each direction to sit at a desk with a headset on… I mean, my dog isn't going to pat herself :P

    • Randolph Duke on 02/02/2024 - 09:52
      +5

      If you don’t care about your job, sure.

    • eek on 02/02/2024 - 10:00
      +1

      If you can somehow magically outsource your role to a lower cost center link Chennai or something without people finding out, sure! Pocket the profit, manage the subcontractor and keep watching your movies :D

    • Brianqpr on 02/02/2024 - 10:23
      +1

      Maybe for lazy bastards (who would still be lazy in the office anyway) but I am far, far more productive at home. I have to plan around office days because I know I'll get next to nothing done on those days.

      My nephew works for CBA in a HR type role and several times had to do productivity studies comparing WFH with onsite. Every time they found no loss of productivity, therefore the bank had to change tack and talk about collaboration etc to force people back 50% of the time.

      You sound like the Murdoch press who keep sniping at WFH because they want their mates with interests in property trusts to make more money.

    • miicah on 02/02/2024 - 11:57
      +4

      If your output is that bad that you can sit around all day watching movies and not get fired, I doubt you being in the office or not would help.

    • jrowls on 02/02/2024 - 12:10
      +3

      You should see if they’re hiring at Hoyts!

      Obviously you like movies, but you’re already projecting pretty hard - might as well get paid for it.

    • skidexa on 02/02/2024 - 17:04

      If you're able to get away with all that with put the company knowing, then that is pretty bad management

    • mousie on 03/02/2024 - 16:06

      I just book a meeting room and use a personal device to game and watch movies, and say I'm off to a meeting on my days in the office. /s

    • smartazz104 on 05/02/2024 - 09:17

      Speak for yourself Mr. Jobless.

  • Dreamcast on 02/02/2024 - 09:56

    Have to be back in 50% the time.

  • eek on 02/02/2024 - 09:58

    Recommended 2 days in the office for my role. Not linked to any KPI's, also just a recommendation. Downsized the office space to about 1/4 the size of the actual work force in my city, so the entire workforce cannot all be in the office at the same time. Reduced overheads as a bonus. Most of my projects and clients are interstate anyway. Global engineering consultancy firm in various industries. Our office has adopted a flexible working arrangement.

    • Brianqpr on 02/02/2024 - 10:18
      +1

      Yeah our company took the opportunity to give away/lease out two floors.

  • Brianqpr on 02/02/2024 - 10:18
    +1

    Our broader company has a two day a week policy, however our team has an agreement to only go in once a fortnight which suits me just fine.

  • kiriakoz on 02/02/2024 - 10:30
    +1

    We’re unofficially supposed to go in 2 days per week. My team is quite small so it feels like nobody enforces it, acknowledges it or even cares.

    I do go in twice per week still as I like doing so. I get most of my work done in the other 3 WFH days so I use the other 2 days for meetings, networking, catching up with people or generally socialising.

  • choosk on 02/02/2024 - 11:00
    +1

    NSW state govt employee here - currently don't have any mandates or guidelines about working in the office.

    I still to rock up to my CBD and Parramatta offices at least twice a week because I like the people working there, but I have some peers and colleagues that haven't been into the office in the last 6 months.

  • intelseb on 02/02/2024 - 11:28
    +1

    full time wfh here - im a programmer though

  • deme on 02/02/2024 - 13:00
    +2

    My employer is currently heading toward a full-time return to the office. I keep hearing from the higher-ups that 'everyone is doing it now'.

    Sounds abusive

  • Turd on 02/02/2024 - 13:24

    They want me to return 1 day a 2nd alteranating week

    But I have been only in the office maybe once for a meeting since 2019.

    Must said Ive been there already 20+ years. so not like they gonna miss me

  • AngusD on 02/02/2024 - 14:07
    +1

    I selected 2 days a week, although it's actually 40% in the office. It's measured across a month, not a week. Bonuses are dependent on hitting the 40%, although for those purposes they measure it as 40% across the whole year so missing the target for 1 month doesn't blow your bonus out of the water if you make it up another month.

    Doesn't bother me, I generally go in 3-4 days a week and was doing that even before they made the 40% mandatory so for me it's actually good as it provides a very easy KPI for me to hit.

  • Nebargains on 02/02/2024 - 14:30
    +1

    Our office is technically quite flexible, they do have a set policy of ~15 days a month, however it is absolutely not enforced or tracked and pretty much everyone remains fully flexible but I find that the majority still come in ~3 days a week or more. Some never come in though, I haven't seen my boss in 2 months (I go in to the office all the time, he almost never comes in).

    What's your workplace doing?
    Policy is something silly like 15 days a month.

    Has it changed recently?
    Zero communications for nearly 12 months.

    What's the vibe among the staff?
    Pretty good, Monday to Thursday the office is very busy, Friday is very quiet, a majority of people come in 3 days a week or thereabouts and I never hear any complaints about it because all the people that don't want to come in are WFH. I do hear from some managers though that their teams are not coming in when they have previously arranged to come in on the same day.

    In [present time], would you look to change jobs if required to be in the office full time?
    Nope, quite enjoy going to the office and interacting with other humans in person. I would probably change jobs if it was full time WFH or the office culture was non existant.

    What industry are you in? What's your role?
    Not specifying the industry but in IT.

    What would your ideal scenario be?
    As it is now, flexibility. Working in IT I feel like I have always had the ability to WFH, was pretty common before Covid.

    • jrowls on 02/02/2024 - 14:34

      Thanks for sharing your detailed answer, mate. I'd be very happy with your exact situation, personally. I don't think full time WFH is for me.

      I adore going in on Fridays. Commute is great, office is dead, usually have a beer after knockoff with like the one or two other people there.

      As you mention, I reckon the biggest turning point for putting management against WFH is when people mix up their days too often. I can see where they're coming from - it's hard to plan from a social etc perspective in that environment, but at the same time, being able to change days is the best thing about WFH for me. I can book appointments or whatever when I need to, not when it fits my schedule.

      • Nebargains on 02/02/2024 - 15:05
        +1

        I think whether you like who you work with and the length of your commute probably plays a big part in whether people like the office or not.

        For me my commute is only 45-50 minutes each way, for some that is really long but for me that is really short. I've also known a few of my colleagues for 10-15 years so when I go in I am already catching up with mates.

        The flexibility is good, some weeks I go in 5 days, others only 2,3 or 4 and sometimes not at all.

  • JDogg1329 on 02/02/2024 - 15:46
    +4

    So far completely flexible, I WFH 5 days a week and only go in occasionally. My commute was 60kms a day so I'm saving at least $3k a year in fuel, and have approximately 21 days more free time not spent driving to/from work

  • lddv04 on 02/02/2024 - 16:33
    +2

    My boss, "You need to be in the office at least 3 days per week".
    My colleagues, "Meh, make me!"
    Consequences? None!

    • liongalahad on 04/02/2024 - 04:42
      -2

      These kind of entitled people make me sick to the core
      Honestly, I am hoping for a recession to come and hit hard, bring the unemployment rate back to a healthier level and put this nonsense to sleep once and for all

      • smartazz104 on 05/02/2024 - 09:18

        Should see a doctor about that weak stomach of yours.

  • Antikythera on 02/02/2024 - 18:06

    what about a "the question does not apply to me whatsoever, but i did not want to participate in the poll" option?

    • jrowls on 02/02/2024 - 18:39

      Everyone who doesn’t answer the poll is doing that by default! 😂

      • Antikythera on 02/02/2024 - 22:15

        you are neglecting the "this question does apply to me, but i did not want to participate in the poll" group.

        of course the poll should reflect 0 for both groups +/- statistical error.

        • jrowls on 02/02/2024 - 22:20

          ah, now that point i will cede! very good. and what valuable data i am missing out on!

  • mskeggs on 02/02/2024 - 21:01
    +2

    An article in the paper today tries to bravely say the worst is over, except the vacancy rate is the worst since the 1990s and there is a bunch of new builds coming online with only 50% leased.
    Oops.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/two-empty-bank-off…

    Return to office is desperately over played as the real estate investors beg for tenants.

  • drprox on 02/02/2024 - 21:22
    +1

    2 days is the request here but it's not at all enforced so a bit of the first option too. I try do 2 days because I think it's good for me to leave the house and I figure if I do the 2 they won't ask for 3…

  • furyou on 02/02/2024 - 22:07
    +3

    In my experience, when anyone says 'everyone is doing it', they have no idea about 'it' at all.

  • Vool on 03/02/2024 - 01:10
    +1

    My manager has always been against WFH because parts of our job need to be done in person (IT), but just got an email the other day saying upper management wants him to get us WFH one day a week.

    The office as a whole has a 2 day WFH option, but it's down to department managers to approve.

    • serpserpserp on 03/02/2024 - 07:58

      IT? Unless you are physical tech support/hardware tech or a salesman I would have thought IT work can be done anywhere.

  • serpserpserp on 03/02/2024 - 07:56
    +1

    I'm in an interesting position at the moment. Being headhunted for a role, pays more money, would be a good career opportunity, but they have less annual leave (standard 4 weeks vs my current 5 and a half weeks) and also I know they'll mandate at least 3 days in their CBD office. Where as for my current team nothing is mandated, we agree as a small team to come in one day a week (but if you don't show, no biggie) and everyone at work has no problems with WFH (except the odd senior manager or boomer worker bee) but I don't work directly with them.

    The flexibility in my job currently I value so much.

  • IM-Cheap on 03/02/2024 - 09:01

    None of the managers all the way up to the GM enjoy commuting to the office if not required. They do prefer if there is an important meeting we physically show up as teams discussions can lag and mandate that we show up for corporate events but other than that its use your judgement when you need to be in the office - <10% show up daily and office is normally at 1/4th capacity.

  • emblurr on 03/02/2024 - 09:07
    -1

    Work in IT. Still work from home full time. Means I can do paid dog sitting at the same time. Life's great.

  • Ricktheroller on 03/02/2024 - 09:49

    Working in IT and we can work max 2 days per week from home. Recently moved to a new office with a hot desk arrangement where there aren't enough desks for all of us to be in office on the same day, I'd say it's here to stay. Problem is they want to increase the size of our team but keep to 2 days a week from home, there isn't enough space for more people…

    I like it, cutting out the commute and being able to focus at home is very beneficial. In the office I'm surrounded by the loud distracting types that seem to spend the whole day roaming the office striking up debates about what they've seen most recently in the news, it makes it really hard to work.

    I just wish we were even remotely supported with our home work environment. I requested a monitor, no can do. Docking station, no can do. Keyboard upgrade, mouse… they're saving so much with the office space they've cut out but won't spend a cent on our required WFH setup, simply can't productively program on a 13" screen. I've had to make the purchases myself, get a bunch of bullshit otherwise saying "if I'm given a monitor then imagine how many others will ask for one!".

    • Usernames on 04/02/2024 - 09:28

      You can at least claim tax deductions for those purchases.

      • Ricktheroller on 04/02/2024 - 20:22

        Correct, still seems a bit rough when the purchases I'm making are purely work related and really not optional for my work. Especially when they've tailored the situation to their advantage.

        • Usernames on 04/02/2024 - 21:36

          Yes they sound very stingy. Plenty of companies offer to pay for monitors and other peripherals. Look into OH&S policies. Anything about ergonomic working environment? Wouldn’t want to get a neck, shoulder, arm strain etc and be forced to take extended sick leave…

  • illogicalerror on 03/02/2024 - 09:55

    I could work from home but having hands on availability to my people and my resources makes working at the office the way to go for me. I've got a nice quiet office (most of the time) and I like my people and what I do. Already I feel the whole isolation thing so I'm happy to come and see other people, have chats, solve problems, drink coffee. It's good.

  • Parentheses on 03/02/2024 - 10:28
    +1

    University academic - I have to go in when teaching a face to face class, when my lab equipment needs me to physically poke it rather than just electronically poke it, when I want to get actual results out of a meeting, or when there is free food on offer.

    Seriously though, the difference in impact between a meeting on zoom and a meeting where the person is physically there with me is insane. I only ever do remote meetings now where I either don't give a crap and it should have been an email, or the other person is overseas. And the overseas ones are usually just keeping in touch between conferences.

  • burie01 on 03/02/2024 - 11:06
    +1

    I feel pretty lucky, I work as a counsellor and traditionally counselling would be 100% face to face. My manager only asks us all to come in on the same day each week so we can catch up as a team and feel supported (Tuesdays). Since I work at two locations I go to an office twice a week. On those two days I do all my face to face sessions. Video and telephone counselling are quite popular now to the point I will have full days of appointments at home.

    So yeah, it doesn't make sense why people who can do most of their work at their desks be forced to go into the office.

  • Breno785au on 03/02/2024 - 11:36
    +2

    My employer, mutli billion dollar global company called for 2 days a week at a minimum last year which I find fair. It's good to get out of the house, meet face to face with people.
    It's a good balance, wfh and save money on fuel, car wear and tear but also go in to get a break from the house and see others.

  • Dack Smith on 03/02/2024 - 13:06
    -6

    You’ll find that people who can work from home are usually the least valuable and unproductive members of society.

    Whereas essential frontline workers like doctors, nurses and police can’t opt to work from home and also get paid less.

    It’s nice that it’s like this

    I bet on pathetic negs on this post, but hey, randoms need to justify their ‘vital wfh’ jobs lol

    • iridiumstem on 03/02/2024 - 13:31

      I feel like this really depends on what kind of job you do and the industry. I used to volunteer in crisis support capacity, one of the big things that they wanted to have (that were being discussed constantly) was volunteering from home. Frankly speaking, I think if they could get around the security side of things, allowing people to volunteer from home would've made far more sense in the time of COVID-19.

      As with doctors, I am sure I've only seen my GP three times over last two years in person, and my psychologist opts to work full time from home (she had an office but she moved to full time telehealth arrangement).

      I am sure if you are an exercise physiologist, physiotherapist or anyone who supports people for physical ailments, you would likely need to work from a gym full time, I don't feel like they are any less or more important for someone's health than other allied health practitioners who can work from home.

  • gviddy on 03/02/2024 - 14:06

    My workplace does not have an office even if I wanted to go into one. We are mostly based in Brisbane with workers also on the Gold Coast/Sunshine Cost/Melbourne/Adelaide/Tasmania. For this job I actually took a big pay cut. For me the flexibility of being able to work 'anywhere' far outweighs my previous salary at a different work place.

  • whatgift on 03/02/2024 - 14:55

    My workplace is fairly flexible, and I go into the office more than the rest of my team because it's relatively easy (15 min bike ride) and it's nice to break up the monotony of being at home all the time.

    I don't think full-time WFH is a way society should be moving - interacting with people in person is very important, not just for relating better as a team, but for maintaining normal socialisation skills.

    The discussion about productivity is mostly moot these days (depending on the employee of course) - the discussion about working from the office needs to move away from that.

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