All Government roles to be 60% on-site

[avonleigh]

Don't know if people were aware of this but I wasn't.

Apparently all roles working for government departments have to be 60% hybrid from April. So unless you are local it's going to be a bit hard to do considering most of these roles are inside IR35.

[edison]

Was there a specific catalyst for this being announced now?

The mandated working three days a week in office seems to be gaining pace. Amazon announced before xmas that remote workers may no longer be considered for promotions. And been reported that Dell and IBM are going to make significant return to office announcements.

[WTFH]

Was there a specific catalyst for this being announced now?

Could be any of a whole range of reasons, such as an up-coming general election, London property owners eager to rent out flats, distraction politics, looking to blame, etc etc.

[northernladuk]

Was there a specific catalyst for this being announced now?

The mandated working three days a week in office seems to be gaining pace. Amazon announced before xmas that remote workers may no longer be considered for promotions. And been reported that Dell and IBM are going to make significant return to office announcements.

The only catalyst is everyone is doing it so the flood gates have opened. It's (IMO) a sensible move as 100% WFH was in response to a global pandemic which is long past so a return to something had to happen. 100% WFH simply does not work as a broad brush. I know many on here will wail and argue but we are a pretty unique lot. Think about your average office drones that work to live and need eyeballing to work properly. Also all those in two up two down's with kid/family around and no office. It's just not suitable across the board.

You mention a few above that might have hit the news but my last client, my current one and the one I've just applied for are all going to 3 days. It's a vast majority of normal (particularly large) employers.

[sreed]

Don't know if people were aware of this but I wasn't.

Apparently all roles working for government departments have to be 60% hybrid from April. So unless you are local it's going to be a bit hard to do considering most of these roles are inside IR35.

It's a load of BS, just election sloganeering. Govt doesn't care about competing in the workplace so policy-wise they can do pretty much what the minister wants but in practice there'll be loads of exceptions.

My neighbour is an infra techie that works at HMRC. The dept has had a 3-day hybrid arrangement negotiated with their unions since spring 2021 but enforcement is very lax depending on what dept you're in, how 'in-demand' your skills are and how restricted your manager is by the never ending staffing cost freeze mandates. Going by whether I can see his car or not, he goes in once or twice a week max and that's not going to change.

In any case, in effect this policy's life is limited to the next govt or when some smart alec cost-cutting minister realises that they could save costs by renting out half the expensive flashy office space they've leased (25 year leases most of them!) in city centres across the north.

Remote and hybrid work is here to stay but at least for shortage and skilled occupations, there's always going to plenty of flexibility. As far as employers are concerned, the bottomline dictates that they're never going back to the huge expensive buzzing office complexes like pre pandemic.

[northernladuk]

It's a load of BS, just election sloganeering. Govt doesn't care about competing in the workplace so policy-wise they can do pretty much what the minister wants but in practice there'll be loads of exceptions.

My neighbour is an infra techie that works at HMRC. The dept has had a 3-day hybrid arrangement negotiated with their unions since spring 2021 but enforcement is very lax depending on what dept you're in, how 'in-demand' your skills are and how restricted your manager is by the never ending staffing cost freeze mandates.

Yep, am sure there will be loads of exceptions. Has to be a proper headache for HR. A load of people not having it mandate is going to piss of the people that are mandated and so on. Going to be a proper melting pot for quite awhile until it settles in and people leave and then can replace with local people.

The one thing no one wants is bonus's based on attendance or tracking software. If they don't get the people the expect on site they may turn to other alternatives to manage which won't be pleasant.

In any case, in effect this policy's life is limited to the next govt or when some smart alec cost-cutting minister realises that they could save costs by renting out half the expensive flashy office space they've leased (25 year leases most of them!) in city centres across the north.

I disagree to an extent. Am sure in the future there is going to be some downsizing of office space but IMO 3 day hybrid is the new norm. Tech might have changed but people haven't.

[sreed]

Yep, am sure there will be loads of exceptions. Has to be a proper headache for HR. A load of people not having it mandate is going to piss of the people that are mandated and so on. Going to be a proper melting pot for quite awhile until it settles in and people leave and then can replace with local people.

The one thing no one wants is bonus's based on attendance or tracking software. If they don't get the people the expect on site they may turn to other alternatives to manage which won't be pleasant.

I disagree to an extent. Am sure in the future there is going to be some downsizing of office space but IMO 3 day hybrid is the new norm. Tech might have changed but people haven't.

We probably have different opinions on this

I agree that hybrid will be the norm but (outside the public sector) I simply don't see it settling on an enforced 3 day mandate because I just can't see it working in that kind of a command and control way, especially with regard to roles that employers have to compete for.

People's expectations have changed and they're not likely to go back to the pre-pandemic way of work.

E
mployer's expectations have changed with regard to their facilities costs and (perhaps more importantly) how their pool of candidates is inversely proportional to the numbers of days/week needing office attendance.

Time will tell how things pan out but I think the future of hybrid will be more like this Admiral analyst role below rather than the govt type enforced 3 days/week

[supersteamer]

Where did you see this please?

I tried Google and saw something along those lines for civil servants. Can't see anything about contractors and suppliers.


Thanks.

[malvolio]

Enforcement is actually very simple. All civil servants have career progression according to set parameters - courses attended (not to be confused with skills acquired...), complaints accrued, savings targets realised, yada yada yada. Very simple to add in-house attendance as a metric and if you don't meet it, then the next review will not step you up the pay scale.

And adherence to the overall process is in their contract already.

[northernladuk]

I agree that hybrid will be the norm but (outside the public sector) I simply don't see it settling on an enforced 3 day mandate because I just can't see it working in that kind of a command and control way, especially with regard to roles that employers have to compete for.

Time will tell I guess. I don't see a problem with it and yes it doesn't make sense to some but they have to put a stake in the ground and it won't please most people but trying to track each individuals expectations is going to be a nightmare and perceived to be highly unfair to some. Companies managed on 5 days with no choice so three days, especially if flexible, is still much better than before... I say before, you cannot count the 2+ years of 100% WFH. That was extra-ordinary, not normal. If people are stating what they want based on that period then they are deluded and will never be happy.

People's expectations have changed and they're not likely to go back to the pre-pandemic way of work.

No one is arguing that. Absolutely no need to do that but there has to be a balance. Flexible three days with two at home is a bloody good deal. Offer that to UK's workforce before the pandemic and they would have thought they'd hit the jackpot. Some people can't see the difference between a lockdown and a change in working practices.

Employer's expectations have changed with regard to their facilities costs and (perhaps more importantly) how their pool of candidates is inversely proportional to the numbers of days/week needing office attendance.

I think employers are also starting to see a lot of problems with a largely remote workforce. It simply doesn't work for swathes of people and humans in general. They will also be seeing a drop in productivity from many people.

Time will tell how things pan out but I think the future of hybrid will be more like this Admiral analyst role below rather than the govt type enforced 3 days/week

Definitely a learning curve and what will work in some clients won't work in others. Even down to the teams. That approach will not be great in a project environment and definitely not on a large complex project. Might be OK in an admin team or call centre environment. They'll have a different approach in every dept and then sink in pit of complexity, admin and wailing from other groups that don't have the same benefits. 3 days certainly is a one size fits nobody but anything else is going to be a nightmare to manage when they don't need to.

It's going to be years before we have a 'norm' and even that won't be the same team per team and employer to employer but it will be broadly similar I reckon. What also will happen is a rise in benefits/pay linked to attendance and performance software when working at home so be careful what you ask for.