Working from Home.

[A Quiet Monkfish]

NatWest said just over a third of its 59,300 UK full-time employees would continue to work remotely. Some 55% of its staff would adopt a hybrid model of working between the office and home.

NatWest chief executive, Alison Rose, said leaders would hold conversations with staff over the summer about which category they fall into.

"I would say that we've busted the myth that jobs need to be done in a certain way," she previously told staff. "We have learnt new ways of working and it's important we carry those learnings forward."

I can understand someone working in central London being pleased not to have an hour's commute every day, but I do wonder if those people who see this as a workplace panacea aren't being a little naive. If you can work from home, so can someone else in another country. In the 90's we saw the almost complete export of call centres to countries with much lower wage costs - I reckon with banking, finance, a lot of retail, all going online, it will be a lot easier for the likes of Alison Rose & Nat West to do the same.

[The Hooded Claw]

Re: Working from Home.

Financial Services is highly regulated, though, so maybe some roles can't be carried out overseas.

I'm starting back at Nationwide next week and whilst they have remote working, you have to remain in the UK (incl. Nor'n Ireland).

Saying that, my wife is at Lloyds and one member of her team works from Thailand!

[Optimistic Nick]

Re: Working from Home.

Financial Services is highly regulated, though, so maybe some roles can't be carried out overseas.

I'm starting back at Nationwide next week and whilst they have remote working, you have to remain in the UK (incl. Nor'n Ireland).

Saying that, my wife is at Lloyds and one member of her team works from Thailand!

That will be the rule anywhere with a tax dept. The payroll tax and social security issues with allowing a workforce to work where they like can be a nightmare- not to mention the possiblity of the company itself having a corporate tax liability in a country where their employees work. And if you don't spot that liability- in some countries that is a criminal offence, not just a matter of financial penalties.

[mazadona10]

Re: Working from Home.

I agree it's very short sighted from these businesses. The high Street is in decline enough I think keeping people at home will further destroy another sector. Yes it will be good for emissions and road congestion but as a relatively small country we are only such a small contributor to the problem.

Ive been working from home and I'm starting to get used to it but for those younger and looking back on myself being surrounded by people in an office everyday really helped my confidence as a young adult.

[EastbourneBlue]

Re: Working from Home.

NatWest said just over a third of its 59,300 UK full-time employees would continue to work remotely. Some 55% of its staff would adopt a hybrid model of working between the office and home.

NatWest chief executive, Alison Rose, said leaders would hold conversations with staff over the summer about which category they fall into.

"I would say that we've busted the myth that jobs need to be done in a certain way," she previously told staff. "We have learnt new ways of working and it's important we carry those learnings forward."

I can understand someone working in central London being pleased not to have an hour's commute every day, but I do wonder if those people who see this as a workplace panacea aren't being a little naive. If you can work from home, so can someone else in another country. In the 90's we saw the almost complete export of call centres to countries with much lower wage costs - I reckon with banking, finance, a lot of retail, all going online, it will be a lot easier for the likes of Alison Rose & Nat West to do the same.

Just say it, truth is the people who want to work from home are slackers

[OurManFlint II]

Re: Working from Home.

I agree it's very short sighted from these businesses. The high Street is in decline enough I think keeping people at home will further destroy another sector. Yes it will be good for emissions and road congestion but as a relatively small country we are only such a small contributor to the problem.

Ive been working from home and I'm starting to get used to it but for those younger and looking back on myself being surrounded by people in an office everyday really helped my confidence as a young adult.

The high street is in decline because online companies can charge lower costs as they don't pay tax. The high street is in decline because people don't have time to go shopping because they all have to work in the gig economy jobs for these online companies to make ends meet.

Basic income, mass automation and removal of middle management bullsh1t jobs. People will have disposable income and time, high street will be alive

[Poolerblue]

Re: Working from Home.

Guarantee this won’t last long. We tried it in my company 6 years ago. It was ok at first but after a year or so people started taking the piss and it caused a huge amount of ill feeling with people who had to go into the office everyday
One person very nearly got sacked for posting pictures on Facebook when he should have been working
Eventually we all had to go back to office working

[Des Parrot]

Re: Working from Home.

We’ve now written it into our contracts. It’s improved efficiency through giving people more flexibility, which is really important for a global company. I’ve heard the phrase too busy to go to work a few times recently, which applies to me as well. Some days I work 16 hours, the next day I can do 3 or 4.

[splott parker]

Re: Working from Home.

The

We’ve now written it into our contracts. It’s improved efficiency through giving people more flexibility, which is really important for a global company. I’ve heard the phrase too busy to go to work a few times recently, which applies to me as well. Some days I work 16 hours, the next day I can do 3 or 4.

I’d work every other day if I was you Des

[WJ99mobile]

Re: Working from Home.

I agree it's very short sighted from these businesses. The high Street is in decline enough I think keeping people at home will further destroy another sector. Yes it will be good for emissions and road congestion but as a relatively small country we are only such a small contributor to the problem.

Ive been working from home and I'm starting to get used to it but for those younger and looking back on myself being surrounded by people in an office everyday really helped my confidence as a young adult.

Why should Natwest care about the highstreet?

[FormerlyJohnnyBreadhead]

Re: Working from Home.

Guarantee this won’t last long. We tried it in my company 6 years ago. It was ok at first but after a year or so people started taking the piss and it caused a huge amount of ill feeling with people who had to go into the office everyday
One person very nearly got sacked for posting pictures on Facebook when he should have been working
Eventually we all had to go back to office working

It depends obviously on the nature of the job itself, but also on the culture of the company and the quality of management. People now have different expectations and priorities around work, yet some boardrooms and managers are still stuck in the 1970s.

For instance, my current company promotes autonomy and is more preoccupied with the quality and punctuality of my output than how many hours I've sat in front of my laptop for. My previous employer, on the other hand, spied on staff and prioritised suspicion over support (as a colleague said at the time: if you have to monitor people to ensure that they're doing their job, then you've already failed as a manager).

With that in mind, I'd say there's still ground to be made for a lot of companies, but the flexibility of remote/hybrid working is a big thing for younger generations and I expect it to now be the norm going forward. Companies will have to adapt to what people want and change their attitudes, or risk losing out on talent, especially in sectors like tech and IT.

[A Quiet Monkfish]

Re: Working from Home.

Just say it, truth is the people who want to work from home are slackers

Well, there must be an element of truth in that, however from what little I've gleaned from people who are WFH is that they're 'monitored' on their daily activity - not exactly my idea of fun. The extrapolation from that is my main point, ie, these are jobs that could in many cases be easily moved overseas.

[The Lone Gunman]

Re: Working from Home.

The extrapolation from that is my main point, ie, these are jobs that could in many cases be easily moved overseas.

Lest we forget that this time last year you were predicting hardly anybody would have a job left by now anyway.

[life on mars]

Re: Working from Home.

I'm waiting for the big data breach or hack due folk working from home effecting the likes of big companies

[Allez Allez Allez]

Re: Working from Home.

NatWest said just over a third of its 59,300 UK full-time employees would continue to work remotely. Some 55% of its staff would adopt a hybrid model of working between the office and home.

NatWest chief executive, Alison Rose, said leaders would hold conversations with staff over the summer about which category they fall into.

"I would say that we've busted the myth that jobs need to be done in a certain way," she previously told staff. "We have learnt new ways of working and it's important we carry those learnings forward."

I can understand someone working in central London being pleased not to have an hour's commute every day, but I do wonder if those people who see this as a workplace panacea aren't being a little naive. If you can work from home, so can someone else in another country. In the 90's we saw the almost complete export of call centres to countries with much lower wage costs - I reckon with banking, finance, a lot of retail, all going online, it will be a lot easier for the likes of Alison Rose & Nat West to do the same.

What? You don't think people working from home was always on the cards? Do you seriously think people going to offices (increasing costs of renting for companies) is going to save jobs? People working from home is going to save jobs. Funny thing is, I just got a job in London, on London wages, but I will be based in South Wales. I may have to go to London now and then and if it gets crap, I can apply for a job anywhere in the UK without leaving my house or moving the family, or spending time away.

We live once. Why waste it in a car burning dinosaurs, listening to Radio 5 and looking at someone's bumper in the pouring rain? Just because you are scared of change, doesn't mean it won't happen.