End of the Monday-Friday commute? Transport watchdog calls for urgent rail fares

[whole diary]

[broadgage]

Except during a short term emergency, many employees are a bit doubtful about working from home for the simple risk that if THEY can work from home, they perceive a risk that someone else could do their job from their home in say India, for 10% of the salary.

Ironically, the most secure jobs in the near term might be shelf stacking and burger flipping, as these cant be done from home, and then offshored.

[Celestial]

Except during a short term emergency, many employees are a bit doubtful about working from home for the simple risk that if THEY can work from home, they perceive a risk that someone else could do their job from their home in say India, for 10% of the salary.

Do you have any evidence of that, or is it simply your opinion? If the latter, I suspect it is a little out of alignment with actual attitudes.

[Bmblbzzz]

To a great extent working from home is made easier by the fact that I already knew the colleagues I now deal with only by phone/email/text/Skype/Zoom/Teams, but over time as staff turn over I will know none of the quirks, individualities or interests of new arrivals, nor they of me; not a recipe for getting the best out of people.  Innovation, creativity and effectiveness will all suffer.

The interaction between work and leisure is out of the strict scope of this topic but it remains the case that work is where a lot of people meet a lot of other people. If we work without actually meeting and getting to know people, this will inevitably have an impact on our social lives and therefore on our social travel too.

[broadgage]

Except during a short term emergency, many employees are a bit doubtful about working from home for the simple risk that if THEY can work from home, they perceive a risk that someone else could do their job from their home in say India, for 10% of the salary.

Do you have any evidence of that, or is it simply your opinion? If the latter, I suspect it is a little out of alignment with actual attitudes.

I have only anecdotal evidence, based largely on maintaining office buildings for many years and overhearing conversations therein.
Office personnel selected for "voluntary" home working often regarded this as being a sign that their job was about to be outsourced or offshored. 
Direct experience was confined to those managers immediately above me who worked from home during transport strikes, It was most unwise to disturb such managers whilst they were playing golf were in important client meetings.

Those who overdid such meetings were usually the first to go in the next "headcount review"

[IndustryInsider]

Except during a short term emergency, many employees are a bit doubtful about working from home for the simple risk that if THEY can work from home, they perceive a risk that someone else could do their job from their home in say India, for 10% of the salary.

What's the old crystal ball predicting then, Broadgage?  Many employees will turn down the offer to work from home permanently insisting they go back into the office for fear of losing their jobs?  Or will we see mass unemployment due to many jobs being outsourced to India that were previously done by employees commuting to the office?

[Celestial]

I have only anecdotal evidence, based largely on maintaining office buildings for many years and overhearing conversations therein.
Office personnel selected for "voluntary" home working often regarded this as being a sign that their job was about to be outsourced or offshored. 
Direct experience was confined to those managers immediately above me who worked from home during transport strikes, It was most unwise to disturb such managers whilst they were playing golf were in important client meetings.

Those who overdid such meetings were usually the first to go in the next "headcount review"

It sounds as though that may have been a few years ago. Things have changed dramatically in the last ten years. The three employers with whom I have had a close association over that time have all taken to actively encouraging WFH^▸ (Working From Home), and have reduced their desk to staff ratio to between 70% and 80%. Which is the clearest statement you can make that they expect WFH as a norm. And that's before the pandemic. (One of them is one of the top 10 employers in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) in the private sector, just in case you think they were tiddlers.)

They have all, as part of the culture change, encouraged flexible working. Need a morning off to go to the School Sports Day?  No problem. Need to finish early on Wednesdays each week to collect the sprog. No problem. So long as you work the hours needed and get the job done, work the hours that suit you.

So if you think that managers then regard those WFH as shirkers then really you are living in a different age. Which I have, I'll admit, suspected for quite some time. Offices haven't needed space for typing pools for quite a few years you might also be surprised to hear. 

[grahame]

I have been following ths discussions on this thread ... this whole "will people work from home" business, what it means - in terms of getitng the job done, in terms of working with and getting to know colleagues, in terms of being "next out the door", in terms of travel effiiency, in terms of learning into the job.  I've worked from home in many roles and my conclusion is that this is a very moveable feast, depending on
* the characters involved and
* travel metrics as well as
* the job itself to be done and
* the phase of learning the individual is into learning the job and
* trust between employee and employer in both directions.



Journey times are home to office; those marked "train" include walks to / from stations.

I have ... typically ... loved working from home.   It's saved a lot of travel, and it's probably resulted in me doing a lot more hours rather than less.  But it *is* good to meet up with colleagues from time to time.

What perhaps has not arisen as a discussion is the need to balance a staffed office at the same time as picking up these efficiencies of working from home.   That's my "WFH^▸ (Working From Home) El" - Working from home element which means that even where I have shouted "YES - working from home" that does not mean every day;  I have taken part in and been involved in rotas where I have, never the less, been the one in the office taking support calls (in the days before phone diverts) - or there to support others working at the same place in a specialist role - or to prepare and serve breakfasts!

[Red Squirrel]

I've been working from home for nearly 20 years now, but before that I worked in standard Dilbert-style offices for a couple of companies.

In my experience, any organisation will have some people who work hard and get on with the job, some who do what they have to do to get through the day, and some who actively seek to sabotage others' efforts. Making it all work requires good management. The fact that someone arrives on time and sits at their desk all day is no measure at all of how productive they are.

I think the current crisis has killed stone dead the old idea that you can't be doing any work if you aren't in the office, or that you can't manage people if you can't see them. When you employ someone to do some work for you, the important thing is the result - a completed piece of work - rather than where it was done, or (within reason) how long it took.

It is possible that some employers may look again at 'offshoring' work in this context, but I doubt this will have a huge impact. Time zones, language and other issues often make this less attractive than the initial bottom line price might suggest. A mate of mine used to be an Offshoring Consultant. A few years ago his job title changed to 'Rightshoring Consultant'; basically bringing work back from India because it hadn't been a great success. (I think Flanders and Swann may have written a song about this kind of activity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1dvAxA9ib0)

[Bmblbzzz]

Time zones can also make it more attractive. I used to work in the Bangalore office of a California-based company (an unglamorous offshoot of Hollywood) which had offices distributed around the world in such a way that there was always at least one office at work. When our work was finished, it used to go to Vancouver or sometimes London, who'd send it back to us for the next process, and so on.

[grahame]

Time zones can also make it more attractive. ...

Indeed ... I had a couple of those between the USA and UK^▸ (United Kingdom).

We (in Wiltshire) had a software contract for a company based in Florida and with staff spread very thinly (working from home largely) across the USA.   Urgent issues reported during the USA day were looked at in the UK morning and answered by the time the Americans got up.

In the other direction, working in Basingstoke doing first level support at the European office of a USA Company from San Diego,  I could pass issues in at the end of the day with a likelihood of a fax (remember them?) in the fax machine when I got in to work in the morning.   Whether the faxed information answered the question was, of course, another matter ...

[Bmblbzzz]

I've just heard some of the latest news at a global REIT (real estate investment trust). There was talk of work from home potentially reducing office demand but they seem more concerned about the effect of restrictions on retail. They also said that LA is now a more attractive office market than SF because, in part, it's less dependent on public transport. Bear in mind though 'long term' for these people is end of the next quarter.

[Sixty3Closure]

I've just had a survey from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) on my travel habits and expected travel habits. Quite interesting trying to look at the thinking behind some of the questions such as 'would you be interested in a weekly season ticket which you could use 3 days a week' as well as lots of questions about am I coming back to work, how will I travel etc.

[Robin Summerhill]

I've just had a survey from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) on my travel habits and expected travel habits. Quite interesting trying to look at the thinking behind some of the questions such as 'would you be interested in a weekly season ticket which you could use 3 days a week' as well as lots of questions about am I coming back to work, how will I travel etc.

GWR appear to be tryingto get some ideas on how travel habits are likely to change (if indeed they will) and what sort of service provision will be needed.

[Sixty3Closure]

My only feedback would be that there was no free text box for feedback.

Big factor for me would be the timetable which currently restricts my travel times and 3 days a week travel is probably a bit high for me for the relative cost. Something like 8 days a month travel would probably be more likely to tempt me back. Otherwise I might as well carry working remotely because of the cost.

[TaplowGreen]

I've just had a survey from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) on my travel habits and expected travel habits. Quite interesting trying to look at the thinking behind some of the questions such as 'would you be interested in a weekly season ticket which you could use 3 days a week' as well as lots of questions about am I coming back to work, how will I travel etc.

GWR appear to be tryingto get some ideas on how travel habits are likely to change (if indeed they will) and what sort of service provision will be needed.

Do you genuinely think there's an "if" involved?

Logical solution is an Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) card type facility, would save a lot of season ticket faff (and yes, I know, before it starts, Oooooooooooooooo's gonna pay for it etc!)