this post was submitted on 28 Apr 2024

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ONS staff refuse to work two days a week in office (www.bbc.com)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

37 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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[–] [email protected] 62 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Good for them - no reason to work in an office

[+] [email protected] -24 points 7 months ago (1 children)

… unless there is.

[–] [email protected] 40 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Office for national statistics, people who collate and curate data for analysis by other administrative groups. Do you mean they need to buy boots meal deals because that will help them open up excel?

[+] [email protected] -6 points 7 months ago (3 children)

I work with the data analysis guys in a large UK public-sector organisation and yes it can be very useful to be talking about the significance of different data sets, how data could be collected, how measurement can be improved - just to chew this stuff over. It can also be very useful for new team members, when they are in their first few months to get to know the rest of the crew and to feel they can ask questions in a natural way, not feeling that they are being annoying by cranking up a Teams call or chat.

Ii'm a big old fan of Teams and collaboration software in general, but face to face interaction can definitely be better in some circumstances. Yes - I'm also a big fan of being able to work from home a couple of days a week

[–] [email protected] 11 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I'm also a big fan of being able to work from home a couple of days a week

Partial work from home is ridiculous. They fully admit that it isn't necessary to be in the office but at the same time still want to have some kind of control. So they settle for this not at all a reasonable compromise compromise.

If you want to go into the office fine that's your prerogative, but I don't think it's fair to pretend there's some kind of justification for it.

[–] [email protected] -4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

They fully admit that it isn’t necessary to be in the office

Do they? I don’t think so.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago (1 children)

So why are they allowing part-time work then. If working in the office is necessary then surely it is necessary 100% of the time. So if they are allowing anyone to spend some time working outside of the office then clearly they can spend all their time working outside the office.

The managers just don't want them doing that.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

So why are they allowing part-time work then. If working in the office is necessary then surely it is necessary 100% of the time.

Ummmm, no?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

That's a deflection. Not a retort.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Because it’s a ludicrous assertion. Just because something is useful on a regular basis, that does mean it is required constantly.

“Why are they letting people get out of bed? If people need beds, they clearly should be lying in them all day”

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Ah, so you're the guy who vomits every little thought into the office when your teammates are clearly trying to concentrate on other stuff? You have email for a reason bro

[–] [email protected] -5 points 7 months ago

I’m that guy, to the extent that you’re the guy who never leaves his basement. I.e neither are true

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

The arbitrary n days a week requirement is just a simple lazy way of ensuring people visit the buildings consistently so there is a valid reason to keep them paid for. It will also continue to be n+1 until things return to as they were or peoples investments are no longer going to benefit with more forced return to office.

Face to face meetings can be organised anywhere. Its just inefficient to be using a building and requiring people to travel for what does mostly amount to sitting on your own on teams calls anyway. The requirement to have people sitting in places where you occasionally bump into them just smacks of bad management.

In person meetings can be useful for improving social relations. Mandating n days a week on the off chance you might have a useful meeting is asinine.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Its just inefficient to be using a building and requiring people to travel for what does mostly amount to sitting on your own on teams calls anyway.

Absolutely agreed, that’s why it is usually best to try and get the team together on agreed days - having a couple a week allows for flexibility, but also makes it likely you get critical mass

[+] [email protected] -21 points 7 months ago (3 children)

Do you think some level of collaboration might help them do their job? Do you find online communication sucks?

It's not about getting people in one place for management's sake. It's about getting people to communicate with each other.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 7 months ago (1 children)

If only some kind of communication system existed that allowed them to communicate from the comfort of their own homes. Sci-Fi nonsense I know.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago

Yeah. That's some Star Trek "Captain Kirk goes to space", make-believe bullshit. But I guess we can still dream. /s

[–] [email protected] 16 points 7 months ago

My team resolved this by using the plethora of collaboration tools at our disposal.

We have a chat that goes all day, every day. At times, we have breakout chats for specific work projects.
We have a tool that lets us collaboratively project manage, centralize our files, and document organizational knowledge.

I would move hundreds of miles away if I didn’t have to come into the office once a month to make an out of touch leadership feel better.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago

about getting people in one place for management’s sake

oh no dude, it's exactly about this. and commercial real estate prices.

make no mistake.

[–] [email protected] 50 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Unnecessary RTO needs to be outlawed

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago (4 children)

Define "necessary".

[–] [email protected] 22 points 7 months ago

Surgeon. If you can't do you job by computer fair enough. Otherwise it's unnecessary.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 7 months ago

Before COVID: all of it. After COVID mostly jobs that require you to physically interact with stuff.

I used to be allowed to WFH once a week. It's been almost 3 years since I've been to the office and I no longer live on the same side of the ocean. Same company.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago

Wait its all unnecessary? 🌎🧑‍🚀🔫👨‍🚀

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Team building is very important.

That's why my employer strongly requests us to meet in person 2 times/year.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

My employer requests all sorts of things, but I simply ignore any email that doesn't say the things I want it to say

3 years later and I've not been fired, so I guess they don't really care that much.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Are they getting their work done?

That’s the only real question, imho everything else is poor management

[–] [email protected] 14 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Managers aren’t trained in the field they manage.

Incapable of understanding if they are getting value for the salaries they pay unless they have a webcam watching you.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

Yup. Its becoming progressively more common to have managers whose only skill is shouting and intimidation, no clue about the role that they manage.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago (1 children)

is this an office where the public can walk in and get direct service. if so then they should go in but if not then good for them. its better for the environment.

[+] [email protected] -28 points 7 months ago (2 children)

It's the Office For National Statistics. Not Work From Home For National Statistics.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 7 months ago (1 children)

office /ô′fĭs, ŏf′ĭs/

noun 3. A subdivision of a governmental department. "the US Patent Office."

turns out an office isn’t a building… who’d have thought… wait… everyone… everyone knows that and it’s easily found information

also language is malleable

also who cares what the word is; forcing people to do dumb shit because of a name is the dumbest shit ever

[–] [email protected] -2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Hahah, holy shit how old am I?

You guys never seen Anchorman? I guess not. Also how can you read my comment thinking it was serious? 😅

Obviously this is a joke 😂😂. Oh dear.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I've seen it a billion times and I'm not sure what the reference in your comment was?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I've seen it a billion times

The reference is when Champ says: "It's Anchorman not Anchorlady".

It's like one of the classic lines. I can't believe you don't know it?

[–] [email protected] -1 points 7 months ago

Ah right. It's not most memorable of them. Anyway, when people don't get your joke it means it didn't land. You need to chill a bit.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

British parliament should be in a house according to that logic.

edit: a pub should be public property