I saw this and thought that with that sort of attitude heās going to lose ground to his competitors - very old school - male, pale and staleā¦
That article, and his interview, also implies its an either / or choice. My employer has already said that they plan a hybrid approach - everyone can work at home some days (if they want to, and the expectation is most will) but they must also come into the office for some days too.
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Unless his competitors do the same - eg JP Morgan
To WFH argument has only really focussed on what the workers want, not what is best for the employer. A lot of the noise is by those who have long commutes and are now enjoying London weighted salaries without the season ticket costs and a few extra hours to themselves a day.
I have some empathy regarding productivity. Lots of anecdotal stuff about people working harder / longer, but are they actually more productive. Somethings that could be dealt with by dropping by someone desk for two minutes, now requires a teams call which take a minimum of 15 minutes once everyone has finished chewing the fat.
Training new staff is a nightmare and borderline impossible for grads
It might be that a hybrid model works in some industries / companies, but over time I think more companies will want the troops back in more regularly.
Time will tell
The mix is going to win.
I think people have forgotten how fucking disruptive offices are. I take more breaks at home and get more done.
Thatās because Iām not listening to some boring cunt disrupt half the office with the car insurance deals heās found.
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Which they probably do - sadly. Doesnāt mean itās right though.
Have to largely disagree.
Iāve posted on here before that my company is not going to return to the pre-Covid must be in the office at all times model.
Productivity is monitored and apart from a few outliers, who were also lazy sods in the office as well, has stayed the same or improved. Video calls are the norm for queries and questions- no need for big team meetings
London weighting - very last century 
we pay people what theyāll accept regardless of where they live
We actively make sure people arenāt working longer hours and stress quality over quantity.
On boarding staff remotely is now common place and nobody seems to bat an eyelid. We took on 17 Grads last summer. Theyāre still with us - go figure 
I donāt know what industry you are in or where your anecdotal evidence comes from, but I genuinely donāt recognise a lot of what you are saying.
Iām not saying that itās all perfect at my company but the last year has radically changed our outlook on the business and its people. We donāt want everyone back in the office full time. Maybe itās because weāre an independently owned Partnership?
My wifeās company, an employer of 2000+ will not be going back to the office full time, max of 1 day per week - productivity is up 29% since WFH.
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I find all this discussion very interesting.
I worked in civil engineering, the last two projects I worked on were both in the vicinity of Twickenham and Hampton (combination of sewage treatment and clean water projects).
Both my last two employers, after years of paying a lot for travelling, eventually came up with a request that I consider using public transport, or perhaps cycling to work (ha ha).
The eventual solution was that I worked from home - started off two days a week, and ended up 3 days a week (when I was only doing 3 days/week.
This was back in 2010 to 2013, when I eventually retired.
Technology had moved on somewhat, and with the laptop I was issued with came a phone line with earbuds, email, instant messaging, and access to all the project files.
There was no place to hide - one of my staff used to send an instant message quite regularly saying āI know youāre there - pick the bloody phone up!ā
The companies saved an absolute fortune on my travelling costs, and I got to have an almost normal home life for the last few months of my working life.
I had spent well over 12 years travelling to inhospitable places in south London, leaving home at 5.00 in the morning, not getting home until after 6.00 in the evening. It would take me about an hour and a quarter to drive to Twickenham/Hampton - the same time friends would take driving from one side of Southampton to the other!
I cannot understand any company not grasping the working at home concept with open arms, and encouraging it; yes, there will be the same irritating cunts and skivers, but they would be there the same in the fully staffed office as others have posted.
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One of my jobs I am having to do from home at the moment and I hate it, doing physio via video call has very limited benefit when 80% of what Iām good at is hands on. If my only option was to continue doing virtual physio Iād change career. Roll on April when the gyms can open again.
Funnily enough I help clients with corporate healthcare arrangements, amongst other stuff.
Apart from mental health, MSK support is probably one of the most utilised online/video services/consultations.
Am always wary of online support for medical issues but it seems that most stuff can be managed remotely- except where hands-on manipulation is needed (Iām not talking happy endings @PhilippineSaint 
)
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Donāt get me wrong, online consultations in the absence of anything else can be great, and I have helped a few people with their injuries, but I canāt do any diagnostic testing, or soft tissue work or joint mobilisations, or ultrasound therapy, or efficiently teach exercises and be 100% sure people are doing them correctly. Just doesnāt suit my skillset and I donāt enjoy it 
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I get you completely - you nailed it with
They are still with you because their options are limited and a bird in the hand etc
Iām n recruitment - essentially it is phone based sales - we have no problem on boarding people with experience. People without experience, we have struggled. There is a micro transactional element to their training that we have lost with WFH and I am not sure what tech is out there that can substitute it
The Goldman Sachs mentoring thing resonates
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More like most of them will become actuaries - which requires ability but little in the way of social interaction/skills.
I recognise I need āem to make the business work butā¦jeez 
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Donāt worry, Iām sure theyāll let you whack off rugby players and finger gymnasts soon enoughā¦
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Can you tell them to stop contacting me when Iāve already told them to go via our website / LinkedIn where all our vacancies are advertised.
If I havenāt blocked their numbers I get well hacked off with them phoning up about the next best thing for jobs I havenāt advertised yet.
Speculative emails are just as bad. How many time do people need to be told that Iāll contact you if I need recruitment help
Iāve also told most recruiters they need to get on our HR āapproved listā to put forward the same candidates as all the other recruiters. Do they listen? No.
I will reach out to recruiter contacts I have built up relationships with to fill specific roles though.
Sorry- but thanks for the chance to unload.
You donāt by any chance know of any admin people with good group risk experience to work in central Bristol do you? DM me 
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And those same idiot recruiters (@CB-Saint not included) are (in over 50% of cases) just an intern with an APP that screens out anyone with any actual creativity who could do a job for youā¦
(Source one of my besties who was my HR VP in Corporate āMuricaā who wen to on to VP for a bunch of massive EU Engineering firms until he managed to retire a week before Covid became a thing.)
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This says all you need to know about government efforts to try and get the old monarchist nay-sayers to just get on and get a jab ffs.
Iām talking about earning money not wasting it on my hobbies.
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