Is WFH your new normal?

We have talked a lot about WFH and the potential impacts of that and with every city now back to somewhat “normal” I was keen to understand where everyone is at with WFH?

As a huge WFH advocate even I admit going into the office a few times over the past 3 weeks has been very refreshing. Likewise after a few back to back days and one waiting 30 minutes for a tram, I was equally as happy to WFH.

I think most people already know this but if a balance is achievable then that’s simply how life should be from now on.

I am lucky enough to now work for a software company and our owner announced that working in the office from now on is 100% optional so I’m very pleased to have that flexibility.

So where is everyone else at?
And does this have any impact on your future plans?
For us, we plan to sell up in the New Year and move 10 minutes down the road. For 200k less we will double our land size and whilst the commute will be a bit longer, it’s much less frequent so doesn’t bother me.

 

Working from home 99% of the time - however I was working from home 60-80% pre-covid.

As I write this my kids are having a screaming argument going on in the background - so definitely some downsides of working from home

Regards,

Jason

 

Daughter's fiance was working from home with no issues. She's recently been quite sick and unable to walk, living in a double story townhouse. His Company has demanded that ALL staff are back to 100% in the office, including him with no concessions to assist her at all.

He works in IT, so I feel this is very poor form.

 

We had a survey of our proposed office & transport usage post relocation early Jan 2021.

Most are only down for 2 days/wk, car is the favoured mode, Monday the least popular day, 30-45 minutes travel time & only a couple of cyclists.

I thought that this was a great way off assessing demand for space as well as how & when we get to use the office without covid-crowding.

 

I find myself working longer hours with WFH, boundaries have been quite blurred. And, I find it hard to find people during certain times of the day. We have no rules nor policies with WFH. So, (1) if a local project needed/required action, I would have to wait until person is back home, again, pushes my time.

(2) I also have to work with outsourced infrastructure team. And, was quite annoyed when at 18:00, I was told to wait since it was too early for them. I told them off that we reported the issue midday Sydney, and it was already 18:00.

What are you policies with WFH?

 

We were running our business from home before covid so no difference. When we need space and change of scene we go to a hot desk shared space. I find people do still want to go into offices. My public service friend was given a choice. She has decided to go into office.

 

I started a new job in August. I dont work wednesdays anyway, and I do thursdays from home to deal with kids stuff, but otherwise I have been in the office. Initially it was to get up to speed, but I like my bike ride to work, so have kept up the 3 days in the office. I could probably wfh most of the time (company full of developers - most of them are wfh all the time now).

My wife had been doing 2 days from home, 2 days from work (staying over night in sydney). Last friday was the first time she had been to sydney since march, and that was for the office xmas party. She does not want to go back to the 2 days/week in sydney - might do 2 per fortnight or less if possible.

cheers,
Inertia.

 

I work in IT consulting and advisory. I've discovered WFH for me is fantastic:

1. Given me the ability to work on multiple gigs at the same time. Result? 3x income. My clients are in Sydney and the UK, so it's WFH anyway.
2. No more spending hours in traffic/trains, it used to take me about 1.5 hours (minimum) each way (from suiting up to reaching the office entrance). That's 3 hours saved. More time for the gym and kids.
3. Further, WFH has allowed me to work on some side hustles which I hope to turn into primary source of income in 2021.

 

In 2021 the new normal will be employers asking people to come and work together from an office like in the olden days. A lot of whining will happen. Sure lots will tell their boss it is very efficient as the copy / paste below indicates. Working from home is as much a business choice as downsizing and outsourcing are choices employers can also make.

I have been having this discussion with business clients. I havent met one employer who thinks closing the office and allowing employees to do as they like is a true business model.

Not one of these issues is a compelling reason for anyone who pays you. They must ask - what are we paying for v what are we getting ?

1 and 3 indicate you are billing parties for work you dont perform
Your boss doesnt care about 2.

 

Jeez, weren't you too quick to judge me @Paul@PFI! I've had these gigs going for months, surely I must be performing at least just enough for them to keep paying me. The side hustles are just that, work I do on the side (after hours/weekends/while asleep!). Not sure what's wrong there either.

 

@Simon Hampel - totally agree. Hard to quantify what productivity means, hence, difficult to measure.

 

WFH is not possible for me, but it's certainly nice not having to share the roads/traffic with all those who are able to.

Agree that as the dust settles more employers will be asking what the tangible benefit is to them, and most who had to travel into the office precovid will once again return.

 

Yeah I don’t think many employers would be willing to give up the office and if that’s the case then I’m sure they would be keen to get bang for buck.

I don’t however think it will be 5 days. Not a single employer I know (and up until 3 months ago I worked for a recruitment Company) has not adjusted there WFH policy and basically guaranteed flexible WFH arrangements.
That may only be one day a fortnight but I find it hard to imagine ever going back to a 5 day office grind.

 

Hmm,
Where I work all managers and leads to report to office 100% 5 days a week. Its 2 weeks now, I couldnt understand the concept of having managers coming to office while my entire team is working from home.

 

I guess it is better to recruit the right talent and concentrate more on productivity.

Future will be tough for the candidates who are not self motivated and can complete their work with less supervision.

OTOH, companies will have tough time in attracting right talents if they dont adapt new normal(a.k.a flexible wfh).

 

The new model will be flexibility (for companies that hadn't got on board pre COVID) but for the majority, not total flexibility ie 5 days from home. Even 1 or 2 days a week ties you in to being within 90 mins of the city.

I can see the size of head offices downsizing though eg companies that occupied 10 floor may now only need 5-6 (or less). That will gather pace. Rents in commercial may drop, and some companies that relocated to Mac Park, Rhodes, Parra etc may relocate back to the CBD.

 

That reeks of dinosaur micro-management methodology. For a commodity role, sure, management can do as they please, but in any situation where a company needs to attract decent staff, WFH will be an arrow in the quiver that needs to be available, along with the things that big employer-of-choice organisations have, like flexible working arrangements, paid parental leave for both parents, salary packaging, etc. Businesses being a bit more dynamic, and having effective leadership and management is something that should have been improving for decades, it is a global market after all.

Flip that around. Why would someone work for you?

Cheers,
Inertia