I work for a company that has always been work from home. They save money on expensive offices and pay their staff more instead. I do basically the same job I did before, but at home instead of in an office. Ever since I started working for them, my back pain and sciatica have disappeared, I’m less stressed, better paid, healthier, I have more free time because I’m not commuting, and I do more work because I’m not getting distracted by colleagues poking me every 10 minutes or having to answer the phone for nonsense telemarketers, and I don’t have to spend hours travelling to see clients, which is better for the environment. Show me where the downside is?
Absolutely! People who want to work from home are not polluting the air further with car fumes getting to and from work, not adding more potholes to the roads with their contribution to constant traffic, and when feeling poorly - but are still able to get their work done - they at least aren't in the office spreading germs around to others. Bosses who want eyes on their employees at all times are control freaks at best and abusers at worst. Thanks for your comments, Russell. Spot on!
I used to sit in the office with my headphones on just to drown out the noise of the office. Now I am sitting in my small office at home and getting shit done. And yeah, I take naps from time to time and it makes me more productive, not less.
Same here. I had to wear headphones to drown out the gossip and mindless chatter. At home, I do focussed work time, good lunch break, household chores, cook a healthy family dinner and still do more work than before and not feel knackered
@@SussexSandra This is exactly it! And naps can happen on a designated break time. Or lunch. Not a problem. It's hard to properly rest on a break in an office.
I thought it was just me! I could not concentrate (I think I have adhd) and was bullied and made to announce to the rest of the team when I put headphones on so they knew I wouldn't hear them if they asked me something smh. Needless to say I didn't last very long, and had to have time off for depression. Not the most helpful work environment
I love working from home, I no longer have to hide my lack of work and I can take naps. Job still gets done. I’ve seen misery inflicted on folk who for physical or mental health reasons, should be at home. They’re perfectly productive but I’ve seen people driven to the brink by lack of empathy. Employers are just cacking themselves over setting a precedent. The force people back into offices and even hybrid workers push, is not applied in the best interests of the worker. These daytime talk show talking heads have no idea what a 9-5 is. Home working can be conducive to higher productivity and better work life balance. Equally there’s folk who want to go in full time to many jobs. Feels like they’re trying to build a culture war out of nothing. Good on Russell for highlighting this, the civil service is utterly in bits right now trying to adopt hybrid working, cramming all their staff into fewer buildings and bullying people with legit reasons to want to stay home.
@@spicybrown75 no, I watched the segment on UA-cam then commented. Just to clarify, when I say talk show hosts I was referring to the daytime tv trash spouters he played, not to Russell or those speaking in support.
best friend works for a software company. Before Covid they were reluctant to grant home office. After they were forced to let people do home office, they realised that people were more productive and theire overall costs went down significantly. Now they try to sweeten up home office for as many as possible. My friend can see his kids and participate in their life, doesn't waste gas, has more time and he says himself, he can now get his work done more effectively, because of a quite environment where no coworkers can bother and annoy him. The fact that people have to call him if they want something of him makes people think twice and sort their problems before bothering and calling someone without reason... and if someone is lazy and doesn't do his job, then this is easily recognisable, too. Because he doesnt get his work done. In his company, both workers and bosses are happy about home office
As someone who works from home and from the office, I'm definitely able to be more productive at home. No commuting time means I can start earlier, finish later or work normal times but less tired. I also don't have the commute putting me in a bad mood. I have my own desk with my own computer, with loads records I've built up over the years that help me do my job; records to which I have no access from the office. I have software permissions on my computer that help me do my job that I don't have on the office computers. As a result there are literally whole important parts of my job that I can only do from home. And I have a bigger and better monitor at home. Plus I don't have people walking and talking around me. I have a fantastic cheese collection in the fridge and even that is less distracting and certainly less annoying than they are. But that's a problem because I sometimes do it wearing pyjamas?!
@G T Oh I LOVE your comment! So thorough about all the benefits, though I recognise not beneficial to all all of the time. Can you tell me the trick for keeping a cat on your lap being all furry and lovely and soothingly-purry rather than bitey whenever you move... or is mine just bad-tempered? 🙃
@G T I just got my own place but for April 2020 to July 2022 I did most of my home working from my girlfriend's as my flat had a noisy and shitty neighbour and crap internet connection (whole area does) which allowed me to look after her chickens. Now I know them better than anybody else and while I was there I was their primary carer. I trained them and improved their behaviour and environment, making them healthier and happier. Home working had a massive indirect animal welfare benefit in my case and I'm sure in many others.
Interesting that the ones who complain the loudest and most bitterly about people who work from home are... the people for whom working from home isn't an option, enforced either by the nature of their job, the company policy or a personal preference because being in an office is mildly more bearable than being in their own house surrounded by their family. It's that old, old thing of "If *I* can't have a nice thing, I want to make damn sure no-one else gets it either!"
I’ve had days where I haven’t done much work while working from home but that can also be said for days where I’ve been in the office, sometimes there just isn’t much to do. End of the day I always make sure everything that needs to get done is done, why does it matter where I am when I do it? These people complaining about it come across as jealous, like they don’t have the option to work from home and so just whine about people who do.
It's not even jealousy. The bulk of the people complaining are employers and managers. The usual suspects. WFH makes it too easy to quit, and they can't check in on everyone every 5 seconds or run their useless "team-building" events out of work hours when everyone lives all over the country. Now they're having to make people want to keep working for them by actually paying them properly and they're unhappy about that.
I'd love to work from home but I can't. I'm quite lucky that my commute isn't particularly long or expensive but it'd still be nice to have that bit extra time and money for myself. I think home working is here to stay and these angry commentators are judging people by their own standards, just because they can't regulate themselves when left to their own devices doesn't mean others should be punished
I think with the advent of the modem, doing work remotely from home makes a lot of sense for employees and employers. No one turning up late for work, raiding the supplies cupboard to play office hocky, no one stealing your mug in the breakroom. If nothing else, it will cut down pollution by eliminating commutes.
I work from home and I work bloody hard. I have only been able to go back to work because of the flexibility this work affords me. I always meet deadlines because I log in after dinner and the children have done homework to work. I mean it's the most productive I have ever been.
@@julianshepherd2038 when the psychiatrists and psychologists describe one as 'mentally challenged', you ought to know you are one ahead on them. They are crazy enough to believe themselves 'right'!!!
Before Covid I was told there were no jobs for me to do at home. I'm disabled and can't work outside my place. Since Covid I'm now told all the jobs that have been done from home are no longer suitable to do at home. I can't win lol
Find a job in digital somewhere if your disabilities allow you to use computers. Email, SEO, PPC etc. Most of these company's offer work from home and don't require past experience in a lot of cases - might have to go in a couple of times for training, but a lot can be done at home. Once trained up in your field, start doing some freelance on the side and from there become your own boss.
That's one of the things that really upsets me. I'm in the same boat. Boss(es): "You can't work from home, we need bums on seats in the office". Me: had to stop work due to not being able to work from home. Pandemic: Everyone works from home including all my old bosses who previously said it was not a "reasonable adjustment" when requested because of a disability.
I spent a fortune on commuting andI lost 3 hours a day on a train, and to avoid the rush hour I was getting up at 5 am to get into the office at 7am every morning. To have enough sleep, I'd go to bed at 0830 the night before and haven't seen a TV programme with my wife in years. Now I work from home. My employer doesn't pay millions a year on desks in an office, gets my hours from their employees and can recruit from a much, much larger pool of people than before, so they are now getting applicants that would never have applied previously. This is free market economics in action.
I’m 21 and I’ve watched Russell Howard since I was a lil kid, I must say I’ve always had a good laugh from his shows on bbc to now UA-cam! I’m soo happy he has not become irrelevant because he’s a English icon😂👊🏽
The only advantage of office work for me is that it's easier for me to build relationships. Other than that, I'm no less productive, I sleep better, I don't have to commute (which puts me on the seething edge of rage), I have time and energy to walk the dogs properly, and I have the time and energy for hobbies and housework.
I think it has been a Godsend for people with children who are old enough to entertain themselves but not old enough to be left alone in the house! Save a mint on child care! I still say that one of the best things about working from home is that, for two years, we've been able to see 'the real them'. Laundry timers going, kids and pets fighting, spouses wandering behind them etc. I work retail so, obviously not from home but attend a few workshops on other things and "Awww, let me see your puppy" or "what's your cat's name" have been very common.
I'm from Sydney, Australia, and a close friend has been working from home due to the Covid restrictions on travel. His department has recorded a 15% increase in productivity. He still goes to the city office as required once a week. I'm surprised that WFH wasn't started years ago
@@jenniferpearce1052 whatever, we're saying the same thing. Anyway, I deleted my other comment. I just read it and it was so mean! sorry. been a hard week. ☮
The kind of people who get mad at people working from home tend to be the kind of people who like to micromanage or bully their employees. They try to fabricate the reason that productivity is dropping, when this couldn't be further from the truth. Without the anguish of workplace politics and the mind numbing commute to work, people have better mental health as a result, which can improve productivity. Plus, working from home allows employees the option to "turn off" their bosses. Some bosses like to meddle, throw their weight around, pull rank, and general cause drama and irritation, and they can get away with it in the work place, but when you work from home, they can just be "switched off"; phones can be set to silent, laptops closed, computers turned off. You want an example of this? Jacob Rees Mogg, a man once employed to the cabinet as "Secretary of Efficiency", where he clearly showed he had no idea what that meant. He demanded civil servants come into the office, wasting time, money and fuel to commute, to do a job they could do from their computer at home. If a person has a computer and internet access, there is no reason for them not to be able to do their job from their desk at home and not have to put up with the smug prick strutting around like he owns the place.
Home working shone a light on how utterly pointless most managers/middle management actually are - the realization that the business can and does function without them...they did not like that.
But...Where will all the sociopaths go? Research does actually show that people in higher up positions have a strong tendency to be sociopathic in nature. We all know Narcissists are everywhere. Let's make a nice jail for them all. Then they can complain to each other that they're not folding a sheet of paper correctly.
Hi Russell, thank you yet again for lifting me from daily doom and gloom. I often have a quiet cry when I watch news from my native Ukraine. But this morning I was crying with laughter from your kangaroo pouch confession. I was laughing so hard people gave me looks on early morning train.
Sorry about how bad things are in your beautiful country, but as an Australian that grew up in the outback what Russell did is regarded as a completely normal childhood here 😜
I just saw this and have to say, you have my heart and my support. politics is politics, but at the end of the day, I pray for the people of Ukraine. I hope this mess is over soon, no one deserves this and I hope you and your loved ones are okay. I hate that this is happening. 🧡
I've been working from home for 25 years and I don't look li-- well, I'm productive, at least! Seriously, though I don't spend time chatting with colleagues and I can work in the evenings or weekends if it fits my schedule better. If someone gets their work done, what does it matter how? It's got to be saving employers a ton of money, too. I work for myself, so I'm pretty disciplined... but there are days I get lost in a UA-cam rabbit hole... but I just make up for it and keep on top of client work. It makes more sense to work on things when your brain is ready.
I actually got better grades studying online at home than studying at school around alot of other people, my mental health was a lot better and I saved a LOT of time and money not takeing the bus every day. The pandemic actually helped the earth a little bit because people were traveling less so there was less carbon emissions
I remember a few classes in high school I refused to buddy up with the other students because they were just acting like morons for a majority of the day, so I just sat on my own and did the work. I tell ya, the audacity of some of the kids I went to high school with was baffling, I was in senior year and a group of juniors, I kid you not, attempted to bully me, it was one of the weirdest experiences of my life. I'm so glad I don't go to high school anymore, I wouldn't have the patience for it these days
I studied from home before the pandemic for all of those reasons. Some people work better in a busy, populated environment, some don't. I hate the way society has forced everyone to conform to one. I'm so excited for the future of flexibility in all aspects of life
@@DJWESG1 I actually have a disability and I have been forced to be “normal”. Like people push me to do things that people my age are doing that I’m not comfortable with. I know ableism to well
Because you are not boris johnson. When he was in the parliament he was, allegedly, distracted by Angela Rayner's legs...He used to be obsessed with Peppa Pig....so we can assume he found children cartoons distracting. Perhaps he should have been locked in a sensory deprivation cabin ....so that he could focus on actually doing his job.
I worked in a call center after losing another job. The worst working conditions ever. Having to monitor your time so precisely. I was fired even though I had perfect reviews on my calls because I was taking too long on call. We were dealing with insurance issues, almost everything was complex.
I completely relate Jarod! I too worked in a call centre (banking). It's dehumanising and brutal! Everything is about time! Customers loved me, but that doesn't count for anything!!
Worked for a insurance claims handler in the same circumstances. Taking too long on calls just the same and let them know i had another job lined up during the meeting where they were going to extend my probation by two months.
Call Center work is a special kind of toxic, especially if it's outsourced from another company (eg. the call center company provides call center work for numerous companies). The main metric is the number of calls being handled, not whether they're being handled well - this leads to an environment where you as the service worker always feel like you're not actually doing your job (which, at least from a "human" point of view is helping customers as best as we can). The fact of the matter is that call center workers are rarely hired to help the customer, but rather to provide the illusion that the company wants to help the customer.
There's so many pros for WFH not just for employees but for employers as well. For example employees don't have to commute so they spend less money traveling but it also means they can get better sleep at night because they don't have to worry about getting into work in the morning. This is a pro for employers because I don't know a single person that will work better if they get less sleep.
I quit my job 5 years ago to work from home full time, on a self-employed basis. I work far harder now than I ever did when I was doing my best to 'look busy' in the office.
I worked at home throughout the whole lockdown, and wrote an excel sheet that moved the mouse left and right every 30s to teams didnt show me away, so I could do other things.
I started a job two years ago fully working from home. Two years later I’ve been into the office for a total of 6 weeks and can honestly say there is no difference in terms of performance, actually I found I can concentrate more as there’s less people around distracting you. However I can honestly say I hate it, the lack of social contact is so depressing it makes almost want to quit. I’m autistic and find it impossible to form strong relationships with people when I only ever talk to them on a screen. I wish the job was hybrid as despite working there for 2 years I still have no idea how the place operates beyond my department. Working from home is good in certain aspects however people need to have varierty in their life’s and working from doesn’t provide that😢
I agree with you in some senses. I started my job January 2020 and I have the same "how do things work around here?" questions you're talking about. However, I've been sent back to the office and my team hasn't. There are 2 people, each from a different group, also working on the floor. There are cubes for about 60, I think, on our floor. It is the most depressing place, and doesn't actually help solve the problems of not having people in the office. And we're still having all our meetings remotely. It's so stupid
I wish we had more 'community centers' and the like. But hybridized home/Office work makes a ton of sense to me, time and gas savings, still get to know your coworkers better(people don't act the same on a screen as they do face to face for sure) I'd bet there are other benefits to a hybrid too.
Working from hom doesn't provide that, for you. Other people do much better. It should be hybrid or up to each employee. That way you can spend time in office with people who also want to be there and you can form social attachments with the people who actually want to do so. It would be better for you as well that way.
I have pretty severe depression and social anxiety. Working from home makes social interaction much easier and I'm able to reach out to others not in my department to get things done.
You forgot to mention Isaac Newton. He was stuck at home due to the Great Prague in Cambridge. This isolation gave him wonders to research the Eastern Science knowledge that wasn't shared in his environment at the university. This happening gave him the boost to become creative, think outside the box and contribute to the world.
Working from home is awesome, no over an hour long bus rides and hoping it even turns up, and a much more productive workplace. Currently in a uni that seems to highly dislike working from home though. :/
During the height of the pandemic, I was working from home. I got more done from home than at the office because I had far fewer interruptions. Being a number cruncher, the last thing I need is some jolly coworker coming by for the nth time that week with a card to sign for someone who is sick, out with a baby, or had a nervous breakdown at the snack machine trying to decide if they wanted M&Ms with or without peanuts. Or some manager coming by my desk to ask for numbers that I had already posted network links to that morning in the company email to managers. "Yes Ronald... You already have those numbers. No, if you want to put them into chart full of garish clashing colors, no index or explanation of the axis and over a background picture of your cat, you can do that yourself." I don't have time for that. I wish they would let us go back to working from home. I'd get more done.
A friend is in a similar position with a bank. She is the highest performer in her department because she’s autistic and doesn’t socialise. Working from home, she got even more done because she wasn’t being interrupted by nonsense. Knowing she doesn’t participate in the social life of the office, her employer didn’t care and sent her back to work where she risks catching covid while wearing noise cancelling headphones. (Her health is iffy. I don’t get their point of forcing people into the social aspect of work… they think they’re a big family. Well, they’re not her family.)
I recently got a new job which allows me to work from home most of the time. I love it. Whether the work gets done in my house or in my office, it doesn't matter.
No one mentions how much less pollution and less cars are on the road due to home working. I get way more done at home when i can just continue until I've finished my work and not have to rush to avoid the congestion
I'm more motivated when I can set up my own task schedule, prioritize, and follow up. By myself. Wanna know why? Because I AM NOT A CHILD. except for that bit where I yelled ...just there. But other than that....
I've worked from home for 30 years. I never work in my pajamas (unless my work day starts very very early), I shower everyday, work out every day and wear clean clothes every day. I work when I want. I've raised 2 kids and still been able to work. It's a win-win situation.
No, you see Russel, bosses can't bully and abuse their employees halfway to suicide when they work from home so it's imperative they get back into office so the status quo is upheld
if all your work revolves around sitting at a computer connected to the internet, it literally doesn't matter where that computer is. all "work from home" proves is we don't need as many managers and that's what they don't like =P
During the first lockdown, my dad turned the living room into an office from 8am till 6pm, me and mum worked at the kitchen table from similar hours. We were all very dedicated
Our team found an increase in productivity numbers and all KPI metrics increased; the only thing that went down was absence rates (you can be too ick to drive out and sit under fluorescent lights, but you can still roll through the next room and blanket up and crack on; you can be running to the loo every 20mins easy when it's always free and right down the hall, but not when you need to jump two flights of stairs and queue up, etc). Depends on the job, obviously, but each company/department/whatever should be looking at the actual metrics to decide if it is good or bad for them, and listening to the actual employees as to whether they prefer one or the other if there is an option. Just being mad that people aren't socialising enough on the clock is so counter-intuitive when you're the one paying!
I've tried doing work experience and I wasn't recommended because apparently, I wasn't socializing with the other employees enough, nothing to do with how I worked, just the fact that it takes time for me to socialize with strangers. Working from home, no complaints about social interaction because there's no one else there, also guess who can fire you when you're your own boss, yeah, you
The idea of that is your lack of socialising shows lack of confidence in dealing with strangers. It’s not a complete accurate science, but this is why companies that have call centres do group interviews, if you keep to yourself and hardly talk they see it as a sign that you won’t be very chatty on the phone to customers. You can see the logic behind it, but of course, it isn’t an exact science and may not always translate to the real thing.
Become your oddest self, I work in a hospital and yet somehow I’m working on nailing an Irish accent and ranting and raving about being sued by Warwick Davis over a Pogo stick
My only problem with working from home during lockdown was other people (mostly managers) assuming that, regardless of my contracted hours, any time I was at home, I should be working. My working week was 09:00-17:00, Mon-Fri. Definitely peaked when I received a phone call to ask why I hadn't dealt with or replied to 3 emails sent to me on a Saturday afternoon. Said phonecall awoke me at 07:40 on the Sunday morning. I no longer work for that company.
I love working from home. It means I don't have to see people, I can get more stuff done, and I can listen to music while I do it - plus it's done wonders for my mental health, which was really suffering before lockdown. Jacob Rees-Mogg can absolutely do one.
Boss's just miss having people to boss around all today, they miss that feeling of being superior and having the workers kiss there ass all day... Its all just ego problems of pathetic controlling people.
Don't forget having to put everything in writing (in an email or potentially recorded on a phone call) so they can't bully and harass their employees without leaving a very solid paper trail. Actually, I wonder what the rate of workplace bullying and sexual harassment is now, compared to pre-covid? 🤔
The cheese thing is true. Literally went through a packet of 10 slices of cheese in two days. My own fault really for putting my desk in the kitchen next to the fridge but damn, cheese is so good.
17.03.2020 was the start of thr working from home became the new normal for office workers, my partner loves working from home, he comes downstairs maybe 4 times between 9am and 5:30pm he gets loads done without the distractions of office bs.
10 years ago I studied to get a certification for Cisco (professional telecom devices) I remember how there was almost a chapter dedicated to the virtues of home working, and how it would have allowed companies to save on utilities like heating and office maintenance and how that would have allowed to pay their workers more. The only ones who loses here could be the offices buildings's owners who would lose their income, until they get to repurpose it. There is another downside if we look at this carefully and it concerns those who cannot afford heating their home all day long with their current job (but arguably not many office jobs pay such a low rate, except for call centers), and the tertiary sector that risks losing a lot from the lack of socializing that normally occurs from working at office (think work lunches, but also the bit of shopping you could do on your way home and that now gets diverted towards Amazon or other online services). If society changes its habits this fast there are bound to be collateral damages. I wish that, if the problems foreseen are actually these or something along these lines, the governments would speak plainly about them, maybe trying to find a solution for everybody, instead of going down the route of "gnegne you are lazy go back to work..."
I'm a software dev, if you start demanding us to come back into the office you'd better clear out your email inbox in advance ready for all the resignations you're going to get and I'm not kidding. Guaranteed we'd find new jobs before they found new staff.
I feel like I've found my husband's UA-cam account 😂 Just kidding - he and a lot of his colleagues feel the same way. He has to concentrate a lot and finds it easier to get in the zone. Tbh I'm a bit jelly - I work with museum collections and only admin bits can be done from home. Thinking of retraining into tech which would also mean I get paid a proper renumeration.
Because there are a lot of rich and powerful people/hedge funds/media owners that have huge investments in office space and want a return on that investment regardless of how much it affects ordinary people
I'm a Homeworker. We have a system in place that monitors everything we do. If we don't work, it gets noticed and we are questioned. Can't even answer the door or take a quick loo break without a supervisor messaging us, demanding an explanation. Homeworking has its pros, but so many cons, too.
I had DBT therapy online and I loved seeing everyone's pets on camera, though I did also see plenty of cat butts..😂 Working from is so much better, no forced socialising on breaks, no worrying about transport, being able to cook something healthy, an environment that isn't sensory overload and I can be with my rabbits all day! 😁🐇
The games industry adapted quick. There are some studios that are completely remote now. I was at college for the lock downs and we were about to continue most unchanged, infact I think I got mire work done. It especially helped when I got sick as the systems were already I place for me to work from home and not miss out
When you work from home, you don't become "your oddest self". You become yourself. You can be whoever you want to be and do whatever you want to do in your OWN HOME.
Working from home is a narcissist's nightmare, they need a workplace full of people to bully, show off in front of, ETC, to validate themselves, without that they are nothing LOL.
I’ve “worked from home” for almost all of my career and about 10 years now, since the age of 21. In that time I’ve also traveled to 92 countries while working on some amazing projects. Office work is dying out and Covid proved to people how easy it is
I work in credit control and I do flexible working 2/3 days in the office and the rest at home. We are only expected in the office on Wednesdays so we can have a ''Coffee and Cake'' catch up. The bosses usually buy us pizza or let us go to the pub for lunch.. Lots of people are more productive working from home. I have a full office set up with a desk chair and stuff. Work give us gym memberships to ensure we're moving and being active. It's all about the company you work for, if they care about the staff and their mental health they will allow for flexible working as an option. Just having the option makes a big difference.
I’ve worked labouring jobs all my life and when I’d go into the office all the staff are on Facebook or online shopping, the place they do it in is not the problem.
Having the *option* to work from home - with the need to come in only for essential work station maintenance or meetings - is absolutely amazing and the greenest option as it saves having cars piled up in traffic jams all the time. I worked from home until recently and my production was sky high and because I was saving £50 a week on travel, that also incentivised me to work harder. Now I waste 4 hours a day on travel doing nothing but being stuck in traffic, burning cost on nothing, get into an office where I do the same work as before and nothing has changed except I'm p****d off at spending money for nothing but a manager's ego and damaging the planet further. If the political parties really cared about being sustainable, they would encourage businesses to have the option. Option being the key word because it doesn't suit everybody. And similarly those who do want to be in work, should be able to. Also local shops suffer as I now don't go to any shops at all during lunch time. The coffee shop across the road used to make a killing out of me. Now it won't. Now I'm stuck in an office where there's no canteen and I need to take in sandwiches using stuff I've bought from Sainsbury's. So, again, the government leaning to us going back shows their bias to support only the big business players and not small local shops.
While I don't think I could work from home, if I was working during lockdown (I was studying and that shit was hard as hell for me when stuck indoors over being able to go out to a place of learning), I for sure as hell support it. To anyone who can focus on their tasks when at home, I salute you, and support it. Granted, I'm more of an in person and on the site person; but I ain't gonna shove that down everyones throats. Especially not since I've got a parent with serious mobility problems, who still needs to work.
As someone who can't work due to mental health reasons -long story short my anxiety around people is so severe I have panic attacks and run in front of on-coming cars. So I stay home, I help around the family farm when required and the rest of the time I have my horse to look after which gives me a reason to go outside each day. After he's been worked, I have to fill his haynwt for the next day, sweep the stable and clean his field, so I am active. Though when I'm not outside I am curled up in bed either watching something or playing a game. There are a few people on our farm (they have horses here) so I'm trying work on my anxiety issues with them, just small hello on passing or a small conversation etc but its a long process. I've had these issues for 20 years, since I was 9, so a lot if damage has been done. The hippocampus in my brain has shrunk because of how long I've had the illnesses.. But in time perhaps I will be able to work with people.. Who knows, I did have a therapist before covid and I was making great progress face to face but of course covid had no meetings rule so I went way back to square one.. 2 years of work out the window as I couldn't do what we were practicing anymore.
@@pansepot1490 Definitely hippocampus. It's the part that deals with memory and learning among other things, that's why I struggled to learn during high school, why my memory is shit. Long term anxiety and depression that isnt treated or treated incorrectly causes the hippocampus to shrink in many cases.
Used to work in a factory where breaks were timed including going toilet. You had to clock in and out every time you went toilet and don and doff PPE so your allotted time was always less than it was meant to be. Saw someone sacked cos she took too many breaks. She had a weak bladder from child birth. It was horrible I don't work from home but at least now where I work I can go toilet without worrying about getting sacked for wasting company time
Heck, working from home is literally the only reason we got Toy Story 2, because it accidentally got deleted when near completion from the main Pixar server, but one employee had it backed up on her home computer. Working from home saved Toy Story 2
I was undecided on whether I wanted to go back to the office. I took my headphones out 3 seconds before the end of this video, in the middle of the office. I will be working from home.
My Line Manager said my production is much higher at home. Jacob Re Smog spent the last few years as Brexit Opportunities Minister. He did a great job of that when he was actually in the office, in between the many radio or TV appearances, he has delivered so many opportunities the country is overwhelmed with them. Well done Re Smog.
Employers have always spied on us in the office, long before Covid was a thing. Every job I've ever been at in the last decade has had tracking software on the work computers. I worked from home for a year and a half and only just went back to the office recently because I got a fab new job. When I was at home I was lazy with everything, personal grooming, wearing regular clothes, even leaving the house to go grocery shopping. If I wanted to surf the net, I had my personal lap top next to me on my desk and I would do a bit of work, then watch UA-cam or whatever else I was doing. I took longer breaks even though the system showed I was online and working and when I logged on in the morning, I requested my normal tasks, then I wandered around for half an hour, having breakfast, coffee and surfing my favourite websites. I still got my work done but I had no stress, got a lot more sleep, was much more pleasant to the people in my life and managed to look engaged in Teams meetings because the more enthusiastic, loud team members got all the attention, while I stayed quiet at my desk out of the limelight. I couldn't do that when I was working in the office. It was a positive experience for me but I'm happy I'm back in the office now because I get paid more in this new job and I like the work better. Everyone is chill and I"m pretty much my own boss
I finally managed to get a remote job and I can honestly say I get so much more done. Working in an office was loud, too bright, and people kept popping over at my desk for a chat. Like please I just need to focus. Also I fully invite becoming my oddest self. 😋
It's definitely about control. Bosses are having conniptions over the fact that they can't manipulate every single moment of their employees' lives like they're fuckin Sims.
I do both, work from home and go to the office. Both have pro's and con's. I'm allowed to choose and it helps me plan my work and manage my private life.
I worked from home years ago, I loved it and probably did MORE work. Yes, I did sit in bed working but, my phone was never switched off and I was always available (loo breaks obviously I never had a dump and chatted to a work mate at the same time)
A lot of the time I actually do way more work at home than I would get done in the office. Plus I save TWO HOURS a day from not having to commute, why the hell would I want to go to the office and waste two hours of my day on nothing, when I could just as easily do my job from home and god forbid try to have some time to live outside of it, too.
That last bit was similar to/inspired by Tim Minchin's short but hilarious "Guilty Pleasures" monologue, watchable here on YT ;) "That shows an incredibly low threshold for both guilt...and pleasure...could have embarrassed myself..."
I can work from home, but it's totally unhealthy. There is no disconnect between home life and work life, it's just one mess. You may intersperse, say doing laundry, between meetings etc and I find I just end up working non-stop without a break. I am productive at home, but often I find my lack of productivity in the office is due to creativity instead. Working with others to solve problems or talking over complex tasks. I cycle to the office ~2hr commute a day, but I just treat this as daily exercise. Horses for courses, but for me office life every time. I miss the people, the banter and the general mingling with other humans, something I don't do on the weekends.
I work for a company that has always been work from home. They save money on expensive offices and pay their staff more instead. I do basically the same job I did before, but at home instead of in an office. Ever since I started working for them, my back pain and sciatica have disappeared, I’m less stressed, better paid, healthier, I have more free time because I’m not commuting, and I do more work because I’m not getting distracted by colleagues poking me every 10 minutes or having to answer the phone for nonsense telemarketers, and I don’t have to spend hours travelling to see clients, which is better for the environment. Show me where the downside is?
Uhm... Uhmm... Because of the... Uhmm...
BECAUSE THEY SAID SO ON TV!
😂😂
Won't someone think of the office landlords who are losing out
Gotta watch out for that cheese
@@pneumaticFrequency And the local shops and businesses who serve working people... apparently
Absolutely! People who want to work from home are not polluting the air further with car fumes getting to and from work, not adding more potholes to the roads with their contribution to constant traffic, and when feeling poorly - but are still able to get their work done - they at least aren't in the office spreading germs around to others. Bosses who want eyes on their employees at all times are control freaks at best and abusers at worst. Thanks for your comments, Russell. Spot on!
I used to sit in the office with my headphones on just to drown out the noise of the office. Now I am sitting in my small office at home and getting shit done. And yeah, I take naps from time to time and it makes me more productive, not less.
Same here. I had to wear headphones to drown out the gossip and mindless chatter. At home, I do focussed work time, good lunch break, household chores, cook a healthy family dinner and still do more work than before and not feel knackered
@@SussexSandra This is exactly it! And naps can happen on a designated break time. Or lunch. Not a problem. It's hard to properly rest on a break in an office.
I thought it was just me! I could not concentrate (I think I have adhd) and was bullied and made to announce to the rest of the team when I put headphones on so they knew I wouldn't hear them if they asked me something smh. Needless to say I didn't last very long, and had to have time off for depression. Not the most helpful work environment
I love working from home, I no longer have to hide my lack of work and I can take naps. Job still gets done. I’ve seen misery inflicted on folk who for physical or mental health reasons, should be at home. They’re perfectly productive but I’ve seen people driven to the brink by lack of empathy. Employers are just cacking themselves over setting a precedent. The force people back into offices and even hybrid workers push, is not applied in the best interests of the worker. These daytime talk show talking heads have no idea what a 9-5 is. Home working can be conducive to higher productivity and better work life balance. Equally there’s folk who want to go in full time to many jobs. Feels like they’re trying to build a culture war out of nothing. Good on Russell for highlighting this, the civil service is utterly in bits right now trying to adopt hybrid working, cramming all their staff into fewer buildings and bullying people with legit reasons to want to stay home.
Did you actually watch the whole episode?
@@spicybrown75 no, I watched the segment on UA-cam then commented. Just to clarify, when I say talk show hosts I was referring to the daytime tv trash spouters he played, not to Russell or those speaking in support.
@@youcantalwaysgetwhatyouwan8419 yeah I understand now
Only concern I've had is being contacted after 6pm wanting something. I doubt they know how to set their thoughts to send at 8am.
best friend works for a software company. Before Covid they were reluctant to grant home office. After they were forced to let people do home office, they realised that people were more productive and theire overall costs went down significantly. Now they try to sweeten up home office for as many as possible. My friend can see his kids and participate in their life, doesn't waste gas, has more time and he says himself, he can now get his work done more effectively, because of a quite environment where no coworkers can bother and annoy him. The fact that people have to call him if they want something of him makes people think twice and sort their problems before bothering and calling someone without reason...
and if someone is lazy and doesn't do his job, then this is easily recognisable, too. Because he doesnt get his work done.
In his company, both workers and bosses are happy about home office
As someone who works from home and from the office, I'm definitely able to be more productive at home.
No commuting time means I can start earlier, finish later or work normal times but less tired. I also don't have the commute putting me in a bad mood.
I have my own desk with my own computer, with loads records I've built up over the years that help me do my job; records to which I have no access from the office.
I have software permissions on my computer that help me do my job that I don't have on the office computers. As a result there are literally whole important parts of my job that I can only do from home. And I have a bigger and better monitor at home.
Plus I don't have people walking and talking around me. I have a fantastic cheese collection in the fridge and even that is less distracting and certainly less annoying than they are.
But that's a problem because I sometimes do it wearing pyjamas?!
well said
You're in the Civil Service, aren't you 😄.... good and accurate points well-made.
@G T Oh I LOVE your comment! So thorough about all the benefits, though I recognise not beneficial to all all of the time.
Can you tell me the trick for keeping a cat on your lap being all furry and lovely and soothingly-purry rather than bitey whenever you move... or is mine just bad-tempered? 🙃
@@taras6806 I'm in public service so you're close.
@G T I just got my own place but for April 2020 to July 2022 I did most of my home working from my girlfriend's as my flat had a noisy and shitty neighbour and crap internet connection (whole area does) which allowed me to look after her chickens.
Now I know them better than anybody else and while I was there I was their primary carer. I trained them and improved their behaviour and environment, making them healthier and happier. Home working had a massive indirect animal welfare benefit in my case and I'm sure in many others.
Interesting that the ones who complain the loudest and most bitterly about people who work from home are... the people for whom working from home isn't an option, enforced either by the nature of their job, the company policy or a personal preference because being in an office is mildly more bearable than being in their own house surrounded by their family. It's that old, old thing of "If *I* can't have a nice thing, I want to make damn sure no-one else gets it either!"
I work as a Teacher's assistant at a kindergarden honestly I'm pro work from home for anyone and everyone who can do it. its better for so many people
I’ve had days where I haven’t done much work while working from home but that can also be said for days where I’ve been in the office, sometimes there just isn’t much to do. End of the day I always make sure everything that needs to get done is done, why does it matter where I am when I do it? These people complaining about it come across as jealous, like they don’t have the option to work from home and so just whine about people who do.
Exactly 💯
It's not even jealousy. The bulk of the people complaining are employers and managers. The usual suspects. WFH makes it too easy to quit, and they can't check in on everyone every 5 seconds or run their useless "team-building" events out of work hours when everyone lives all over the country. Now they're having to make people want to keep working for them by actually paying them properly and they're unhappy about that.
Wait? Someone who speaks the truth in the comments section? WHAT WITCHCRAFT IS THIS
I'd love to work from home but I can't. I'm quite lucky that my commute isn't particularly long or expensive but it'd still be nice to have that bit extra time and money for myself. I think home working is here to stay and these angry commentators are judging people by their own standards, just because they can't regulate themselves when left to their own devices doesn't mean others should be punished
@G T I wouldn’t worry about your job, hookers don’t tend to work on the streets
I think with the advent of the modem, doing work remotely from home makes a lot of sense for employees and employers. No one turning up late for work, raiding the supplies cupboard to play office hocky, no one stealing your mug in the breakroom. If nothing else, it will cut down pollution by eliminating commutes.
I work from home and I work bloody hard. I have only been able to go back to work because of the flexibility this work affords me. I always meet deadlines because I log in after dinner and the children have done homework to work. I mean it's the most productive I have ever been.
Russell you are literally one of the very few things keeping me sane right now
How do you know you are still sane
@@julianshepherd2038 when the psychiatrists and psychologists describe one as 'mentally challenged', you ought to know you are one ahead on them. They are crazy enough to believe themselves 'right'!!!
@Matty Kelly Are you labour?
@Matty Kelly I don't think you know what propaganda is
@Matty Kelly I bet you’re the kind of person who really thinks theyre a free thinker.
Before Covid I was told there were no jobs for me to do at home. I'm disabled and can't work outside my place. Since Covid I'm now told all the jobs that have been done from home are no longer suitable to do at home. I can't win lol
Find a job in digital somewhere if your disabilities allow you to use computers. Email, SEO, PPC etc. Most of these company's offer work from home and don't require past experience in a lot of cases - might have to go in a couple of times for training, but a lot can be done at home.
Once trained up in your field, start doing some freelance on the side and from there become your own boss.
The excuses that employers have to discriminate are more transparent than ever.
That's one of the things that really upsets me. I'm in the same boat.
Boss(es): "You can't work from home, we need bums on seats in the office".
Me: had to stop work due to not being able to work from home.
Pandemic: Everyone works from home including all my old bosses who previously said it was not a "reasonable adjustment" when requested because of a disability.
The disabled community always get shafted on things like this
I spent a fortune on commuting andI lost 3 hours a day on a train, and to avoid the rush hour I was getting up at 5 am to get into the office at 7am every morning. To have enough sleep, I'd go to bed at 0830 the night before and haven't seen a TV programme with my wife in years.
Now I work from home. My employer doesn't pay millions a year on desks in an office, gets my hours from their employees and can recruit from a much, much larger pool of people than before, so they are now getting applicants that would never have applied previously.
This is free market economics in action.
I’m 21 and I’ve watched Russell Howard since I was a lil kid, I must say I’ve always had a good laugh from his shows on bbc to now UA-cam! I’m soo happy he has not become irrelevant because he’s a English icon😂👊🏽
The only advantage of office work for me is that it's easier for me to build relationships. Other than that, I'm no less productive, I sleep better, I don't have to commute (which puts me on the seething edge of rage), I have time and energy to walk the dogs properly, and I have the time and energy for hobbies and housework.
'seething edge of rage'... I felt that! I don't work from home, but don't need to commute much now either. I absolutely hate commuting.
completely agree, well said sir
My office is toxic, so I don’t even have that.
I think it has been a Godsend for people with children who are old enough to entertain themselves but not old enough to be left alone in the house! Save a mint on child care! I still say that one of the best things about working from home is that, for two years, we've been able to see 'the real them'. Laundry timers going, kids and pets fighting, spouses wandering behind them etc. I work retail so, obviously not from home but attend a few workshops on other things and "Awww, let me see your puppy" or "what's your cat's name" have been very common.
I'm from Sydney, Australia, and a close friend has been working from home due to the Covid restrictions on travel. His department has recorded a 15% increase in productivity. He still goes to the city office as required once a week. I'm surprised that WFH wasn't started years ago
But but... Working from home is not productive! /s
Some of us can actually focus on a f+cking task without the distraction of being micromanaged, thank you very much.
Some of us can't focus on a task while being micro-managed, but can when left alone!
@@craffte I suppose it is. I don't feel that micromanaging is distracting though. It's demotivating.
@@jenniferpearce1052 whatever, we're saying the same thing. Anyway, I deleted my other comment. I just read it and it was so mean! sorry. been a hard week. ☮
@@craffte Ohhh, I have days like that too. It didn't sound too mean, but thanks. I hope your day/week gets better!
The kind of people who get mad at people working from home tend to be the kind of people who like to micromanage or bully their employees. They try to fabricate the reason that productivity is dropping, when this couldn't be further from the truth. Without the anguish of workplace politics and the mind numbing commute to work, people have better mental health as a result, which can improve productivity. Plus, working from home allows employees the option to "turn off" their bosses. Some bosses like to meddle, throw their weight around, pull rank, and general cause drama and irritation, and they can get away with it in the work place, but when you work from home, they can just be "switched off"; phones can be set to silent, laptops closed, computers turned off.
You want an example of this? Jacob Rees Mogg, a man once employed to the cabinet as "Secretary of Efficiency", where he clearly showed he had no idea what that meant. He demanded civil servants come into the office, wasting time, money and fuel to commute, to do a job they could do from their computer at home. If a person has a computer and internet access, there is no reason for them not to be able to do their job from their desk at home and not have to put up with the smug prick strutting around like he owns the place.
Home working shone a light on how utterly pointless most managers/middle management actually are - the realization that the business can and does function without them...they did not like that.
But...Where will all the sociopaths go? Research does actually show that people in higher up positions have a strong tendency to be sociopathic in nature. We all know Narcissists are everywhere.
Let's make a nice jail for them all. Then they can complain to each other that they're not folding a sheet of paper correctly.
The people who complain are exactly the people who want to get away from.
Hi Russell, thank you yet again for lifting me from daily doom and gloom. I often have a quiet cry when I watch news from my native Ukraine. But this morning I was crying with laughter from your kangaroo pouch confession. I was laughing so hard people gave me looks on early morning train.
Sorry about how bad things are in your beautiful country, but as an Australian that grew up in the outback what Russell did is regarded as a completely normal childhood here 😜
I just saw this and have to say, you have my heart and my support. politics is politics, but at the end of the day, I pray for the people of Ukraine. I hope this mess is over soon, no one deserves this and I hope you and your loved ones are okay. I hate that this is happening. 🧡
I've been working from home for 25 years and I don't look li-- well, I'm productive, at least! Seriously, though I don't spend time chatting with colleagues and I can work in the evenings or weekends if it fits my schedule better. If someone gets their work done, what does it matter how? It's got to be saving employers a ton of money, too. I work for myself, so I'm pretty disciplined... but there are days I get lost in a UA-cam rabbit hole... but I just make up for it and keep on top of client work. It makes more sense to work on things when your brain is ready.
I actually got better grades studying online at home than studying at school around alot of other people, my mental health was a lot better and I saved a LOT of time and money not takeing the bus every day. The pandemic actually helped the earth a little bit because people were traveling less so there was less carbon emissions
I remember a few classes in high school I refused to buddy up with the other students because they were just acting like morons for a majority of the day, so I just sat on my own and did the work. I tell ya, the audacity of some of the kids I went to high school with was baffling, I was in senior year and a group of juniors, I kid you not, attempted to bully me, it was one of the weirdest experiences of my life. I'm so glad I don't go to high school anymore, I wouldn't have the patience for it these days
I studied from home before the pandemic for all of those reasons. Some people work better in a busy, populated environment, some don't. I hate the way society has forced everyone to conform to one. I'm so excited for the future of flexibility in all aspects of life
'Going to work' and 'get a job' was always a very ableist approach to servitude.
@@DJWESG1 I actually have a disability and I have been forced to be “normal”. Like people push me to do things that people my age are doing that I’m not comfortable with. I know ableism to well
As an author who permanently works at home, I can genuinely say that I have never been distracted by cheese…😂
I don’t work from home but I have been distracted by cheese.
I am a photographer.
I work with “cheese”
@G T it’s conspiring with that block of Garstang Blue.
Because you are not boris johnson. When he was in the parliament he was, allegedly, distracted by Angela Rayner's legs...He used to be obsessed with Peppa Pig....so we can assume he found children cartoons distracting. Perhaps he should have been locked in a sensory deprivation cabin ....so that he could focus on actually doing his job.
I worked in a call center after losing another job. The worst working conditions ever. Having to monitor your time so precisely. I was fired even though I had perfect reviews on my calls because I was taking too long on call. We were dealing with insurance issues, almost everything was complex.
I completely relate Jarod! I too worked in a call centre (banking). It's dehumanising and brutal! Everything is about time! Customers loved me, but that doesn't count for anything!!
That sucks. I hope you both find other jobs that appreciate your customer service skills.
Worked for a insurance claims handler in the same circumstances. Taking too long on calls just the same and let them know i had another job lined up during the meeting where they were going to extend my probation by two months.
Call Center work is a special kind of toxic, especially if it's outsourced from another company (eg. the call center company provides call center work for numerous companies).
The main metric is the number of calls being handled, not whether they're being handled well - this leads to an environment where you as the service worker always feel like you're not actually doing your job (which, at least from a "human" point of view is helping customers as best as we can).
The fact of the matter is that call center workers are rarely hired to help the customer, but rather to provide the illusion that the company wants to help the customer.
There's so many pros for WFH not just for employees but for employers as well.
For example employees don't have to commute so they spend less money traveling but it also means they can get better sleep at night because they don't have to worry about getting into work in the morning. This is a pro for employers because I don't know a single person that will work better if they get less sleep.
I quit my job 5 years ago to work from home full time, on a self-employed basis. I work far harder now than I ever did when I was doing my best to 'look busy' in the office.
I've worked in lots of offices where people had perfected the art of doing nothing
I worked at home throughout the whole lockdown, and wrote an excel sheet that moved the mouse left and right every 30s to teams didnt show me away, so I could do other things.
I started a job two years ago fully working from home. Two years later I’ve been into the office for a total of 6 weeks and can honestly say there is no difference in terms of performance, actually I found I can concentrate more as there’s less people around distracting you. However I can honestly say I hate it, the lack of social contact is so depressing it makes almost want to quit. I’m autistic and find it impossible to form strong relationships with people when I only ever talk to them on a screen. I wish the job was hybrid as despite working there for 2 years I still have no idea how the place operates beyond my department. Working from home is good in certain aspects however people need to have varierty in their life’s and working from doesn’t provide that😢
I agree with you in some senses. I started my job January 2020 and I have the same "how do things work around here?" questions you're talking about. However, I've been sent back to the office and my team hasn't. There are 2 people, each from a different group, also working on the floor. There are cubes for about 60, I think, on our floor. It is the most depressing place, and doesn't actually help solve the problems of not having people in the office. And we're still having all our meetings remotely. It's so stupid
I wish we had more 'community centers' and the like. But hybridized home/Office work makes a ton of sense to me, time and gas savings, still get to know your coworkers better(people don't act the same on a screen as they do face to face for sure) I'd bet there are other benefits to a hybrid too.
We know it’s you Microsoft
Working from hom doesn't provide that, for you. Other people do much better. It should be hybrid or up to each employee. That way you can spend time in office with people who also want to be there and you can form social attachments with the people who actually want to do so. It would be better for you as well that way.
@@taras6806 Based on the context of the conversation and the sentence itself, it's obvious it's a typo of home.
I have pretty severe depression and social anxiety. Working from home makes social interaction much easier and I'm able to reach out to others not in my department to get things done.
Missed you Russell, your humour keeps me uplifted
Used to have many Tea and coffee breaks in office and chatting with others. Now my productivity have increased by WFH ..time saved.
You forgot to mention Isaac Newton. He was stuck at home due to the Great Prague in Cambridge. This isolation gave him wonders to research the Eastern Science knowledge that wasn't shared in his environment at the university. This happening gave him the boost to become creative, think outside the box and contribute to the world.
I go to office to socialise but when I’m at home I actually get some work done
Working from home is awesome, no over an hour long bus rides and hoping it even turns up, and a much more productive workplace. Currently in a uni that seems to highly dislike working from home though. :/
During the height of the pandemic, I was working from home. I got more done from home than at the office because I had far fewer interruptions. Being a number cruncher, the last thing I need is some jolly coworker coming by for the nth time that week with a card to sign for someone who is sick, out with a baby, or had a nervous breakdown at the snack machine trying to decide if they wanted M&Ms with or without peanuts. Or some manager coming by my desk to ask for numbers that I had already posted network links to that morning in the company email to managers. "Yes Ronald... You already have those numbers. No, if you want to put them into chart full of garish clashing colors, no index or explanation of the axis and over a background picture of your cat, you can do that yourself." I don't have time for that. I wish they would let us go back to working from home. I'd get more done.
A friend is in a similar position with a bank. She is the highest performer in her department because she’s autistic and doesn’t socialise. Working from home, she got even more done because she wasn’t being interrupted by nonsense. Knowing she doesn’t participate in the social life of the office, her employer didn’t care and sent her back to work where she risks catching covid while wearing noise cancelling headphones. (Her health is iffy. I don’t get their point of forcing people into the social aspect of work… they think they’re a big family. Well, they’re not her family.)
I recently got a new job which allows me to work from home most of the time. I love it. Whether the work gets done in my house or in my office, it doesn't matter.
No one mentions how much less pollution and less cars are on the road due to home working. I get way more done at home when i can just continue until I've finished my work and not have to rush to avoid the congestion
I'm more motivated when I can set up my own task schedule, prioritize, and follow up. By myself. Wanna know why? Because I AM NOT A CHILD. except for that bit where I yelled ...just there. But other than that....
I've worked from home for 30 years. I never work in my pajamas (unless my work day starts very very early), I shower everyday, work out every day and wear clean clothes every day. I work when I want. I've raised 2 kids and still been able to work. It's a win-win situation.
What do you do for work! I'm curious
@@amalar4212 I edit medical/scientific textbooks
@@queent3343 that's really interesting!
@@amalar4212 It can be.
No, you see Russel, bosses can't bully and abuse their employees halfway to suicide when they work from home so it's imperative they get back into office so the status quo is upheld
if all your work revolves around sitting at a computer connected to the internet, it literally doesn't matter where that computer is.
all "work from home" proves is we don't need as many managers and that's what they don't like =P
Exactly this!
I work from home 2-3 days a week and in the office 2-3 days a week... i get more done at home that i ever do in the office per day
During the first lockdown, my dad turned the living room into an office from 8am till 6pm, me and mum worked at the kitchen table from similar hours. We were all very dedicated
Our team found an increase in productivity numbers and all KPI metrics increased; the only thing that went down was absence rates (you can be too ick to drive out and sit under fluorescent lights, but you can still roll through the next room and blanket up and crack on; you can be running to the loo every 20mins easy when it's always free and right down the hall, but not when you need to jump two flights of stairs and queue up, etc). Depends on the job, obviously, but each company/department/whatever should be looking at the actual metrics to decide if it is good or bad for them, and listening to the actual employees as to whether they prefer one or the other if there is an option. Just being mad that people aren't socialising enough on the clock is so counter-intuitive when you're the one paying!
I've tried doing work experience and I wasn't recommended because apparently, I wasn't socializing with the other employees enough, nothing to do with how I worked, just the fact that it takes time for me to socialize with strangers. Working from home, no complaints about social interaction because there's no one else there, also guess who can fire you when you're your own boss, yeah, you
The idea of that is your lack of socialising shows lack of confidence in dealing with strangers. It’s not a complete accurate science, but this is why companies that have call centres do group interviews, if you keep to yourself and hardly talk they see it as a sign that you won’t be very chatty on the phone to customers.
You can see the logic behind it, but of course, it isn’t an exact science and may not always translate to the real thing.
@@DLFLux I think it's the introvert vs extrovert thing, some people are just different from others when it comes to socializing with people
Become your oddest self, I work in a hospital and yet somehow I’m working on nailing an Irish accent and ranting and raving about being sued by Warwick Davis over a Pogo stick
Thanks for saying this Russ ❤ It should ultimately be about trust and what you deliver but sadly value is placed upon presenteeism.
Thank you for speaking for us!
"how many people work from bed"
RH: "nobody"
Me: 👀
I demand more of Russell in glasses.
Please.
I love comedians, most are smart, and that's usually enough. Russell is a genius.
My only problem with working from home during lockdown was other people (mostly managers) assuming that, regardless of my contracted hours, any time I was at home, I should be working. My working week was 09:00-17:00, Mon-Fri. Definitely peaked when I received a phone call to ask why I hadn't dealt with or replied to 3 emails sent to me on a Saturday afternoon. Said phonecall awoke me at 07:40 on the Sunday morning. I no longer work for that company.
I love working from home. It means I don't have to see people, I can get more stuff done, and I can listen to music while I do it - plus it's done wonders for my mental health, which was really suffering before lockdown. Jacob Rees-Mogg can absolutely do one.
Your Oddest Self 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
2:10 🤣🍒
4:16 gaaaa chair train nostalgia, those were them days!! 🥳
Boss's just miss having people to boss around all today, they miss that feeling of being superior and having the workers kiss there ass all day... Its all just ego problems of pathetic controlling people.
Don't forget having to put everything in writing (in an email or potentially recorded on a phone call) so they can't bully and harass their employees without leaving a very solid paper trail.
Actually, I wonder what the rate of workplace bullying and sexual harassment is now, compared to pre-covid? 🤔
The cheese thing is true. Literally went through a packet of 10 slices of cheese in two days. My own fault really for putting my desk in the kitchen next to the fridge but damn, cheese is so good.
🤣🤣🧀
Sounds ideal to me, don't have to invest in a mini fridge for the office if the whole office is in the kitchen 🤣
17.03.2020 was the start of thr working from home became the new normal for office workers, my partner loves working from home, he comes downstairs maybe 4 times between 9am and 5:30pm he gets loads done without the distractions of office bs.
10 years ago I studied to get a certification for Cisco (professional telecom devices) I remember how there was almost a chapter dedicated to the virtues of home working, and how it would have allowed companies to save on utilities like heating and office maintenance and how that would have allowed to pay their workers more. The only ones who loses here could be the offices buildings's owners who would lose their income, until they get to repurpose it. There is another downside if we look at this carefully and it concerns those who cannot afford heating their home all day long with their current job (but arguably not many office jobs pay such a low rate, except for call centers), and the tertiary sector that risks losing a lot from the lack of socializing that normally occurs from working at office (think work lunches, but also the bit of shopping you could do on your way home and that now gets diverted towards Amazon or other online services). If society changes its habits this fast there are bound to be collateral damages. I wish that, if the problems foreseen are actually these or something along these lines, the governments would speak plainly about them, maybe trying to find a solution for everybody, instead of going down the route of "gnegne you are lazy go back to work..."
I'm a software dev, if you start demanding us to come back into the office you'd better clear out your email inbox in advance ready for all the resignations you're going to get and I'm not kidding. Guaranteed we'd find new jobs before they found new staff.
I feel like I've found my husband's UA-cam account 😂 Just kidding - he and a lot of his colleagues feel the same way. He has to concentrate a lot and finds it easier to get in the zone. Tbh I'm a bit jelly - I work with museum collections and only admin bits can be done from home. Thinking of retraining into tech which would also mean I get paid a proper renumeration.
Because there are a lot of rich and powerful people/hedge funds/media owners that have huge investments in office space and want a return on that investment regardless of how much it affects ordinary people
this ,this one right here
Spot on!
I'm a Homeworker. We have a system in place that monitors everything we do. If we don't work, it gets noticed and we are questioned. Can't even answer the door or take a quick loo break without a supervisor messaging us, demanding an explanation.
Homeworking has its pros, but so many cons, too.
I had DBT therapy online and I loved seeing everyone's pets on camera, though I did also see plenty of cat butts..😂
Working from is so much better, no forced socialising on breaks, no worrying about transport, being able to cook something healthy, an environment that isn't sensory overload and I can be with my rabbits all day! 😁🐇
I do hybrid working where I work from home some days during the week. Doesn’t hurt me, I passed my probation with flying colours.
The games industry adapted quick. There are some studios that are completely remote now. I was at college for the lock downs and we were about to continue most unchanged, infact I think I got mire work done. It especially helped when I got sick as the systems were already I place for me to work from home and not miss out
When you work from home, you don't become "your oddest self".
You become yourself. You can be whoever you want to be and do whatever you want to do in your OWN HOME.
I would hate to work in an office, been working from home for nearly 10 years, you couldn't pay me enough to go back to an office.
Working from home is a narcissist's nightmare, they need a workplace full of people to bully, show off in front of, ETC, to validate themselves, without that they are nothing LOL.
As an EMT responder. I also now work from home. None of the customers have complained since. GREAT concept!
I have spent an entire day workignout of my bed so it definitly happens. that said, he's right, the work got done and thats all that matters
Russell, you are amazing. Love you, man.
I’ve “worked from home” for almost all of my career and about 10 years now, since the age of 21. In that time I’ve also traveled to 92 countries while working on some amazing projects.
Office work is dying out and Covid proved to people how easy it is
I work in credit control and I do flexible working 2/3 days in the office and the rest at home. We are only expected in the office on Wednesdays so we can have a ''Coffee and Cake'' catch up. The bosses usually buy us pizza or let us go to the pub for lunch.. Lots of people are more productive working from home. I have a full office set up with a desk chair and stuff.
Work give us gym memberships to ensure we're moving and being active.
It's all about the company you work for, if they care about the staff and their mental health they will allow for flexible working as an option. Just having the option makes a big difference.
Couldn’t agree more
It would be great if this show aired in America. I binged ALL OF THEM. All of them. Whilst doing so gained a massive crush on Russell.☺️😜💜
I’ve worked labouring jobs all my life and when I’d go into the office all the staff are on Facebook or online shopping, the place they do it in is not the problem.
I think employers are more concerned about the rent they were paying for nothing, whenever people were forced to work from home.
Having the *option* to work from home - with the need to come in only for essential work station maintenance or meetings - is absolutely amazing and the greenest option as it saves having cars piled up in traffic jams all the time.
I worked from home until recently and my production was sky high and because I was saving £50 a week on travel, that also incentivised me to work harder.
Now I waste 4 hours a day on travel doing nothing but being stuck in traffic, burning cost on nothing, get into an office where I do the same work as before and nothing has changed except I'm p****d off at spending money for nothing but a manager's ego and damaging the planet further.
If the political parties really cared about being sustainable, they would encourage businesses to have the option. Option being the key word because it doesn't suit everybody. And similarly those who do want to be in work, should be able to.
Also local shops suffer as I now don't go to any shops at all during lunch time. The coffee shop across the road used to make a killing out of me. Now it won't. Now I'm stuck in an office where there's no canteen and I need to take in sandwiches using stuff I've bought from Sainsbury's. So, again, the government leaning to us going back shows their bias to support only the big business players and not small local shops.
While I don't think I could work from home, if I was working during lockdown (I was studying and that shit was hard as hell for me when stuck indoors over being able to go out to a place of learning), I for sure as hell support it. To anyone who can focus on their tasks when at home, I salute you, and support it.
Granted, I'm more of an in person and on the site person; but I ain't gonna shove that down everyones throats. Especially not since I've got a parent with serious mobility problems, who still needs to work.
As someone who can't work due to mental health reasons -long story short my anxiety around people is so severe I have panic attacks and run in front of on-coming cars.
So I stay home, I help around the family farm when required and the rest of the time I have my horse to look after which gives me a reason to go outside each day. After he's been worked, I have to fill his haynwt for the next day, sweep the stable and clean his field, so I am active. Though when I'm not outside I am curled up in bed either watching something or playing a game.
There are a few people on our farm (they have horses here) so I'm trying work on my anxiety issues with them, just small hello on passing or a small conversation etc but its a long process. I've had these issues for 20 years, since I was 9, so a lot if damage has been done. The hippocampus in my brain has shrunk because of how long I've had the illnesses.. But in time perhaps I will be able to work with people.. Who knows, I did have a therapist before covid and I was making great progress face to face but of course covid had no meetings rule so I went way back to square one.. 2 years of work out the window as I couldn't do what we were practicing anymore.
I think you mean * hypothalamus
@@pansepot1490 Definitely hippocampus. It's the part that deals with memory and learning among other things, that's why I struggled to learn during high school, why my memory is shit. Long term anxiety and depression that isnt treated or treated incorrectly causes the hippocampus to shrink in many cases.
Used to work in a factory where breaks were timed including going toilet. You had to clock in and out every time you went toilet and don and doff PPE so your allotted time was always less than it was meant to be. Saw someone sacked cos she took too many breaks. She had a weak bladder from child birth. It was horrible I don't work from home but at least now where I work I can go toilet without worrying about getting sacked for wasting company time
Heck, working from home is literally the only reason we got Toy Story 2, because it accidentally got deleted when near completion from the main Pixar server, but one employee had it backed up on her home computer.
Working from home saved Toy Story 2
I can't work at home because the job requires manual labour, however every job that could be done from home should be done from home
I was undecided on whether I wanted to go back to the office. I took my headphones out 3 seconds before the end of this video, in the middle of the office. I will be working from home.
My Line Manager said my production is much higher at home. Jacob Re Smog spent the last few years as Brexit Opportunities Minister. He did a great job of that when he was actually in the office, in between the many radio or TV appearances, he has delivered so many opportunities the country is overwhelmed with them. Well done Re Smog.
Cheers Russ, Sitting here watching on ma TV and loud moaning starts playing. now my parents think I’ve got an addiction.
sometimes when watching Russel our wonky eyes synchronize and he might actually be the only person I could actually make eye contact with
I’ve worked from home and worked longer and harder. And no commute. Oh ya❤
Employers have always spied on us in the office, long before Covid was a thing. Every job I've ever been at in the last decade has had tracking software on the work computers. I worked from home for a year and a half and only just went back to the office recently because I got a fab new job. When I was at home I was lazy with everything, personal grooming, wearing regular clothes, even leaving the house to go grocery shopping. If I wanted to surf the net, I had my personal lap top next to me on my desk and I would do a bit of work, then watch UA-cam or whatever else I was doing. I took longer breaks even though the system showed I was online and working and when I logged on in the morning, I requested my normal tasks, then I wandered around for half an hour, having breakfast, coffee and surfing my favourite websites. I still got my work done but I had no stress, got a lot more sleep, was much more pleasant to the people in my life and managed to look engaged in Teams meetings because the more enthusiastic, loud team members got all the attention, while I stayed quiet at my desk out of the limelight. I couldn't do that when I was working in the office. It was a positive experience for me but I'm happy I'm back in the office now because I get paid more in this new job and I like the work better. Everyone is chill and I"m pretty much my own boss
I finally managed to get a remote job and I can honestly say I get so much more done. Working in an office was loud, too bright, and people kept popping over at my desk for a chat. Like please I just need to focus.
Also I fully invite becoming my oddest self. 😋
It's definitely about control. Bosses are having conniptions over the fact that they can't manipulate every single moment of their employees' lives like they're fuckin Sims.
I do both, work from home and go to the office. Both have pro's and con's. I'm allowed to choose and it helps me plan my work and manage my private life.
People who actually want to work in an office: Sycophants, Sociopaths, Narcissists, Bullies
People who don't: Everybody else
as someone who struggles to stay focused when working at home and for whom work, gotta say, bit rude
Pretty much who wants to work in an office definitely don't have good household/family in their home to talk/socialize to lmao.
I worked from home years ago, I loved it and probably did MORE work.
Yes, I did sit in bed working but, my phone was never switched off and I was always available (loo breaks obviously I never had a dump and chatted to a work mate at the same time)
If Mike Graham and Dan Wootton think something is a bad idea, that’s enough for me to know it’s a great idea
Graham thinks you can grow concrete, anything he thinks, do the opposite
Spot on!
A lot of the time I actually do way more work at home than I would get done in the office. Plus I save TWO HOURS a day from not having to commute, why the hell would I want to go to the office and waste two hours of my day on nothing, when I could just as easily do my job from home and god forbid try to have some time to live outside of it, too.
That last bit was similar to/inspired by Tim Minchin's short but hilarious "Guilty Pleasures" monologue, watchable here on YT ;)
"That shows an incredibly low threshold for both guilt...and pleasure...could have embarrassed myself..."
Russell's secret is the best 🤣
Ive fecking love working from home its amazing, so lucky
Well Russell I don't work from home. But I do comment frequently..love all your shows
With the energy bills rising I can see a lot of people working in the office
Depends on the proportion that fuel rises too (which impacts car drivers And public transport users)
New Zealand misses you!
I can work from home, but it's totally unhealthy. There is no disconnect between home life and work life, it's just one mess. You may intersperse, say doing laundry, between meetings etc and I find I just end up working non-stop without a break.
I am productive at home, but often I find my lack of productivity in the office is due to creativity instead. Working with others to solve problems or talking over complex tasks.
I cycle to the office ~2hr commute a day, but I just treat this as daily exercise.
Horses for courses, but for me office life every time. I miss the people, the banter and the general mingling with other humans, something I don't do on the weekends.