Anyone on Furlough?

[foxOneFive]

Yep well I am. first 2 weeks nightmare as weather was rubbish. Now, got in a new routine, and week 3 plus love it, garden looking good, life has slowed down, looking after my neirbs with shopping etc, seems like my whole life has slowed down and everybody seems to be nicer to each other.
Can easily weather the storm till the end of June. As my neirbs wife put it today quote: "I really don't give a toss as long as I can get my wine"
There you have it, if we do ever get back to normal, the country will be full of lazy work shy alcoholics! myself included.

 

[vim_fuego]

I'm seeing many people on social media (how else would I see anybody I hear you say!) say similar things...

Its like this whole sh1t-show has given many people the opportunity to stop the bus, get off and smell the roses a bit. Life for me before this was a hectic discombobulation of 1000's of miles a month, stress, pressure, fatigue and occasionally the odd laugh but it was definitely weighted towards living to work and not the other way around. Whilst I haven't been furloughed and in fact more work is rolling in we, as a company, have learned that the Comms tools we have in place can handle what we do and we can operate in a different way. No more do I rise at 0500 and get on the road to make a meeting 3-400 miles away by early afternoon...I roll out of bed at 0730 and eat with my family...no more am I away for 'x' nights a week in hotels...I am helping to prepare the evening meal from fresh ingredients, because we have the time and capacity, that we eat together. So I think out of this gloomy situation, that will come to an end at some point, that some good will come of this for some of us.

 

[Downsizer]

Yeah I think this will change how many of us operate. Even the dinosaurs in the RAF are waking up to the benefits of the comms tools we have and the value of WFH. Once everyone gets issued their personal laptops later this year I can see things getting much more modern where appropriate.

 

[GD on Wheels]

Working from home then spells the end the end of "The silent but deadly" wafting through the office. Where will the fun be had now?

 

[vim_fuego]

When I am in my office, which is rarely, I sit close to a bunch of structural engineers. They never talk anyway! They are content to sit for 7.5 hours a day staring at pictures of stuff in a sort of clever CAD programme, twisting and turning it and raising the occasional eyebrow. If I clear my throat they all scowl as I have broken their thread of concentration...so I am not missing much by working from home to be fair.

 

[StickyFingers]

Yeah I think this will change how many of us operate. Even the dinosaurs in the RAF are waking up to the benefits of the comms tools we have and the value of WFH. Once everyone gets issued their personal laptops later this year I can see things getting much more modern where appropriate.

Hahahahaha. I want to work where you do. My lot are utterly chomping at the bit to get us back, their OJARs require it.

 

[Downsizer]

Hahahahaha. I want to work where you do. My lot are utterly chomping at the bit to get us back, their OJARs require it.

It's largely broken down into the younger management who think it is a good thing and the vintage/thrusters management who hate it.

 

[muttywhitedog]

My organisation are in the process of switching from one operating system to another. I'd like to say that the new system would have had the WFH option included as a given, but it appears not to be the case. Sadly, the hierarchial approach of micro-managing and having folk commute to perform a task that could and should be able to be done via a £400 laptop from home is still alive and kicking.

I have to travel in on Thursday to catch up with my HR - that involves using a program very much like JPA. As a TG17, I had a laptop and a dongle and worked from home occasionally, using JPA back in 2008!

 

[Downsizer]

When you see hoe much we can achieve now with WFH/reduced in office hours, it's going to be harder to argue against it in the future.

Obviously a lot of hands on or people facing roles aren't suitable for it....

 

[fourteen2two]

Got to be better to work at home than spending time on a packed train or stuck on motorways! I only had a 10 minute blast on motorway or 15 minute scenic drive to work so not bothered. now happily retired not regretting it.
Companies could save money on expensive city premises.
My wife had a fairly senior role in NHS community nursing, (safeguarding children). She had an office but an encrypted laptop and work mobile so she could work at home. She travelled a lot of the county to deliver training or attend case conferences so it worked well.
She doesn't miss it, long hours and dealing with stressful issues which she couldn't discuss.
Of coursenot everyone works in an office,some get their hands mucky.

 

[foxOneFive]

Yep well I am. first 2 weeks nightmare as weather was rubbish. Now, got in a new routine, and week 3 plus love it, garden looking good, life has slowed down, looking after my neirbs with shopping etc, seems like my whole life has slowed down and everybody seems to be nicer to each other.
Can easily weather the storm till the end of June. As my neirbs wife put it today quote: "I really don't give a toss as long as I can get my wine"
There you have it, if we do ever get back to normal, the country will be full of lazy work shy alcoholics! myself included.

Back to work Monday, not aloud to have any customer interaction. Interesting times?

 

[busby1971]

Roads are starting to feel normal again, although trains Round my neck of the woods still very quiet, it’s been nice commuting whilst you lot have been “working” from home.

 

[vim_fuego]

I’m going back into my office tomorrow but only to pick up my second big screen, a keyboard and to raid the pen cupboard...I’ve been told to WFH until they review the situation in Jan 21...

Think I’ll watch Groundhog Day again...

 

[foxOneFive]

I think Monday will be like "normal" but with queues and bits of tape on the floor everywhere

 

[vim_fuego]

I know people down here who are on a Furlough bungee...on, then off for a month then back on again. It also seems to be a tricky operation to get some off it when the sun is shining...

 

[foxOneFive]

I know people down here who are on a Furlough bungee...on, then off for a month then back on again. It also seems to be a tricky operation to get some off it when the sun is shining...

Due to a lack of work at the moment, only 20% of our team are back, on week 4 back for me. Others will follow but they have been off so long now as you say with the weather, they are not too enthusiastic to fire the car up when the call comes. But they will be back as some are getting a bit peeed off laying in hammock's all day.

 

[Entropy]

I've been on furlough since the start and now they want me back next week. Feeling a bit miffed as wanted July off so I could finish things off around the house. Luckily it is still remote working so a 30 second commute every day for the foreseeable future. When the office reopens I am looking at asking for a good chunk of the week working from home

On another note will the ability to work flexibly change how you will work in the future compared to pre-furlough work practices?

 

[vim_fuego]

I've been on furlough since the start and now they want me back next week. Feeling a bit miffed as wanted July off so I could finish things off around the house. Luckily it is still remote working so a 30 second commute every day for the foreseeable future. When the office reopens I am looking at asking for a good chunk of the week working from home

On another note will the ability to work flexibly change how you will work in the future compared to pre-furlough work practices?

I haven’t set an alarm since mid-March. I rarely sleep beyond 0730 anyway but I make sure I have no online meetings until 0900 just in case. This Monday I slept till 0815...didn’t matter...simply scratched my nuts, sniffed and rolled out of the wank chariot, donned some Lounge pants and I was still 35 early for my first event!

 

[muttywhitedog]

On another note will the ability to work flexibly change how you will work in the future compared to pre-furlough work practices?

I'm seriously hoping that my organisation see this as an opportunity to have more staff WFH on either a permanent of semi-permanent basis. Sure, there are a good proportion who feel the need to come into an office for human contact, but I could happily WFH, and be a damn sight more productive than I am now.

 

[Dazzy26]

A genuine question as I don't know, I'm not working from home so just interested. If you do WFH are you able to claim for electricity/internet (or is mobile data supplied) office furniture if you need it, lockable cabinets if required for data protection etc? If you are self employed all tax deductable. If you have IT equipment does is it covered by your company insurance? I know people aren't then paying for travel costs etc so it's swings and roundabouts. I agree that WFH will increase drastically across some organisations is this classed as running a business from home? As I said haven't got a clue if was just a conversation with a relative.