No Going Back To Work

[allenlondon]

Apparently, people who needn’t go back to work aren’t going back to work.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/sep/10/no-rise-in-workers-in-uk-city-centres-despite-back-to-office-plea

Is this inevitable? So many office jobs are far from useful, involving moving bits of paper around, or making phone calls, that people just aren’t going to miss a few million office workers not turning up.

A bit like many hospital clinic consultations, just as effective done by telephone, people might be waking up to the tremendous waste of time that society indulges in.

[ichkeria]

"We need to get the country back to work - urgently"

Have you misunderstood? People ARE at work - at home in many cases. This is about trying to get them to work in an office (or wherever they were before) in person

[teacake44]

12.08 That's just a complete repeat of what you've said before. Businesses have found a better way of working, and more profitable. Again that's what business is all about. You don't run at a loss for some one else.

[naomi24]

I'll repeat this bit. You seem to have missed it.

//Ultimately, if those working from home have nothing to work with because the companies they are dealing with have folded, they have no jobs either. //

[archibaldy]

Not all companies will fold, in fact most won't but the ones that cannot adapt will - that's the way business works.

[ichkeria]

If you are talking to me, I probably ignored it because I didn't see that it had to do with anything.
If a company goes bust it goes bust. People are working from home presumably because it works for everyone to do that.

[chelle7272]

Why would companies fold because heir own staff are working at home? That makes no sense.

[naomi24]

Yes, I was talking to you, Ichkeria. Sorry, I should have said. It’s working for those working from home at the moment - but if that results in the companies they’re dealing with folding, they won’t be working at all. That’s what it has to do with it.

[naomi24]

chelle, you've got the wrong end of the stick. See above.

[teacake44]

So the local sandwich shop/ Greggs/ cleaning company go's bust because a big company like ICI won't work at a loss to keep them going. Sheesh...

[naomi24]

ICI and other big companies aren't working at a loss, teacake.

[chelle7272]

Now you have clarified it, it still doesn't make sense. If the local bakers /cafe folds because only half our staff are at work, that doesn't put our staff out of work.

[THECORBYLOON]

NAOMI, if a company is saving money by having folk working from home, should the Government reimburse them for any extra costs when those folk return to their place of work?

[teacake44]

12.32 They will be if they have to pay for a half filled office block because of government social distancing .

[New Judge]

//Businesses have found a better way of working, and more profitable.//

It may be better for them, but in many cases it is certainly not better for their customers. Companies have had about six months to adjust to their preferred way of working since this nonsense began. In many cases their service is an absolute shambles. Everything the customer suffers is "because of Covid." I have spent literally hours on the phone trying to get the simplest of problems solved. If they are to make this permanent they need to do two things:

1. They need to shape up. At present they are providing shoddy, third rate service and people have put up with it up to now because for some strange reason many of them think it is necessary.

2. They need to make sure that the staff they have told to stay at home have adequate facilities to work there. Large numbers of them have not. They have been sent home with a laptop and some of them are working sitting on their bed or with their laptop propped up against the toaster. It won't do.

[naomi24]

But your staff aren’t ‘working’ with those companies, Chelle. They’re just buying lunches from them - or if they're working from home, putting them out of business and their staff out of jobs.

Now if you were in the business of, say, manufacturing office furniture, or even being a middle man and buying from the manufacturers and selling to companies - something that can be done from home - or manufacturing paper cups for office water coolers - or even sitting at home taking orders for paper cups - you would be in trouble because ultimately you would have no one to sell to.

[New Judge]

//NAOMI, if a company is saving money by having folk working from home, should the Government reimburse them for any extra costs when those folk return to their place of work?//

Why should they? Leaving aside the fact that the government has no money and it is taxpayers who are footing the bill, The costs resulting from something like Covid should be borne by the company and, if they have any, their shareholders.

[Jackdaw33]

Quite right, NJ. 'Covid' is now the universal mantra to excuse any shoddy service.

[iluvmargie]

As usual NJ, an excellent post.

[chelle7272]

//1But your staff aren’t ‘working’ with those companies, Chelle. They’re just buying lunches from them .//

The OP is about city centres, cafes, shops, businesses that service city centre workers, not paper cup manufacturers.

[THECORBYLOON]

NJ, NAOMI is arguing that folk not being in their normal workplace is impacting other businesses negatively.

If working from home means a business saves money, is more productive and boosts income and profits, why should they be forced to lose those benefits to keep other businesses afloat?