Is everyone WFH again (corporate)?

After the announcement yesterday that masks are compulsory in all indoor places, my company sent us all home. They offered to hand out masks to all 600 employees but there was a lot of resistance from people refusing to come to the office if they have to wear a mask for 8 hours everyday (this would be an OHS concern as masks aren't designed for long term use and they restrict breathing).

We're now WFH for the next 2 weeks (at least). I have a feeling it will be more. Did this happen to everyone else too or is your employer forcing you to keep coming in?

Comments

  • +1

    Been working from home as of 13th March 2020, moved companies started new roles and working with new teams. Only from April have i started to go back to the office maybe once a week. Now with this all happening we are now told dont go to the office until further again. So will be interesting how long this time.

    If you have a good enough home office setup and all necessary access for your laptop into work i dont have any issues with this current situation its business as usual for me.

  • Melbourne based - WFH 3-4 days a week but flexible - meaning can WFH full week if wished.

  • Been WFH since March last year and my company has defaulted to the practice, which in a way is good because it's the only saving grace my job has now.

  • +1

    Another Melburnian here. Basically never went back and have essentially been WFH since March last year. Don't actually see us going back…

  • +1

    What, people have gone back to the office? When did that happen?

  • +3

    masks aren't designed for long term use and they restrict breathing

    Someone better inform doctors, nurses, tradies and factory workers that have been using them everyday for the past ~100 years.

    • +3

      plus miners and farmers who wear respirators or P2 grade masks to stay safe from dust and fumes.

      admittedly only recently in history as we have only just realised how dangerous chemical fumes and silica dust is

    • +1

      That's just another person without an education. Science already tells us that when oxygen is restricted or increased, our body will adjust.

  • Yes

  • +4

    I still can't understand why corporate honchos think its appropriate to expect staff to give up flexibility through WFH in favor of increased company expenses, neckbreathing, mouth breathing, constant un-productive banter and poor quality performance in the office.

    • +7

      Pencil-necked micromanagers want to justify their existence.

      • +1

        lmao true

  • Haven’t been to an office since Jan 2020 thankfully. Recently composted some of the old suits.

    I work in employment services (it) and unlikely to ever return to an office thankfully. Suspect many in the same boat?

  • +2

    I live in the city of sydney, my employer still forcing me to come to work in the office as we are "essential services"

    I'm an accountant in the "essential Services" industry

    • +1

      That's dodgy

      • +1

        yes but still legal

        • It’s actually not.

          Have a read over the latest public health order.

          It states you “must” work from home if it is reasonably practicable to do so.

          • +1

            @Extreme: they said they require my support onsite

  • +1

    My gyno friend works at the orifice.

  • Again? Try the third time here in vic. I've been working from for weeks

  • If this was in the 70's or 80's our mothers would have sent us around to catch it and build immunity to the stupid thing. What has happened to this world were people cant wear a mask because it could hurt their lungs feelings !!!!

  • +1

    The WFH novelty has worn off, and I'm very much enjoying working onsite.

    However, unlike pre pandemic arrangements, when I do need to work from home, it's totally acceptable noe (previously, WFH was frowned upon)

  • +1

    Working
    F*^king
    Hard?

    Yup

  • Brisbane based, been WFH since Feb 20. Resumed one day per fortnight in the office last November but that's just been canned for the next little while at least.

  • +1

    I'm outta downvotes! Whew!!!

  • +1

    As someone who was working for an employer who let go employees or forced to resign (there was A LOT) those that refused to give up WFH… suck shit haha - who are they gonna hire that's left in Sydney.

    • +1

      Which company so I can avoid?

      • +2

        A Big Telecom starting with O.

        • Its weird that the O and the Big T have two different approaches to remote working.

    • Interesting attitude given that most people are more productive from home.

      • source on altered productivity please…

      • It's Optarse, what'd ya expect?

    • I miss the Macquarie Park campus though, I thought it was fairly awesome. The parking arrangement is farked when I was there.

  • +2

    Sydney here
    Been working from home since March 2020, not been to the city since.
    Beats 3-4 hours a day messing around with travelling, good to finish work and already be at home, not having to worry about catching an overcrowded train standing with no aircon :)
    Loving life!
    (Work in IT)

  • Perth.

    Been back full time in the office (my choice) for 10 or so months now

  • Never really went back. We've agreed to go in once a fortnight and even that hasn't happened every time. Been in I think 3 days since the whole thing started.

    More than happy working from home. The days I have gone in I get nothing done because it's more of a catch up.

  • WFH in Sydney since March 13, 2020. Have spent a handful of days in the office this year, but not recently. Large company, currently telling us all to work from home. We're all so good at it now; doesn't feel like it's ever going back to the old normal.

    • What industry? I would love to WFH permanently

      • My team of editors runs a broadast media company's websites. It helps that the main tool for running a website is a web browser (but logged in as the editor of the site, and other web-based tools). We're also using video and photo editing software, plus we have a VPN into the company's servers for access to internal content. And Slack, Jira, Confluence, Zoom, Webex, Microsoft Teams, OMG why can't everyone agree on one videoconferencing platform? :) The only people who really need to be in the office every day are the ones working on actual broadcast (on microphone/camera or behind the scenes).

  • +1

    We got the verbal on Wednesday for everyone to be back in office - previous agreements scrapped..
    Thursday/ Friday the carpark was empty apart from sucker here and 1 angry manager.

    Then the email went out from Adolf, who seems to have a massive chip on his shoulder for people WFH.. Maybe he feels lonely sitting in his office with nobody to boss around - who knows. But all the work has been getting done, nothing is outstanding, the only lemon is our dud sales team.

    But now its 4 days in office 1 at home = with justification, also with written approval from the MD, HR, your manager, probably also the bloke in the lunch shop will need to approve it too, just to make sure nobody qualifies to work 2 days from home….

  • +1

    Sydney CBD here. Our company was ahead of the game and have been "Remote working" since start of the week. We were back on board 5 days a week for the last 6 months with the policy of "flexible work arrangements". So mix of remote work and office work.

    The mask indoors requirement tipped it to full remote work. No one including myself would prefer to work 10 hours in the office with a mask on.

    The down side is productivity is a mixed bag. As much as I have faith in my team, workflow Managed and monitored via SM systems. The over all business has seen a reduction in productively due to loss of the synergy or that face to face engagement. Information from Network and cloud platforms systems shows sporadic "non-work related" activities being accessed more frequently with remote working. And less coherent times of work during "core" business hours. Compare this with data from the last 6 months back in the office the evidence is clear.

    • yeah wfh with monitoring is pretty poor , without monitoring its essentially a joke.

  • Sydney, financial services head office and were told not to come in from last Sunday 20/6 for the week. Was extended on Wednesday from memory. Wife who works for different financial services company head office were only told on Friday not to come in. I suggested she didn't go in during the week and she didnt otherwise i believe she would now be in lock down.

    • Anyway, we are all in lockdown now so yay (not).

  • +4

    Melbourne, have spent maybe 5 days in the office since March last year.

    Next week I go back to 3 days in the office a week and I’m kinda ok with it. Started a new job in feb, and have been struggling a bit first with getting up the speed with the project I was on, and now I’m training people and it’s a bit of a nightmare.

    Teams meetings have gotten out of control, because everyone sets a meeting with everyone over everything. Email volume is absurd and hard to ignore because the very urgent is mixed up in the waste of time stuff. Some people hate calling, others love it, and if I have to say “can you share your screen so I can see it?” again I’ll scream.

    Also lol at this turning into OPs anti mask bullshit. I have asthma, when the bushfires were happening I was so glad to be able to wear a mask in the office all day. Helped my breathing so much. I also have to monitor my blood oxygen and I can safely say wearing a mask for 8 hours a day does absolutely nothing to blood oxygen levels.

    It’s uncomfortable but like all things if you suck it up and just so it you get used to it quickly.

  • my job allows me to WFH 4 days a week 1 at the office.. now I'll have to do 5 :(

  • Whole of Sydney is lockdown now

  • Super…..guess I'd better get my mask ready for next week in the office

  • +1

    So we’ve had dictator dan for Victoria’s lockdown. What’s going to be gladys’ nickname?

    • edit: never mind

      • She's a miracle worker for turning tax dollars into nothing….

        One of Morrison's favoured acolytes, and a shared miracle - source

        'Morrison’s Horizon Church is part of the broader Pentecostal movement that emerged in the United States in the early 20th century. That miracles happen is a central tenet of Pentecostalism. As a religion, it sees itself as re-creating the gifts of the Spirit experienced by the earliest Christian worshippers. Along with the working of miracles, these included speaking in tongues and healings. They remain central features of Pentecostal belief and worship today.'

    • +1

      Glad the (co)vidfailure

    • Gulag Gladys

      Not that Murdoch rags will have anything to say about "Unlucky in love" Berejiklian mind you.

      • +1

        Gestapo Gladys

        And yes (profanity) the Murdoch rags, just because the seppos have lost their minds doesn't mean we have to follow them and make a (profanity) virus a political thing

        obligatory why would Dan Andrews do this

      • +1

        anything bad you mean.

        The miracle gladys has performed to spread the latest variant across Australia deserves adding to her other miracles of turning taxpayer money into nothing.

        Lockdown now in WA… was looking forward to origin tonight but after NSW banned the kid replacing the other kid well its not much of a contest in all probability now …..so thanks for that as well NSW - won't bother watching at all.

    • Dumb big nose kent?

  • Cannot work from home.

  • +14

    I'm a baker. My job is extremely physical and 110% go go go for 8 hours straight and I work in a room that's 40+ degrees all day. I have to wear a mask the whole time. I don't mind it. Neither do the other bakers I work with. By wearing the masks we reduce each others risk of making each other sick. I wish people would think about the greater good than their own personal inconvenience for once. If we can do it for 8+ hours straight in a sweatshop it cant be that bad.

  • -4

    City council really need to incentify corporate work forces to come back to city, at least on alternate days or else I can't see any cbd recover post covid. We might just starting to see ghost city soon..

    • It's hard to imagine any of Australias CBDs going back to the way it was. Not just work from home, but I see them decentralising and moving businesses into outer suburburban hubs. Not sure about other cities, but I think Brisbane was already heading that way. I think Parramatta is being focused on as a business hub.

      My only thought to counter this is converting offices into living spaces. Retail, restaurants, bars, and entertainment underneath and residential above. An influx in availability plus the businesses moving away, could make the CBD more affordable (not holding my breath though).

      • Yea, the other option is to encourage more residents in cbd. But I personally find Perth would struggle at this moment, without business tenants.

        If the state gov waive stamp duty, and offer 20% discount off purchase price and discounted council rate, would definitely think about relocating to cbd.

  • +3

    Nah, because COVID makes sure to not infect anyone in the construction industry, so government allows us to keep working in our worksites.
    Pretty smart cookie that COVID virus is, I tell ya what!

  • Similar to Homr - Sydney based & working in a privately owned company in an "essential services" industry but I'm a spreadsheet monkey. Technically, precious few of us "need" to be there - with the right tools, preparation and culture regarding communication, most could WFH either partly or in full.

    The business owner views the informal communication of the office as "the way our business works" and paints working from home as a conspiracy theory of widespread bludging, and is convinced that office closure would literally result in the death of the business, so is doing everything in their power to keep us coming in.

    Waiting to hear from regarding today's developments but the terminology used in announcing the stay-at-home orders will probably be loose enough to satisfy them. They'll testify to all and sundry that every employee is "essential", regardless of role, to satisfy the criteria to keep us coming to the office if they need to.

    Not sure what I can do about it tbh.

    • Your business owner is a prick

      Although I worked in a public listed company, one of my site that I looked after is a private owner so I had to comply his wishes, which was working on site. BS really

      • It's like working for Microsoft in the 90s or at the Googleplex in the 00s; great pay and lots of perks, and they like to think they own you.

    • I think the issue is that topline managers have become accustomed to doing nothing but watching employees and making picky criticisms about productivity (people are leaving at 4.55pm, this guy took an extra 2 minutes for lunch, too much chatter among deskmates etc). Without this, their role is surprisingly dead and they feel threatened. They fear the company will realise they are useless or get them to do some actual real work, can't have that.

  • +5

    My stupid workplace has confirmation bias and uses stats to support how good it is to come to work. They keep using operations as an excuse, if they had to come in every day, you can too (they operate machinery). But 90% of us, have a laptop, can do all work at home. They write in an email, it's so good to catch up, talk, etc but bosses yell at you if you talk and more than half of the people are missing.

    They're such dicks that they don't even come in LOL, and the 10 people that are in there, are in a cubical, that has half a metre walls surrounding them.

    If you guys think lockdown is bad, well, what the hell was the difference before?

    The system sucks because you have these older bosses who can't take the penis out of their ass and think they own you.

    • +3

      sounds like we worth for the same company

    • +1

      Older people can't fathom change and its sad.

      You should send stats stating working from home is damn good for the business and the employees.

      And yet giants like Twitter and so on have implemented working from home permanently as they have stats to prove that the business is growing whether they are in the office or not.

      • all the stats show productivity falls massively in the majority of business's when wfh.

        • +1

          "all" stats?

          Source?

          • @[Deactivated]: I can vouch for "my" corporations stats of the last 12 months. Data is there supporting a fall in productivity mainly due to a number of indicators. The 2 top being.

            -1. Different network traffic patterns in office vs flexible - remote working VPN.

            • In office - majority of network traffic to line of business applications.
            • Out of office remote work - signification majority of network traffic to NON - line of business applications. Some down right triggering banned categories.

            -2. Slippage in synergy - De-sync of working hours

            • In office - availability Business hours
            • Out of office remote work - Logs from system(s) show sporadic activity during non business-hours. Causing slippages of projects / critical paths and co-ordinated teamwork. e.g. Person chooses to work 11am - 8pm. Same "length" of hours but hours unavailable due to their choice of working.
            • @pegasusx: So the metric of performance you're using is "hours spent online"?

              How are your outcomes? Quantity and/or quality?

              What's management's role in all of this? Where are they? What are they doing to "manage" productivity? How are they "leading" their remote teams and boosting engagement?

              Slippage in synergy

              This I agree with. I guess it depends on the nature of work. A project/task with high interconnectedness needs more frequent structured touchpoints and heightened communication (not the point of overuse and ineffectiveness). More independent work can mean that "de-sync hours" work fine.

        • +2

          Not what I do. I have to complete jobs for top tier 1 clients on a daily basis. If I slack off, people will know about it in a few hours. If anything, I have completed more work because I don't have to commute for 3 hours. I also do more work because I don't have to stay late, I'm already at home and can go on the laptop in an instant in exchange for flexibility. So they're getting more out of me at no cost to my mental health.

      • +2

        Older people can't fathom change

        Neither can insecure/fearful managers with control issues.

        Funny enough, remote working requires a bigger role for management to step up and actually lead their teams.

  • i can't really work from home so i'll be going in…..until wednesday when i'm made redundant

    p.s. i have a job interview on monday would that be classified as work related?
    i suppose it depends on the goodwill of the cops if they pull me over

    • An interview should be fine as an excuse. However I'm surprised they haven't changed it to a video interview. I had one scheduled for Friday, but they postponed it as they were dealing with thier staff and the changing situation. It'll be a video one next week.

  • Yes been like this for over a year now tho.

    We were supposed to enter a hybrid return to the office in September but that won’t happening now.

  • +5

    I work in a hospital I get rotated to work on infectious diseases ward. I been wearing a n95 mask for years and PPE gear that makes you sweat bullets. I change in\to surgical scrubs halfway through a shift.

    You office workers toughen f up and grow up. Life and society doesn't revolve around you and how uncomfortable you feel sitting in a chair 8 hrs a day. Blue collar workers have tougher than me, working in back breaking work in Aussie summers also in heavier ppe gear than me.

    • In one.

    • -5

      Life and society doesn't revolve around you and how uncomfortable you feel sitting in a chair 8 hrs a day.

      I hear this a lot. "Life doesn't revolve around you" seems to be the go-to line for anyone who doesn't follow the rules. These people come from a diverse range of areas, backgrounds, ethnicities, jobs, etc. So it begs the question, who does it revolve around then?

      It seems like you're a proponent of enforcing harsh measures on the community…in order to keep the community safe…from the community.

      You realise that society doesn't revolve around you and your demands either right?

      • +4

        "Life doesn't revolve around you" is a comment to address the importance of the group versus the importance of the individual. It's usually used to refer to someone who is being selfish or ignorant of other people.

        Colour me surprised that you hear it a lot.

        Also, that's not what "begs the question" means. It's when someone assumes a part of their argument is true and uses that as 'proof' of their argument [e.g. "given that masks are a OHS risk.."]

        • -5

          "Life doesn't revolve around you" is a comment to address the importance of the group versus the importance of the individual.

          That sounds like a pretty radical path to mob mentality. Part of living in a free democracy is that it's supposed to protect the voice and rights of minorities. Yes - even ones who (brace yourself)…disagree with you.

          Also, how many "individuals" need to lose their job and financial independence, be restricted from seeing their family, lose a family member without being able to say goodbye, be arrested, thrown in jail, or lose their rights until you start considering them a "community"?

          • +4

            @SlavOz:

            that it's supposed to protect the voice and rights of minorities

            being a covid denier or anti-mask'er does not make you a minority with rights than need protecting.

            free democracy also means you're use of 'freedoms' shouldn't effect/impact others negatively also. Hence health orders during a pandemic, that while interfering with your freedom wishes to not wear a mask, are outweighed by the freedom of others that you should follow health orders and reduce their (and the communities) overall infection growth rate.

            • -6

              @SBOB:

              being a covid denier or anti-mask'er does not make you a minority with rights than need protecting.

              lol, you literally have no idea how a democracy works. Maybe take a step back from the progressive dogma you hear from The Guardian and realise that being a minority is about more than just having the correct shade of skin colour, and practising tolerance and diversity extends to diversity of opinions too.

              free democracy also means you're use of 'freedoms' shouldn't effect/impact others negatively also.

              Wonder if you also think smokers, dangerous drivers, or abortion advocates don't deserve rights either. Why should they get to exercise their freedoms at the detriment of other people's lives/safety?

              Maybe we should also mandate organ donation right? Why should somebody be allowed to practice bodily autonomy when they're already dead and there are other people who need their organs?

              The right to ear pork and drink alcohol is considered pretty abhorrent to Muslims, maybe we should ban those too? Can't have other people's freedoms making someone else feel bad now can we!

              • +3

                @SlavOz: More cooked than Pete Evans.

                I can't wait for you to go down the rabbit hole of 'sovereign citizenship'.

              • @SlavOz:

                Wonder if you also think smokers, dangerous drivers, or abortion advocates don't deserve rights either. Why should they get to exercise their freedoms at the detriment of other people's lives/safety?

                are you agreeing with me here?

                Smokers are allowed to smoke, but there's a reason society has moved to no smoking in places like restaurants, public transport etc.. to remove/reduce its impact on others

                Dangerous drivers get penalised, fined and loss of licence, to remove their right to drive and remove/reduce their impact on others.

                Rest of your rant just goes even more unhinged I'm not sure how I can even relate it to the original argument though.

                • +1

                  @SBOB: The difference between the 2 particular examples you responded to (while ignoring others) is that we place restrictions on them at the exact moment they are being performed.

                  Smokers can still take public transport or enter a hospital as long as they refrain from smoking. We don't out blanket restrictions on smokers just because they're smokers.

                  That's a whole lot different to telling everyone they must wear a mask at all times because they are perceived as a health threat by default.

                  • @SlavOz:

                    That's a whole lot different to telling everyone they must wear a mask at all times because they are perceived as a health threat by default.

                    but you are free to not wear a mask in plenty of scenarios.
                    So the exact moment you are performing the task requiring you to wear a mask (i.e. interacting with the public) then the rule kicks in.
                    I'm sure if you refrained from breathing though, then the smoker example you give could also apply to mask wearing.

                    You seem to continue trying to debate towards the same end goal, you're examples agree with my position.

                    • @SBOB:

                      So the exact moment you are performing the task requiring you to wear a mask (i.e. interacting with the public) then the rule kicks in.

                      You're missing the point. Smoking is a dangerous activity. Interacting with the public is not inherently dangerous.

                      There's always been a risk of danger when you go out in public. A street light or air conditioner could fall on your head, killing you instantly. Does that mean we should all be forced to walk around with helmets, or just ban street lights? No.

                      Maybe we can also tell women they need to cover up hide their body in public because the ever-present threat of perverts or rapists. Get real. If you're afraid of of air, don't go outside.

                      • +2

                        @SlavOz:

                        You're missing the point.

                        yep, definitely me that's misaligned with 'the point'.

                        Smoking is a dangerous activity.

                        to yourself. Also to others in an enclosed area, hence (as we come full circle) why it is restricted on the places its socially accepted to do so.

                        So while "Interacting with the public is not inherently dangerous.", during a pandemic the health orders to make people wear masks in socially enclosed/interacting areas are there to reduce the spread of a 'totally not inherently dangerous ' disease (just think of it as really really bad second hand smoke if that is easier for you to comprehend)

                        Man, you must have been amazing in debate club :/

                        Again, there are plenty of areas you're free to take all the breaths you want mask-less.

                        • -3

                          @SBOB:

                          during a pandemic the health orders

                          This is what it comes down to. Interacting with the public isn't dangerous, yet the government has arbitrarily declared that it is.

                          Really, the fact that you can't see the point here is baffling. Something isn't dangerous just because the government said so. The government used to tell us that smoking was fine or that black people weren't equal entities.

                          In more particular words, they're pathogically full of shit. Placing blanket restrictions on people (which they themselves conveniently don't need to follow, hoo-ha) and trying to convince us that the default state of humans is infectious until proven otherwise is absurd. If I've done something wrong or present a proven health risk, I'll happily step into your Gestapo camp and wear a mask. But until then I'm not giving into the hysteria that my fellow humans are a biological hazard that should be treated like bacteria. It makes no sense on a moral or practical level.

                          You have 70 years on this earth and you're going to let some corporate beaurecrats high on self interests tell you how you must act, think, feel, and dress? LOL good luck with that.

                  • @SlavOz:

                    Smokers can still take public transport or enter a hospital as long as they refrain from smoking. We don't out blanket restrictions on smokers

                    Can you see where your analogy breaks down?

                    • Smokers, when they cease the action, cease to negatively and directly impact others (community) around them.

                    • Disease-vectors, when they cease wearing a mask or taking precautions (due to ignorance and fear-driven conspiratorial-thinking), continue to potentially negatively and directly impact others (community) around them.

                    Why wait until a potential disease-vector becomes an actual (and infectious) disease-carrier? Prevention is better than cure. Don't you agree? Would you want to "cure" lung cancer, or prevent it?

          • +3

            @SlavOz: It's an awful long stretch between "You are acting selfish" and "It's time for all of society to suppress the rights and voices of the minority" so make sure you do some warm-up exercises first, maybe have some water as well.

            Likewise this cooking up rhetoric about "how many of us need to be thrown in jail before.." like it's South Africa apartheid or Les Mis or whatever "I'm the real victim here" style fantasy you're cooking up in your head.

            Take a step back, reread what was said and get some perspective. "Life doesn't revolve around you" is something that's said to a petulant child, it's not a sinister piece of propaganda for communism.

  • +3

    Its a shame that any mention of Covid bring outs the loonies. All those who worry about our freedom.

    You know what , there is going to be an election coming soon , why don't you create a Anti Mask party and lets just actually see how you guys do !!! And if you do win , lets see how you run the country.

    Like Boris Johnson found out , its easier to criticise from the opposition than to run the country.

    • -1

      Will be a nice battle between the no mask party and the rest of society's two-mask, double-jab, permanent lockdown, microchip party.

      Bit of a confusing name though. Might as well just call it CCP lite.

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