Auto Reply: Out of Office

[SueEllen]

Anyway, I agree with _V_ and GB, the article is a 'nudge' to make people think about going back to the office.

They are trying everything to get people back into the office.

Seen articles and comments in The Guardian and The Fail arguing that because only older middle class people have a spare room to WFH everyone should go back into the office.

With the last round of comments loads of people pointed out that:
1. They had WFH before Covid
2. They had managed well working from their living room, bedroom, bedsit etc because they went out during the day or after work to ensure they had a separation between work and home

[d000hg]

Even when ClientCo don't provide devices for me to work on, I will configure a different profile on my laptop to separate their work from mine so there is still an 'off' element when I'm done working for the day. .

Similarly I have a dedicated work VM as a sandbox, but most people don't know how to do such things. Phones is probably tricker since you're generally allowed to use your work phone as your phone, or expected to use you personal phone for work. I suppose you could refuse to set up work email on your phone or tell them you don't have a smartphone

[SueEllen]

Similarly I have a dedicated work VM as a sandbox, but most people don't know how to do such things. Phones is probably tricker since you're generally allowed to use your work phone as your phone, or expected to use you personal phone for work. I suppose you could refuse to set up work email on your phone or tell them you don't have a smartphone

Phone isn't tricker.

People need to learn to ignore calls, use different ring tones for close family and friends and put their ringer on silent over night.

Also setting up work emails on a personal phone is a security risk.

[Whorty]

Totally agree and a decent employer makes sure you are compensated which makes continuous abuse less likely.

Same company used to phone me up on holiday because they had carefully planned to make a £100 million turnover business dependant on one man.

Is this a contractor site, or is it just for permies now?

[vetran]

Similarly I have a dedicated work VM as a sandbox, but most people don't know how to do such things. Phones is probably tricker since you're generally allowed to use your work phone as your phone, or expected to use you personal phone for work. I suppose you could refuse to set up work email on your phone or tell them you don't have a smartphone

With unlimited calls and texts available for £6 a month I would just carry the work phone while working and a cheap private one at other times.

Saves agents phoning you at work.

[GigiBronz]

Anyway, I agree with _V_ and GB, the article is a 'nudge' to make people think about going back to the office.

They are trying everything to get people back into the office.

Seen articles and comments in The Guardian and The Fail arguing that because only older middle class people have a spare room to WFH everyone should go back into the office.

With the last round of comments loads of people pointed out that:
1. They had WFH before Covid
2. They had managed well working from their living room, bedroom, bedsit etc because they went out during the day or after work to ensure they had a separation between work and home

They are setting the ground for their narrative, they will bring the big guns later on and the final push would come from the immediate manager.

It would be fun to watch when people caught up in the housing frenzy will come to the realisation that the big house they have bought in a remote location is not of much use when you have to fork out extortionate train tickets / spend 2h+ commuting.

We are social beings, we like to be in the presence of other people, current situation I am sure has wrecked the mental health of many people.
But businesses primarily care about control and supervision and being able to extract the most out of resources. WFH does not fly with them.

[d000hg]

Phone isn't tricker.

People need to learn to ignore calls, use different ring tones for close family and friends and put their ringer on silent over night.

Also setting up work emails on a personal phone is a security risk.

I think you've argued against your own point Changing habits is not easy, even though it's becoming more and more accepted that notification-addiction is degrading quality of life.

[Whorty]

They are setting the ground for their narrative, they will bring the big guns later on and the final push would come from the immediate manager.

It would be fun to watch when people caught up in the housing frenzy will come to the realisation that the big house they have bought in a remote location is not of much use when you have to fork out extortionate train tickets / spend 2h+ commuting.

We are social beings, we like to be in the presence of other people, current situation I am sure has wrecked the mental health of many people.
But businesses primarily care about control and supervision and being able to extract the most out of resources. WFH does not fly with them.

I'd actually not agree with that - what businesses primarily care about is profit (assuming cash flow is ok) - if WFH saves big bucks in rent/property and the profits are still there then the 'business' is happy. Control and supervision is a fascination of line managers who see the size of their empire as more important than the actual output of their teams.

I am skeptical that total WFH will continue, but equally I can't see total working in large offices becoming the norm again either. Businesses now know they can still operate without the need for the large, central offices so will look to reduce their cost base. They also have the risk of future lockdowns to consider and manage.

The next 2-3 years will be interesting as companies learn to operate in the 'new normal'

[ladymuck]

Similarly I have a dedicated work VM as a sandbox, but most people don't know how to do such things. Phones is probably tricker since you're generally allowed to use your work phone as your phone, or expected to use you personal phone for work. I suppose you could refuse to set up work email on your phone or tell them you don't have a smartphone

If you're expected to have email on your phone, which I admit is useful sometimes*, just install a different email app and then configure the notifications accordingly.

*useful being I wanted an afternoon in the pub but needed to be 'present' so installed apps on my phone so I could be responsive and thus give the illusion that I wasn't skiving

[d000hg]

If you're expected to have email on your phone, which I admit is useful sometimes*, just install a different email app and then configure the notifications accordingly.

I reckon about 1% of people know how to do anything other than follow the instructions IT send out. A lot of people struggle with that!


This seemed apt for the thread... some big-name tech firms have promised to let people work remotely as they see fit, but Apple is going in quite the other direction: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-57342768