What next for office culture (and the commute)?

[Max B Gold]

Having a Pret every 100m in the City is the pinnacle of capitalism. We can't let that just die.

It will be good when all the Prets, Starbucks, Costas etc disappear from the city centres.

[Dunners]

Yeah. Although, I did like the Italian Chicken salad from Pret. Could we keep that?

[Max B Gold]

Yeah. Although, I did like the Italian Chicken salad from Pret. Could we keep that?

You won't be able to afford as there will be no jobs in London.

[Dunners]

Wont my UBI payments cover that?

[Max B Gold]

Wont my UBI payments cover that?

No that will go before the jobs do.

[A Pedant]

I haven't forgiven Pret for taking over Eat and closing them down.

[Rich Tea Wellin]

I haven't forgiven Pret for taking over Eat and closing them down.

Eat still exist though don't they?

[Currywurst and Chips]

I haven't forgiven Pret for taking over Eat and closing them down.

Eat still exist though don't they?

There's one left in Pairs Gare du Nord.

London ones are gone

[Beradogs]

If in london suburbs and you dont need to be there anymore then get out now. Sell you’re property in London and buy in the countryside. Only one way this is going and that’s a complete shift in the way of working. New age of technology. Country properties are going like hot cakes. The gap in prices will close completely in next few years aside from prime hotspots like the centre of London. Not necessarily prices going up in the country but down in commuter belts.

[Currywurst and Chips]

If in london suburbs and you dont need to be there anymore then get out now. Sell you’re property in London and buy in the countryside. Only one way this is going and that’s a complete shift in the way of working. New age of technology. Country properties are going like hot cakes. The gap in prices will close completely in next few years aside from prime hotspots like the centre of London. Not necessarily prices going up in the country but down in commuter belts.

He says via dial up

[Rich Tea Wellin]

I haven't forgiven Pret for taking over Eat and closing them down.

Eat still exist though don't they?

There's one left in Pairs Gare du Nord.

London ones are gone

Damn, WFH really does put you out of the loop. Had a cheese and marmite toastie from the one in liverpool st in Feb

[y o y o y]

Eat still exist though don't they?

There's one left in Pairs Gare du Nord.

London ones are gone

Damn, WFH really does put you out of the loop. Had a cheese and marmite toastie from the one in liverpool st in Feb

Can you still taste the marmite?

[y o y o y]

Have all the Subways gone now ...please be

[Dunners]

Nope. They're still scattered about throughout boroughs and suburbs, and doing well through delivery services such as Deliveroo.

[Rich Tea Wellin]

Interesting and bold commitment from one of the big players in the industry I work in.
Aviva closing down office space and create a mixed model of people mainly wfh by the looks of it. Indications my firm will do something similar, fingers crossed.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc ... k-55738780

[Long slender neck]

All our phones being diverted to Teams which was in the pipeline anyway but will provide flexibility.

[Oiram]

I read that office buildings are actually pretty energy efficient, so people working from home means heating multiple buildings much less efficiently. Even removing the commute makes this less 'green'.

What we need are far more home-working hubs, which outside town or city centres area pretty thin on the ground.

Yes but who cares about that? Why would people leave the comfort of their homes if they dont have to?

Some people love getting out of their house, nagging wives, kids, dogs jumping over you, for a bit of peace and quiet and male bonding at work.

[o-no]

It would be interesting to hear from any younger fans, or olds with kids just starting their careers, how this is affecting them.

It really isn't too bad if the kids have left and you have even a small space to set up a desk. If you're in a bedsit, then I imagine WFH is a different proposition altogether.

[RientO]

If in london suburbs and you dont need to be there anymore then get out now. Sell you’re property in London and buy in the countryside. Only one way this is going and that’s a complete shift in the way of working. New age of technology. Country properties are going like hot cakes. The gap in prices will close completely in next few years aside from prime hotspots like the centre of London. Not necessarily prices going up in the country but down in commuter belts.

Thing that drives prices up most around here are primary schools. Many people were working from home before COVID-19 happened so they could collect kids from school. Country properties are of little use to those with under 18s as schools often end up being miles away.

[Oiram]

Photocopying ones backside will be a thing of the past then.

[RientO]

Interesting and bold commitment from one of the big players in the industry I work in.
Aviva closing down office space and create a mixed model of people mainly wfh by the looks of it. Indications my firm will do something similar, fingers crossed.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc ... k-55738780

I wonder what will happen to all the closed down office space. My company spent a fortune on what now looks to be a redundant campus in the north west. They were offering people less than generous relocation packages to relocate (incorpoarting pay cuts). I plan to retire next year, but if I can work from sunnier climes, I may reconsider.

[Rich Tea Wellin]

Interesting and bold commitment from one of the big players in the industry I work in.
Aviva closing down office space and create a mixed model of people mainly wfh by the looks of it. Indications my firm will do something similar, fingers crossed.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc ... k-55738780

I wonder what will happen to all the closed down office space. My company spent a fortune on what now looks to be a redundant campus in the north west. They were offering people less than generous relocation packages to relocate (incorpoarting pay cuts). I plan to retire next year, but if I can work from sunnier climes, I may reconsider.

It will be interesting for sure. I’ve considered having a 4 days week for a while but it was never financially possible. Now, if I wfh full time the money I’m saving on travel and food means I can probably do it without changing my lifestyle.

As for office space I reckon they’ll be a lots of rentable, bright, exciting, spec’ed out rental offices for companies to use for things like big project meetings, workshops, etc...that don’t work well remotely.
But that’s probably a fraction. Housing maybe, but then do you need more housing in cities if there’s no offices there?

Looking forward to seeing where this goes

[EastDerehamO]

Interesting Aviva is mentioned above!

Spent a lot building out-of-town offices to move some staff out the city centres, but as said now it’s all in reverse. 95% of staff surveyed said they’d want more home working, 25% said they’d still want the office to be their main place of work (the two figures aren’t in conflict albeit instinctively seem so), anyone can demand to work from the office still.

Feels like a win-win, no redundancies, company saves money, staff get more time back - my travel time saving 6 hours per week, plus lunchtimes at home not in the city centre - and more of their wish re working locale. Think it was going that way anyway, COVID impacts have just speeded it up.

As also said in above post I’m similarly reconsidering perhaps putting in for reduced hours in run in to retirement, will see how the new normal maps out first, whenever it may arrive.

[Millennial Snowflake]

It would be interesting to hear from any younger fans, or olds with kids just starting their careers, how this is affecting them.

It really isn't too bad if the kids have left and you have even a small space to set up a desk. If you're in a bedsit, then I imagine WFH is a different proposition altogether.

I’ve just been on a project in the construction industry and people are having exactly this problem, realising their place is too small to function both as a home and an office. Couples in particular are in a great position to buy as many are saving a couple of hundred quid a week on travel, lunch and booze. Demand is through the roof and this in turn is pushing house prices up

It will be interesting to see if the stamp duty holiday is extended. I suspect that Sunak will kill it but the impact on market activity will be minimal

[Rich Tea Wellin]

Interesting Aviva is mentioned above!

Spent a lot building out-of-town offices to move some staff out the city centres, but as said now it’s all in reverse. 95% of staff surveyed said they’d want more home working, 25% said they’d still want the office to be their main place of work (the two figures aren’t in conflict albeit instinctively seem so), anyone can demand to work from the office still.

Feels like a win-win, no redundancies, company saves money, staff get more time back - my travel time saving 6 hours per week, plus lunchtimes at home not in the city centre - and more of their wish re working locale. Think it was going that way anyway, COVID impacts have just speeded it up.

As also said in above post I’m similarly reconsidering perhaps putting in for reduced hours in run in to retirement, will see how the new normal maps out first, whenever it may arrive.

I assumed there might be some people annoyed at having the goalposts moved from when they joined from going into Norwich, to commuting into London if they want to work in an office?

I’m all for it. But I do wonder about how certain jobs change in appeal in this new world. I know a lot of people who used to work in our call centres of claims department and the jobs pay from like 18-25k I.e. not a lot. But people enjoy it because the buzz of the atmosphere, the interactions, the social side of it, etc... but sitting at home, answering call after call from the public, with no meetings or teams calls, I don’t know how long people will be interested. Sounds joyless