Coronavirus

Less business for them from the russian real estate merchants who own them and need someone to loop those taxes and dirty money?

 

I forgot to answer that bit ^^

I believe a lot of people are a lot more conscientious than management give them credit for, it has always been some sort of driver to give the misconception, that people are lazy if they take time away from the office, where in fact most people are genuinly hard workers.

Also it saves companies time and money. For example, with the saving on travel expenses, employees can work four days instead of five, which weights the short fall in wages, but the employer actually still gets the same productivity. Especially for people who travel into London, the costs run into thousands, it's no exaggeration to say it could be as much as £5k a year, so people are happier, because despite their productivity being higher, their hours are reduced.

 

The fact that Sugar the barrow boy has been bleating about people going back into the office for seemingly months now, gives a clue as to the overall mindset of that sector.

Given virtually all of his capital is wedged into commercial property these days.

 

This is kind of what the guy I was listening to was also saying, in that it gives people a better quality of life, time they never had before. They still will go to the bakeries, cafes and bars but it will be local to where they live rather than where they traditionally would work i.e. city centres.

 

Yep, where some may lose others (more local) will gain.
A guy on the radio this morning did express some concern about the fact most people are actually conscientious in there work and will end up doing more hours for the same pay.

I have a theory that the productivity rate has gone up because there are fewer distractions at home with no workmates to chat with.

 

The time we waste in workplaces chatting **** in this country is huge. So removing the opportunity for most of it has to improve productivity, assuming the same hours are actually worked.

Albeit I think there’s more to it than that. In an office people are guided by the clock, at home they’re more likely to job and finish, as opposed to leaving a task until the next morning to complete.

There is a massive downside as well btw, which is something I’ve been looking at this week funnily enough, and it’s the psychological effect of having your workplace in the same room that you primarily live in. As it makes it much harder to switch off and leave it, mentally more so than physically. So it’s not a good thing. However, if you have a separate room you can ‘go to work’ in, and then shut and leave, it’s a much more positive experience. The old noggin is a complicated beast.

 

Eldest daughter and son-in-law have both been working from home since lockdown, one of the first things they did was move the granddaughters into the same bedroom (only 2 and 4.5) and convert one room into an office. It's made a massive difference to the way they worked the first couple of weeks and also means they can "close the door" at home time.

The "job and finish" mentality is in many workers i think, many times i have stayed on site to finish a job unpaid because i didn't see the point of going back the next day for 30-60 mins when i could leave the customer running at the start of his day.

 

On that note, I wonder how different the psyche is towards working from home being employed compared with self-employed. In terms of switching off.

 

Now would be a good time to own a company that made cabins and garden buildings I reckon.

Grafters will always job and finish imo, but plenty won’t and don’t, but there appears to be more of a guilt trip if you’re at home for some reason, so people appear to largely just think **** it I’ll finish it, as opposed to leaving it. It also helps they haven’t got to face the commute or miss the bus like.

 

There will be a difference because ultimately when you are working from home you will still get a salary, when self employed every minute (hour realistically) makes a difference to your income.

 

That one’s simpler. If it’s yours, you never truly switch off imo, as it’s not merely a job, it’s a bigger part of your overall existence.

 

I also think you are motivated to. There's a degree of flexibility and freedom IF you can do it from home so you will work the extra hours especially without the commute, the business rent and you can see the increase in productivity it's a massive motivator.

 

*makes note to check how much he can offset his domestic broadband and fuel costs as a legitimate expense for next tax return*

Cheers

 

Don't forget the phone bill mate, i have already advised the daughter the company should be paying (or at least contributing) to phone and internet costs.

 

I meant more in terms of reducing potential stresses and inconveniences on the one hand whilst also seeing the immediate impact on increasing productivity on the other.

 

There's a Turkish family that have a kiosk by the entrance to the Station where I work. Normally it's a little goldmine, currently their takings are down about 60%.

There's a coffee stall on one of the platforms. They only re-opened last week; the guy told me yesterday morning, he'd sold 10 coffees in the time he would previously havr sold 100.

Only about 20% of the office workers in the City of London are currently back at their offices. That means hundreds of barbers, pubs, coffee shops, restaurants, newsagents, cab drivers have lost 80% of their potential customers.

Stories like these are almost certainly being repeated all round the country. That's why the government is panicking, and wants people to return physically to their places of work. Probably loads never will, though. Why would they, if they can work from home? Look at the savings for them and their employers, if they don't have to travel and don't have to rent office space. And look at the reduction in pollution.

Ironically, most of the people travelling into Canary Wharf and the Square Mile, are builders working on the new steel and glass office towers; will those towers ever be full though?

 

Probably not. The whole concept of schlepping into a city at 8am, paying thousands a year to do so, to sit in a huge box with a load of other people doing **** on a computer where you only get anything done by sticking headphones in and ignoring them is a bit mental in 2020. We do it because we always have done because there used to be no other real option. **** going back to that 4-5 days a week.

 

In the end, money will decide. The savings for businesses, in not having to rent office space, will be immense.

The question is, will employees then shoulder all the costs their employers used to bear? If you give up a room in your house to your employers, do you bill them for that, on top of your salary?

The whole concept of millions of desk pilots working from home, rarely going beyond their own front doors, not going for a drink with colleagues after work, not flirting with the fit bird from HR, talking to people on Zoom all day, all sounds pretty ****ing distopian to me btw. Each to their own though.

 

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Well deserved sir

 

I think you get to an age where you can easily leave all of that behind. But for younger people, the commute, office banter, after work drinks, flirting with the hotties, checking out that fitty on the other platform who always gets the 7:18am to Cannon St would be a big loss if folk are required to stay at home and work in the PJ's all day.

Listen to me, I sound like a right old fart