Working from home, good/bad?

[Massive Unit]

What we're seeing now is that advertised roles with 100% WFH or hybrid roles are getting substantially greater application rates than traditional work from office roles.

My view is that there needs to be a balance between the staff wants/needs and the ability to build a corporate or team culture (which has suffered as a result of WFH).

 

[Themanbun]

Offshoring will occur regardless of whether your boss allows you to WFH or not.

It's not as if they weren't considering whether work had to be done from an Australian location prior to COVID, and the same cost pressures still exist.

 

[HirdsTheWord]

We’ve definitely lost some junior staff in the last 12 months due to the isolation. They want to be in an environment with social contact and the ability to learn by osmosis. One of my best grads just left because the job was too lonely.

It’s usually the older staff who just want to be at home as much as possible. They have the family lives and the comfortable home offices, and generally are on a lower growth trajectory.

I’m starting to spend more time in the office for the sake of my juniors.

we have noticed this too, and it makes a lot of sense.

 

[nahnah]

love it

 

[Caesar]

My job doesn't need me to be in the office to do it

Good for you, not relevant

Am talking about jobs involving a mix of individual and collaborative work where a hybrid working arrangement makes sense - i.e. come in when you’re needed and there’ll be a desk for you, when you’re not stay home and other people will use it

All for giving people flexible working but it cuts both ways, which 90% of employees understand - the other 10% are the usual high-maintenance go-nowhere time-wasters

 

[ash_1050]

We had a new starter in the office yesterday. Talking with her this morning she made the comment that it's much more relaxed here as people come in at a leisurely pace. Apparently the role she's just left required everyone to be in at 8:15 and logged on and ready to go by 8:30 otherwise you'd get in trouble. Micromanaging at its worst.

 

[Massive Unit]

Good for you, not relevant

Am talking about jobs involving a mix of individual and collaborative work where a hybrid working arrangement makes sense - i.e. come in when you’re needed and there’ll be a desk for you, when you’re not stay home and other people will use it

All for giving people flexible working but it cuts both ways, which 90% of employees understand - the other 10% are the usual high-maintenance go-nowhere time-wasters

I think it comes down to trust. If you can't trust your employees to be productive when they are WFH, then there is a more fundamental issue.

 

[Sinjin Smith]

My employer allows WFH but I come in every day as I got sick of working from home during lockdown, really ended up hating it. Most of my DR's in Melbourne come in 2-3 days per week and my team in Singapore pretty much do five days per week as they are all on client sites or doing client work (not sitting on the bench). Again if they are getting their s**t done I don't mind where they work but it is good if they go into the office on a regular basis just to catch up with their colleagues.

One of the great things about the organisation I work for is flexibility. Dr's appointment, drop kids off or pick up from school, sick kid(s) at home etc they don't raise an eyebrow. I've been here for nearly three years so built up the trust with the directors, after a particular taxing client project I took a day off after it finished and they didn't count it as leave or a sick day. I do the same with my DR's I don't mind what time they come in, I'm aware of what home life entails with a family, just keep me informed and you can have all the flexibility you want.

 

[Engimal v3]

One of the great things about the organisation I work for is flexibility. Dr's appointment, drop kids off or pick up from school, sick kid(s) at home etc they don't raise an eyebrow.

Same here, I love it. If you say you need to take the afternoon off for an appointment or whatever, it's no questions asked.

 

[Billy ray]

Just ticked over 10 years working from home.

 

[blueboy25]

The ability to have a flexible arrangement to WFH is vital.

Yesterday it was cold, wet and windy in Perth and being able to choose to WFH instead of heading into the office and battling the traffic and battling the wind down the Terrace was fantastic.

 

[ash_1050]

We had a new starter in the office yesterday. Talking with her this morning she made the comment that it's much more relaxed here as people come in at a leisurely pace. Apparently the role she's just left required everyone to be in at 8:15 and logged on and ready to go by 8:30 otherwise you'd get in trouble. Micromanaging at its worst.

To add to this she's slowly opening up more about her previous workplace. For a team of 6 only one of them was allowed to be away from their desk at one time, so if someone else wasn't at their desk you had to wait for them to return. ~45 inbound calls a day for an office role, being dumped in call queues randomly without being asked, and given only one person was allowed to stand up at any given time they had to rush to the coffee machine and back rather than doing it normally. They were also expected to do unpaid overtime throughout the week and at least one unpaid Saturday a month. Can't imagine how miserable that would have been.

On a personal note had a catch up with my boss today, and now I've settled into the new role I'm shifting to WFH one day a week (Monday), could have opted for two if I wanted but happy going into the office and still need to make those connections and learn through osmosis. Also trimmed the hour lunch break down to 30 minutes, so it's a standard 9-5 now. Very happy in the new role!

 

[Goroyals22]

Ive been lucky the last 4 years to work in a one man office =me and only having to go into the office when I knew an appointment was coming in. Unfortunately the role has been made redundant and now Im not looking forward to having a job where I will have to go into an office with more people and all the associated garbage that comes with it. give me working from home any day.

 

[nahnah]

Ive been lucky the last 4 years to work in a one man office =me and only having to go into the office when I knew an appointment was coming in. Unfortunately the role has been made redundant and now Im not looking forward to having a job where I will have to go into an office with more people and all the associated garbage that comes with it. give me working from home any day.

on seek type in wfh in the 'where' search criteria, I pray there is a good job for you.

 

[Goroyals22]

on seek type in wfh in the 'where' search criteria, I pray there is a good job for you.

Yea thanks.I’m sure there will be.. when your in a large country town though wfh hasnt really caught on here!

 

[burge13]

Im a big wfh fan but having spent 2 years doing it before moving to this job currently where wfh isnt really done at all, and you forget alot of things being locked away in your lounge. Building relationships, people skills, all that kind of thing isnt done properly via email or even teams meetings. People management isnt properly done remotely

Dont get me wrong id never commute 45 mins on a bus to the cbd ever again if i didnt have to but those skills i mentioned will carry you a long way in professional settings. You'll definitely go ahead of people who arent good at those things even if your other skills arent as good as theirs. Something to consider imo, especially for those still looking to progress

It'll become the norm for heaps of jobs eventually though. Especially when places can save on rent and costs associated

 

[RAPPA]

Im a big wfh fan but having spent 2 years doing it before moving to this job currently where wfh isnt really done at all, and you forget alot of things being locked away in your lounge. Building relationships, people skills, all that kind of thing isnt done properly via email or even teams meetings. People management isnt properly done remotely

Dont get me wrong id never commute 45 mins on a bus to the cbd ever again if i didnt have to but those skills i mentioned will carry you a long way in professional settings. You'll definitely go ahead of people who arent good at those things even if your other skills arent as good as theirs. Something to consider imo, especially for those still looking to progress

It'll become the norm for heaps of jobs eventually though. Especially when places can save on rent and costs associated

I think if you've established yourself in your current job (having been working predominantly from the office) then moving to a mainly WFH model has a huge upside. Starting in a new role however and immediately working in a WFH model would be tough in terms of building relationships, establishing your reputation etc. I may well find myself in that same boat as I am hoping to switch jobs to a company that is currently operating on a 1 day in office per week model, but there are a couple people I know there from a previous job so hopefully that will make the transition a lot smoother.

 

[HirdsTheWord]

I think if you've established yourself in your current job (having been working predominantly from the office) then moving to a mainly WFH model has a huge upside. Starting in a new role however and immediately working in a WFH model would be tough in terms of building relationships, establishing your reputation etc. I may well find myself in that same boat as I am hoping to switch jobs to a company that is currently operating on a 1 day in office per week model, but there are a couple people I know there from a previous job so hopefully that will make the transition a lot smoother.

There is merit to this though it all depends on the culture of the business.

If the business supports and thrives in a WFH setting that's great, but a lot of people are trying to force a WFH arrangement at a company they work at that doesn't have that culture, nor really wants it. These are the people who are going to be left by the wayside IMO.

There are many reasons why working in an office setting is beneficial to a company, using "I want to save time on my commute" as a main reason to WFH is not a good one IMO. Good companies will always support WFH as part of its business with stuff like sick kids, accidents, unplanned events etc, but trying to change the culture of a business with based on a selfish cause isn't going to work IMO.

 

[Gralin]

There is merit to this though it all depends on the culture of the business.

If the business supports and thrives in a WFH setting that's great, but a lot of people are trying to force a WFH arrangement at a company they work at that doesn't have that culture, nor really wants it. These are the people who are going to be left by the wayside IMO.

There are many reasons why working in an office setting is beneficial to a company, using "I want to save time on my commute" as a main reason to WFH is not a good one IMO. Good companies will always support WFH as part of its business with stuff like sick kids, accidents, unplanned events etc, but trying to change the culture of a business with based on a selfish cause isn't going to work IMO.

You want me to travel for a job u can do remote pay me for the commute

 

[HirdsTheWord]

You want me to travel for a job u can do remote pay me for the commute

Ok so a company can then pay you less if you WFH?

 

[Gralin]

Ok so a company can then pay you less if you WFH?

No they can't get a full day out of me at home or 6 hours in the office

 

[HirdsTheWord]

No they can't get a full day out of me at home or 6 hours in the

No they can't get a full day out of me at home or 6 hours in the office

They can’t get a full day out of you at home?

I think that’s why a lot of managers don’t like WFH!

 

[Gralin]

They can’t get a full day out of you at home?

I think that’s why a lot of managers don’t like WFH!

Can get a full day out of me at home. Typo.
I wasn't office based before covid either

 

[HirdsTheWord]

interesting read following CBA's change to move to 50% WFH.

https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/banking/commonwealth-bank-staff-unleash-bloodbath-after-boss-tells-them-to-get-back-to-the-office/news-story/013372235ccf71cfe2ea54f28479d071

I dont get peoples argument about more daycare costs? Unless they joined during the WFH era, why is it CBA's problem? if you WFH does CBA then reduce your salary? Can't be a one-way street?

 

[Kwality]

Can get a full day out of me at home. Typo.
I wasn't office based before covid either

How do you measure a full days work ? How does your employer measure your contribution, if at all ?