Almost none of the long-term changes people said the pandemic would bring have turned out to be true. The gratitude and respect for carers and lower earners didn’t last long once we were allowed to do something more exciting than clapping on our doorsteps. Even online shopping has fallen back to roughly where the pre-pandemic rise would have put it.
No, well, the demented-seal clapping was never going to outstrip the NHS's propensity for stepping on its own dick. And I wouldn't write off online shopping too quickly, it's demise might have been greatly exaggerated.
But one change has stuck: working from home (with the important caveat that it’s rocketed among the top half of earners in particular; those working in a shop or restaurant, not so much). What affect will this have?
Don't know, but I can tell you what effect it might have...
It clearly boosts wellbeing, and is helping more mothers work full time. The research on its productivity impact is far more mixed, and I’d say comes down to a score draw. The big clear win is less time spent commuting, the benefits of which are shared between employees and employers. The losses? Missing out on the less tangible benefits of interacting with colleagues, and humans more generally.
I like both - going into the office and WFH. Luckily, my workplace allows that choice. But these's an added advantage for us all:
But new research brings a different angle to the debate, suggesting that home working doesn’t just cut commuting, it cuts crime. Specifically, burglaries, where the shift to working from home is given the credit for half of the 30% drop since 2019.
Now, I wouldn't discount the rise of affordable security systems - you can't go 10 minutes without seeing one for Verisure or Sky (with the giant) on TV lately - but it's something to think about.
2 comments:
I used to teach engineering in a former Polytechnic - well, it wasn't former when I started - and there are some jobs that you simply have to do WFH. The classic is to mark exam papers. Maybe not in a Russell Group Uni where you have to make an appointment to see even the most junior staff member, and the staff offices are behind a security door, but where there is an 'open door' policy, the scrotes imagine that you can tell them their result a half hour after the exam finished*. It was a job where I was hardly ever in my office, as the real work was done in lecture rooms, laboratories, on field courses ... and of course explaining why you weren't in your office when it suited them.
Another by-product of increasing numbers of people WFH is the realisation that you really do need a dedicated space, so small builders, designers and experts in getting Planning Permission have been really busy.
*No doubt you can in some courses where the solution to a question is whether or not you regurgitate the lecturer's prejudices, or whether - well, you can guess.
"...and there are some jobs that you simply have to do WFH. The classic is to mark exam papers."
Absolutely! No calls, no colleagues coming up 'just for a chat'. Heaven!
"Another by-product of increasing numbers of people WFH is the realisation that you really do need a dedicated space..."
Yes, luckily, as a big PC gamer, I already had a study and desk. Other colleagues soon found it wasn't so easy to juggle work on the kitchen table.
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