Generic Virus Thread

[Demitri_C]

6 minutes ago, bannedfromHandV said:

I’ve worked from home for the last few years now.

It has lots of pros, obviously, but it also has cons that I think people (particularly those more advanced in their careers) forget.

Company culture, teamwork etc can be massive (dependent on the nature of the roles and business), I don’t know how you’re supposed to hone that effectively with everyone working from home, in particular for new employees and further still for those at the beginning of their careers, I’ve always said you can learn far more about a colleague from one social event or night out than you can working alongside them for 10 years, so how does that aspect play into the discussion? 

Then you have all the various businesses that rely on office workers and commuters. 
 

 

I agree definitely pros and cons. I think a 2/3 balance isnt unreasonable for employees and employers tbh

[sharkyvilla]

1 hour ago, Davkaus said:

But how does any of this help commercial landlords like Alan Sugar?

Looks expensive to have all of this London property sitting empty, looking for tenants https://www.amsprop.com/available_property.html

Make no mistake, he's not an idiot, and he doesn't believe what he's saying, he's just a self-interested bastard that wants people crammed back into offices because it's good for his bank balance.

Maybe I'm a bit naive but couldn’t the government introduce a scheme to turn underused properties in the town/city centres into affordable flats for young people.  If they're working from home they can still go out for lunch or whatever and keep the small businesses nearby going.

[Ingram85]

I wish my neighbours would work at the office a bit more. Noisy buggers. 

[mjmooney]

1 hour ago, Rolta said:

For me it's the time you get back—think about all the wasted time commuting over years. You get all of that time back for yourself. If you have only a 30 minute commute each way over a year you'd get back about 250 hours. Over only 30 years that would be 7500 hours of your life back in your own hands. That's huge

But I wouldn't have 'got it back' - I'd have slept it away (mornings) or slumped in front of the TV (evenings). As it was, I enjoyed thousands of hours of music (or books, depending on mode of transport). And I don't mind driving. 

[limpid]

1 hour ago, Demitri_C said:

when i worked in call centre at the start of my career you would have a team leader on your bank so they knew if you were taking the piss. They would also listen to your calls but you wouldnt know when. I doubt you can do that working from home

You can. Trivially.

[Rolta]

1 hour ago, mjmooney said:

But I wouldn't have 'got it back' - I'd have slept it away (mornings) or slumped in front of the TV (evenings). As it was, I enjoyed thousands of hours of music (or books, depending on mode of transport). And I don't mind driving. 

I feel as if I want to say 'that's on you'. But you clearly enjoy reading. I myself spent four hours at home listening to audio books and podcasts just this Friday at home. I can concentrate a hell of a lot better when I'm not crammed into a bus (as I am right now). 

I think it's a bit much to say you wouldn't get 'any' of those thousands of hours back. And, well, it's good to have the discipline to get up early and people who do shouldn't be logic punished by people who wouldn't!

[mjmooney]

52 minutes ago, Rolta said:

I feel as if I want to say 'that's on you'

You are absolutely correct - I was talking about me, specifically. If others have the discipline to use those 'commuting hours' more fruitfully, that's fantastic. 

[El Zen]

 

2 hours ago, mjmooney said:

But I wouldn't have 'got it back' - I'd have slept it away (mornings) or slumped in front of the TV (evenings). As it was, I enjoyed thousands of hours of music (or books, depending on mode of transport). And I don't mind driving. 

You are my much older identical twin, Mike. 

[Seat68]

I would give my right arm to be back in an office. I can't see it happening this year. I know we are all different and I certainly think it's more productive for me to work from home, but that's it, for me at least no other benefit. Admittedly my employer gets additional hours but I could really do with being around people. 

[bobzy]

1 hour ago, Seat68 said:

I would give my right arm to be back in an office. I can't see it happening this year. I know we are all different and I certainly think it's more productive for me to work from home, but that's it, for me at least no other benefit. Admittedly my employer gets additional hours but I could really do with being around people. 

I found exactly this and go into the office pretty much full time (basically if I feel like I can't be arsed, I'll be at home.  Nice choice to have...).  The downside is that I reckon the office is at about 10% capacity  

[LondonLax]

4 hours ago, Demitri_C said:

when i worked in call centre at the start of my career you would have a team leader on your bank so they knew if you were taking the piss. They would also listen to your calls but you wouldnt know when. I doubt you can do that working from home

 

[Xela]

Some good points made on home working here.

I like working from home but am conscious that I do feel a bit disconnected from the business and my colleagues. I'm in my 40's so it generally suits me, but I don't think I'd enjoy it so much if I was in my 20's. I'd want to be around people, having a laugh and learning from more experienced people. I had some great laughs in the office when I started my career. It must be so difficult for new starters to get to know the job now. 

Living on my own, i think I should make more of an effort to go into the office more. I do actually enjoy it when I go and usually it ends up with a few pints after work! 

Do the benefits of not travelling and more sleep outweigh the negatives of becoming more isolated and perhaps not speaking to people face to face for weeks at a time? 

[limpid]

31 minutes ago, Xela said:

Do the benefits of not travelling and more sleep outweigh the negatives of becoming more isolated and perhaps not speaking to people face to face for weeks at a time? 

Why would you not speak to people for weeks at a time? Is there nowhere with people that you can walk to? I speak face to face with most of my team, most days. I have two decent coffee shops within a short walk and management that encourages "walk and talk" meetings. I've been in the office for half a day since February 2020 (when I got Covid). I haven't missed it in the slightest.

[sidcow]

Bill Gates has tested positive for Coronavirus but is only experiencing mild symptoms as fortunately he's "vaccinated and boosted" 

Why's he got vaccinated? Surely he knows where he is? 

[limpid]

9 minutes ago, sidcow said:

Bill Gates has tested positive for Coronavirus but is only experiencing mild symptoms as fortunately he's "vaccinated and boosted" 

Why's he got vaccinated? Surely he knows where he is? 

Bing maps says that he's in purple grapefruit.

[Davkaus]

Oops.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/7kbgza/north-korea-covid-19-outbreak?utm_source=reddit.com

Quote

North Korea’s recently revealed COVID-19 outbreak may have already infected hundreds of thousands of people over the past month, according to the country’s state media.

An article, published Friday by the country’s international broadcasting service the Voice of Korea, revealed that an “obscure febrile disease has been explosively spread and expanded on a nationwide scale since late April, producing more than 350,000 persons in a fever in a short time.” 

The report did not explicitly state that the widespread infections were from COVID, but experts say it was a tacit admission that the virus has spread across the isolated country of 25.8 million people, which until this week had denied that it had any confirmed case of the disease and rejected vaccine offers.

 

[markavfc40]

Caught a bit of Good Morning Britain this morning and Richard Madeley was interviewing some government minister doing the rounds. He said why aren't the government forcing civil servants back to the office. Was waffling on about how they could be up to anything at home with no one to keep an eye on them and mentioned things like they could be going to play golf. Said in his day if he'd have contacted his newspaper editor and said he was working from home he'd have been sent his P45. 

Confirmed my suspicions that he is a prat living in the past. 

Edited May 16, 2022 by markavfc40

[Dante_Lockhart]

On 11/05/2022 at 21:32, sidcow said:

Bill Gates has tested positive for Coronavirus but is only experiencing mild symptoms as fortunately he's "vaccinated and boosted" 

Why's he got vaccinated? Surely he knows where he is? 

It's obviously his wife running things.

[Genie]

18 minutes ago, Dante_Lockhart said:

It's obviously his wife running things.

Ex wife, they divorced last year. Makes more sense now  

[choffer]

Monkeypox? 
Brilliant.