State of the Market

[avonleigh]

Been working from home since August 2020. Don't get why anybody would want to return to the office. I get much more done working from home as you don't have distractions and you tend to work longer as you don't have the commuting time. Think it's much better for mental health too. I don't get about coffee shops. How many coffee shops have closed down? None where I live and we have loads.

[dsc]

It's no justification at all. Don't get me wrong whilst I love WFH I can see business benefit by being in the office so as long we're not all stuck on zoom\teams calls all day. In fact where I currently work (HSBC) the department head suggested a return to the office would be coming, at which point the permies raised exactly the point about being on video calls all day i.e. they requested that this didn't happen and requested that in office attendance was focussed around face 2 face sessions, meetings etc

The issue with this, is that it's very often an idea and it stays in this phase. No one can force anyone to have face to face interactions and depending on the job, you might not even have that many, so you'll end up in the office having a 15min chat with someone about something and then simply working as you would from home.

The whole WFH malarkey needs to be dealt with on an individual basis, some people thrive with WFH, others do bugger all and their productivity drops to the floor.

[churchillsnip]

But the BOE projection is 3.5% to 3.25% rates in 2025 and 2026.

Will that be enough?

I think it will be. To state the obvious, inflation is what matters at the end of the day. Markets react poorly to implied requirement on borrowing/QE. Labour are making the right noises about fiscal responsibility, so I doubt they'll spook the markets.

The CPI is, err, 'well managed' at the best of times. As independent as the ONS supposedly is, I expect they'll add a little pressure to the finger on the scales when it comes to CPI prints.

I'm optimistic for the second half of the year.

[churchillsnip]

The issue with this, is that it's very often an idea and it stays in this phase. No one can force anyone to have face to face interactions and depending on the job, you might not even have that many, so you'll end up in the office having a 15min chat with someone about something and then simply working as you would from home.

The whole WFH malarkey needs to be dealt with on an individual basis, some people thrive with WFH, others do bugger all and their productivity drops to the floor.

I honestly don't think this is generally about productivity - completely agree with you on individual basis. If productivity suffers, it shows a weakness in management/hiring.

It depends largely on the senior execs and what motivates them. There's a lot of psychological value to certain personality types working in the office. A lot of social/hierarchical validation that is difficult to get from teams calls.

[PCTNN]

Think it's much better for mental health too.

Sure, being closed in your home office with no in-person social interactions for 35-40 hours a week I'm sure works wonders for your mental health.

100% WFH I've noticed seems to be much preferred by some particular types of workers, read developers. Which have always been kinda socially awkward and overall weird AF so I get that. BAs, PMs and similar are less socially awkward so all they want is face to face interactions.

[ladymuck]

I've seen a couple of gigs in the past few days are worth going for but whether the agents call me back is another matter entirely. I'm deciding to see that as a positive move.

[sadkingbilly]

Sure, being closed in your home office with no in-person social interactions for 35-40 hours a week I'm sure works wonders for your mental health.

100% WFH I've noticed seems to be much preferred by some particular types of workers, read developers. Which have always been kinda socially awkward and overall weird AF so I get that. BAs, PMs and other unnecessary middle management types are less socially awkward so all they want is face to face interactions to justify their existence and delay any real work being done.

ftfy

[ladymuck]

I've seen a couple of gigs in the past few days are worth going for but whether the agents call me back is another matter entirely. I'm deciding to see that as a positive move.

Scrap that. It would seem this:

Experience within Financial Services or Asset Management (advantageous).

Means FS experience is essential, not a nice to have. Why use "advantageous" if they mean "essential"?

[eek]

Scrap that. It would seem this:

Experience within Financial Services or Asset Management (advantageous).

Means FS experience is essential, not a nice to have. Why use "advantageous" if they mean "essential"?

Because it started off as advantageous but the agent now has sufficient candidates with such experience so advantageous has been upgraded to essential in his selection criteria....

In a sellers market they will take the risk on someone without the experience but in this market they can pick from fully qualified candidates..

[Fraidycat]

100% WFH I've noticed seems to be much preferred by some particular types of workers, read developers. Which have always been kinda socially awkward and overall weird AF so I get that. BAs, PMs and similar are less socially awkward so all they want is face to face interactions.

As a developer i find its more about concentration. Personally i never found busy open plan offices very conducive to concentrating for long periods of time.

Do BAs/PMs/Architects have to focus and concentrate as hard as developers do? I dont think so.

In solitude at home i can easily do the amount of work that took 30 hours in the office but in 15 hours at home. Then its entirely up to me what i want to do with the other 15 hours. Do I push my self harder or pace myself. It normally depends on how much the client is paying..