When will this shit end?

[Ozanne]

1 minute ago, Ryan1984 said:

And maybe there will be working spaces/hubs in local town centres etc - boosting their economies.

Yeah exactly, they'll be lots of new opportunities for businesses in local areas that might not have had that revenue source before. It could be that people that live outside of city centres would spend in places they wouldn't have before which gives those businesses opportunities as well.

[eFestivals]

His shit won't end until the researchgroup research group has finished it's research.

[shoptildrop]

1 minute ago, crazyfool1 said:

Yeah I get that .. return to work was tough for me after being away during lockdown 1 ...  it was something I had to accept as part of the return to normality although in my head it certainly wasn’t easy ... and I’m still not entirely comfortable with people now .. we all adjust at different rates I guess ... but saying that I’m slowly getting there now 🙂 all the best 

Hanjs - I'll be alright I'm sure, but it really helps me airing it out on here and hearing other people's views tbh

I've said it before some people are going to find it hard to integrate back in the world me included 

It's all baby steps 

 

[Crazyfool01]

1 minute ago, shoptildrop said:

Hanjs - I'll be alright I'm sure, but it really helps me airing it out on here and hearing other people's views tbh

I've said it before some people are going to find it hard to integrate back in the world me included 

It's all baby steps 

 

Of course same for me 🙂 

[efcfanwirral]

 

33 minutes ago, BobWillis2 said:

RIP city centre pubs, restaurants, coffee shops, cafes and takeaways if working from home becomes the norm and people don’t return to the office once this virus is under control.

 

 

It's mad that we've built a world where essentially its people's duty to waste hours of their day commuting (while paying for the privilege) and spend money they can't afford on overpriced food etc just so it can keep other people in a job. It is the world we have though, at least here 

Edited April 15, 2021 by efcfanwirral

[mikegday]

33 minutes ago, sisco said:

Fully agree, there’ll be lots of unemployment.  Least those who want to work at home can though right....

Do you not think suburban shops will benefit though? We’ve changed our barbers from city centre to the local village one, we’ve been going to the local bakery more, local coffee shop etc. Where one business loses out, another will benefit. I also find it concerning that our economy seems so reliant on Tesco meal deals being sold - that’s an economy fundamentally flawed to begin with. 
 

When tourists return - they will obviously also still flock to city centres.

[stuartbert two hats]

3 minutes ago, efcfanwirral said:

 

It's mad that we've built a world where essentially its people's duty to waste hours of their day commuting (while paying for the privilege) and spend money they can't afford on overpriced food etc just so it can keep other people in a job. It is the world we have though, at least here 

It's crackers. I spend money in my local town centre every lunchtime.

[Ozanne]

1 minute ago, mikegday said:

Do you not think suburban shops will benefit though? We’ve changed our barbers from city centre to the local village one, we’ve been going to the local bakery more, local coffee shop etc. Where one business loses out, another will benefit. I also find it concerning that our economy seems so reliant on Tesco meal deals being sold - that’s an economy fundamentally flawed to begin with. 
 

When tourists return - they will obviously also still flock to city centres.

We saw this last summer in certain newspapers telling workers to get back to offices or they'll lose their jobs etc, we'll probably see it again but we can do things differently if we as a society want to, we don't have to go back to how things were.

[steviewevie]

I reckon Manchester city centre will be ok, loads of people live there. All the new skyscrapers being built are apartments.

[foolee]

With my money saved from working from home I’ve bought takeaways, drinks and cakes etc. from local independents that I can which would’ve gone to GWR etc. so some would say working from home helps the local economy more and would actually create more jobs while the big corporate companies will lose jobs. 

[MrHew]

9 minutes ago, efcfanwirral said:

 

It's mad that we've built a world where essentially its people's duty to waste hours of their day commuting (while paying for the privilege) and spend money they can't afford on overpriced food etc just so it can keep other people in a job. It is the world we have though, at least here 

It's bloody bonkers. I refuse to regularly buy my lunch so take a packed lunch most days. Buying a lunch is a proper treat to me. Saves me a ton of money to spend on what I prefer too 

[sisco]

16 minutes ago, mikegday said:

Do you not think suburban shops will benefit though? We’ve changed our barbers from city centre to the local village one, we’ve been going to the local bakery more, local coffee shop etc. Where one business loses out, another will benefit. I also find it concerning that our economy seems so reliant on Tesco meal deals being sold - that’s an economy fundamentally flawed to begin with. 
 

When tourists return - they will obviously also still flock to city centres.

Tbf a lot of the city (London) is deserted on a weekend.

I get that others may thrive although I’m pretty sure working from home means most eat and drink at home?! Maybe it’s just me.  

[RobertProsineckisLighter]

The places that suffer the most will be the smaller towns the ones where what workers are in the town centre are the main, or only real footfall in the town centres. 

Not everywhere is a London or a Manchester with various 'high streets' or principle shopping areas. 

Our town centres were dying or already dead Covid has sped that up that death - regeneration of them was needed and is needed more than ever. 

[sisco]

Anyway, back to an earlier point I mentioned.  If people are now working from home should they be paid less?! 

[Fuzzy Afro]

Working in an office five days a week is a thing of the past and working from home permanently is for introverts and weirdos, basically the sort of people employers run a mile from. A blended model is the way ahead, roughly 2 days per week in the office and 3 at home. 

[El Matador]

1 hour ago, Ozanne said:

You've regularly judged people (including myself) throughout the pandemic so maybe you take some of your own advice. Weren't a few weeks ago you were criticising people that didn't want to break the restrictions?

My mind is quite open on this issue as all I've said is that staff should be given the choice to continue working remotely, I'm hardly calling for a revolution. Loads of people seem actually happier WFH so why not let that continue and give them that option. Obviously some will want to come back to the office which is completely fair so they'll have that option as well. The businesses that give staff that flexibility will be the ones that skilled workers will move towards.

Its very simplistic to say if people want to work from home then they should be allowed to. In some industries I can see why this is fair enough. For a lot of industries there is a clear reduction in efficiency to have people WFH though so employers are not going to pay the same wage to get less output. 

[Fuzzy Afro]

Just now, sisco said:

Anyway, back to an earlier point I mentioned.  If people are now working from home should they be paid less?! 

No.

 

The cost of commuting isn’t baked into your salary. I could choose to cut this cost out by living locally and walking in. Living further away and paying for transport is my choice. 

[Mr.Tease]

20 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

It's crackers. I spend money in my local town centre every lunchtime.

Am I the only person who doesn’t eat lunch? 

[sisco]

1 minute ago, Fuzzy Afro said:

No.

 

The cost of commuting isn’t baked into your salary. I could choose to cut this cost out by living locally and walking in. Living further away and paying for transport is my choice. 

Tbf, London allowance is still a thing.

[MrHew]

7 minutes ago, sisco said:

Anyway, back to an earlier point I mentioned.  If people are now working from home should they be paid less?! 

Absolutely not. Still doing the same job so no reason for changing the salary. 

On the flip side, I'm more productive at home so maybe I should ask for a raise...

Edited April 15, 2021 by MrHew

[onthebeach]

What I would really like to work to bring life and vibrancy back to the city centres 24/7 would be empty retail and office space made into affordable apartments for 

- the young 18plus without children

- The older ones after children grown up moving back to the centres for the culture of theatres/restaurants etc, downsizing as not needing the space/land etc

People with young families being out in the suburbs/rural for schools, space etc etc

 

 

[Ozanne]

2 minutes ago, El Matador said:

Its very simplistic to say if people want to work from home then they should be allowed to. In some industries I can see why this is fair enough. For a lot of industries there is a clear reduction in efficiency to have people WFH though so employers are not going to pay the same wage to get less output. 

I understand that and if there are performance issues then that should be dealt with by that persons line manager with potentially more time in the office. But that should be on an individual basis and shouldn't stop people that are productive if not more so working remotely if they want to.

There's been reports that have said that the pandemic has sped up the evolution of office working why about 10 years. The toothpaste is out of the tube now and working life will never go back to how it was.

[onthebeach]

6 hours ago, zahidf said:

that and the NYT article from earlier shows how dangerous it is to Pause the vaccine programme and expect everything to be ok even if you do want to restart it

I appreciate this is your default position but it is worth reading this thread ....

https://mobile.twitter.com/Craig_A_Spencer/status/1382194449263038465

[Mr.Tease]

15 minutes ago, MrHew said:

It's bloody bonkers. I refuse to regularly buy my lunch so take a packed lunch most days. Buying a lunch is a proper treat to me. Saves me a ton of money to spend on what I prefer too 

Yeah, when I first started working I was on the minimum wage, so buying lunch would essentially cost 1 hours worth of pay. Then on top of that commuting would take up at least 2 hours of pay and take 2 to 4 hours each day. So essentially I’d waste 2 to 4 hours a day to work 6 hours, of which I’d spend 3 hours pay on just getting to and from there and eating lunch. Absolute farce!

I switched to taking packed lunch to save money, and then ended up dropping lunches all together

 

[Mr.Tease]

15 minutes ago, sisco said:

Anyway, back to an earlier point I mentioned.  If people are now working from home should they be paid less?! 

Nope, they should be paid more to compensate for the extra money they’re spending on heating and electricity.