Community Chat

[spumoni99]

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@deepwaterdotter wrote:

I have never been a parent nor worked from home.   So this question can be considered extremely unenlighened and fairly stupid.  How can an employee devote all their time and energies to their job performance while fulfilling their resposibilities as an attentive parent at the same time?

Thanks in advance for taking the time to inform an old woman. 

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I am a grandparent but I often run get the kids from school etc.  I can do my work anytime of the day and often have to do things later in the evening (I am in IT) so what doesn't get done during the day i do in the evening as I am sure many parents do.

Also just like working in the office I dont think people are nose to the grindstone 100 percent of the time, in fact being at home cuts down on the social aspect time in the office which I do miss that part but it does take up time to visit.  For my job as long as we get our work done we are fine.

[deepwaterdotter]

@spumoni99 Thanks for responding.  I never considered that some workers are able to do their work during 'off hours'.  And the time spent socializing with co-workers is another aspect I never thought about.  When I still worked, employees observed socializing when on the clock were charged with 'time theft' from the company.  These charges led to warnings, disciplinary actions, and ultimately termination.  

[spumoni99]

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@deepwaterdotter wrote:

@spumoni99 Thanks for responding.  I never considered that some workers are able to do their work during 'off hours'.  And the time spent socializing with co-workers is another aspect I never thought about.  When I still worked, employees observed socializing when on the clock were charged with 'time theft' from the company.  These charges led to warnings, disciplinary actions, and ultimately termination.  

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I guess it depends on the company and the culture, where I work we do so much off hours work they need to be flexible with the staff because we are flexible with them, plus we get called in the middle of the night and have to log on and fix things.

[FiddleDeeDee]

@San Antonio Gal  Neither DH nor I have jobs that can be worked from home. For DH, he was considered essential personal and reported to his office up till the day his entire division was greeted by large men with big rifles and ordered to hand over their security clearances and badges. Politics at work, sadly. 

In my situation, hospitals were focusing on Covid so many fields of medicine as well as mental health support were essentially laid off and then...eliminated. I was one of those. I (and others) attempted to work from home but it simply didn't work well in our fields. 

So, now in Florida, again, we are both in the office 5 days a week (and then some at least for me). Neither job can be done as a WFH position. 

[sunshine45]

i was already working from home AND in person at work. that never changed, even through the height of covid. i am still doing that.

[chrystaltree]

Working remotely during the pandemic worked out so well that all almost all of the 300 employees in our division were converted to permanent remote workers. It was really quite amazing. Productivity went up, quality greatly improved, absenteeism decreased significantly, job satisfaction increased. The vast majority of employees did not want to return to the office. They didn't want the long and exhausting commutes. They didn't want the distractions in the office. So. Senior management provided ergonomic desks and chairs to those who wanted them, multiple screens, lamps. Whatever people needed to work comfortably. And no one is required to go into the office. Zoom and video conferencing and other technology allows for face to face meetings. There were a few people wanted to return to the office and were not particularly happy that they couldn't. Not even for a day or two a week. I worked from home 5 years prior to Covid lockdown so nothing changed for me. My cousin works for a bank and it was a similar situation. Positions that did not require face to face customer contact were converted to remote work and it was a win-win for the bank and the employees. My cousin can flex her hours which is an added benefit. Her core hours are 10 to 2, she must be signed in and working during those hours but she can work the other 4 hours anytime prior to 11:59pm.  

[JFD12]

We were considered "essential" and we all trudged to work everyday. 🤪

Still doing it now, 5 days a week, as always. 😜 

(Oh, we were let out early for the first few months... that was a bonus!) 👍

[kate2357]

I always worked out of my house, but did have office space if /when we had an all hands meeting or when at office for client presentations. Right before pandemic there were rumblings about everyone HAVING to be at office everyday they weren't traveling. I wasn't going to do that and was considering options.

Then the pandemic hit and company did a 180 and everyone had to work remotely. When they saw the increased productivity, increased morale and the reduced office expenses ... they sold the office property. Now for meetings they rent a room that meets their needs.

I have to say I am happily retired now and feel so relieved not to have to worry about commutes or stupid zoom calls.

[SurferWife]

@San Antonio Gal 

I've been working from home full-time since 2015, so when the lock-downs occurred I didn't have to make a change like most other employees at our company.  Just now, people are starting to go back to the office, but it's being used more as a "tool" than people going back to the office for the sake of being in the office.  For meetings that require collaboration and interaction that is more effective conducted in person, then teams should go into the office.

I'm starting to go into the office maybe once every few weeks, which is fine.  It gives me a chance to wear my work clothes again...LOL!