Workers that don’t have to go into an office are £480 billion better off.

Stands to reason that businesses everywhere are going to suffer without footfall. Nobody sat at home is spending any money at all, whether it’s on public transport or at a cafe or takeaway.
How are all these lost jobs going to be replaced in the ‘new working normal’? We can’t just magic up new occupations for people.

 

How did she manage before lockdown ?
Not trying to judge but Streatham is a rural area reliant on people commuting to use it’s facilities .
There’s a meeting point with commuting and working from home I agree . Fewer hours in the office and split travelling times are one compromise .
Most businesses in Barnsley on the catering side especially are run by local people . Obviously there’s the franchises bit there’s loads of cafes and restaurants bars etc that’s locally owned .
Things may have to change and for the better as far as the daily commute is concerned whereby everybody’s trying to get somewhere at the same times .
And I’m not saying everyone has to get there at the same time . Maybe take in turns working from home etc there’s loads of compromises without wrecking the local economy which effects local people .

 

Were these struggling businesses charities in better days?

Did they hand out free sandwiches and coffees to people on the bones of their /\rse?

If they didn't, I'm struggling to see why I should bail them out now.

 

That is my exact thoughts on the matter, right down to the last full stop.

The trains, my god the trains! Before lockdown, Will was lucky if 1 train a week actually turned up on time, 75% of trains never turned up at all. If a train did arrive, it was full because more people had had to cram on due to the others being cancelled. He was buying a season ticket each month which became not worth the paper it was written on. He then switched to buses which cost more, take ages longer and are still not reliable. I've met him in town a couple of times and got the train home with him. I actually cannot describe how bad it was. The amount of people crammed on must be illegal, I'm certain of it. I had arms and bags digging into me from all angles, I was squashed so tightly against the seats that I could barely breathe, my feet were stood on and people kept shoving past and would have sent me flying if I wasn't rammed in so tightly. I cannot imagine doing that every day. I understand making sacrifices for other people, I'd like to think that I'm not an inherently selfish person but in this matter than I'm perfectly prepared to be labelled as such. Will was leaving the house around half 7 everyday and getting back in at around half 7, he now logs on the computer at 8:45am and logs off at 5:30pm-6pm. That's done wonders for our life, we have time in an evening to cook new things, go for long walks, watch a film (ok, we hardly ever do this because I had them) or anything else we feel like. He's not knackered from lack of sleep and the general stress of running around to get on to the packed train or find an alternate route home. We suddenly have more money and time, it's so hard to have both of those things. If someone tries to force that away from us then I'm going to fight for it (with words, I'm a pacifist and a coward) and make no apologies for it. I would also fight for those being forced to work at home because I know that can be equally damaging to other's health.

 

Wait until GDPR kicks in. Date security on lap tops on kitchen/ living room tables. I'm lucky, I was able to turn a bedroom into a home office, it hasn't been the same for everyone. I agree with the idea of home working but it isn't quite as simple as flick a switch.

 

Loads of local businesses helped the miners during the miners strike !
I know it’s a long time since but they were local and cared about the community .
Many local businesses have recently helped food banks victims of Tory Austerity etc .
Helping the local community is helping everybody that lives there .
Could you imagine going into town centres and not being able to get something to eat or drink or have to queue for ages because there's so few .
The community is more than someone in Business someone buying a coffee from one business enables that person to buy fruit and vegetables from another business which in turn let’s them employ someone etc etc . That’s how community’s work and I think you’d be surprised once they’ve gone how much you’d miss them even though you think you wouldn’t .

 

Sorry JD we are trying to train one of our younger members of staff and it's anything but easy. He's bright but you can't impart knowledge quickly over the phone or zoom.

 

Could this not be solved by asking the relevant people to go in for a short while for the training? You surely don't need every single member of staff in 5 days a week for the entire year to train this one lad up? If there's a purpose, then of course if makes sense to go in, what I don't agree with is people saying that everyone should be forced to go in full time regardless of whether the employer needs them to or not.

 

Do you work for a fairly large employer? Most of my clients are small and don't have any real knowledge of tech.

 

I haven't set foot in a pub or restaurant since March. I've hardly been in any shops beyond Asda and Aldi. Some of the ones I have been in have been such a unpleasant experience I wont be going back under the current setup. This weekend me and the two guys i sit with at Oakwell are meeting at one of their houses to have a few beers and watch the game.
The tax dodging Amazon are currently getting more and more of my business.
Maybe I'm alone in this take but i assume I'm not so it must be having a economic impact somewhere.

 

Maybe the people doing the training need to go on a training course...

You absolutely can impart knowledge remotely. Just have to be in the right mindset.

 

Unscrupulous bosses would soon find a way to tie people to their work even at home to 12 hours a day or even more .
We’d have a nation tied to their bedrooms or wherever they worked from unable to even go into the community .
I don’t believe for one minute that firms wouldn’t exploit these workers and use the time they were travelling as workers hours etc .

 

fair point JD, it shouldn't be one or the other

 

About 250-300 employees in around 30 countries.

 

Agree.
Public transport has to be a must. to cut down on carbon footprint. (Electric cars will be the norm far sooner than I imagined but it needs to be clean energy.) But subsidised to get people back to using it. Making public transport available and affordable to all

It was taken away when competition was forced upon us. Take a look at London. Public transport is bursting at the seams. Imagine if everyone used cars. Car owners only taking cars out for a spin or to the nearest tube station or bus route to continue their journey. Would be mad to drive into the city. Extortionate parking rates. Congestion charges.

The carbon footprint could be smashed for the better if we had. As in London. subsidised travel. Yes the tax payer has to contribute. But something we did pre thatcher. Under the SYCC . We in South Yorkshire had a system that worked. No one having to walk miles in rural areas to catch the only bus into town and a less frequent service to boot. It’s already been mooted to introduce congestion charges into cities such as Sheffield. Manchester etc. For me the sooner the better. But we have to make as I’ve said. Public transport cheaper than using your own vehicle. Taxis etc.

1986 I passed my test (30 yrs of age) thinking pre thatcher. I wouldn’t need a car. But try getting from Hemingfield to Westside cpp. (Woolley pit) before 6am. I’d quite happily travel on public transport to most destinations locally if possible. But to get to tarn for example. 46-52 minutes. £4 -£4:90 Adult single. ( OAP bus pass not available to me till I’m 66. ) Bus going round places I didn’t know existed.
Used to be 30 minutes in the 60s-70s. Subsidised 10p adults 2p concessions. ( OAP bus pass available at 60 until a few years ago)

10p In the 70s would be the equivalent of £1:50 Today. I Would pay that. £3 return. (£6 for me n the missus) Costs me £2:70 to park for 2-4 hrs + petrol + cost of running a car and depreciation.

I/we go into town 2/3 times a week and try to help the local economy rather than the big indoor complexes. Eg Meadowhall. Only venturing to such outlets if we haven’t got the same stores in town. I hope and pray the Glassworks will be a success. ( looking forward to it being completed.) And we don’t need to venture elsewhere unless for a change of scenery now and again. So to all you folks on here. boost our local economy not other buggers.

 

streatham is not rural it’s near Balham/ Clapham. Before she was surviving but happy working for herself but now she is an managing to make a reasonable profit but of course has lost revenue from lockdown to recoup and if people are forced back in the commuting treadmill she will go back to surviving. Its a difficult balance but having spent 8 years of my life commuting into central London if there’s a way nor to do so but carry on working it’s a no brainier both financially and in terms of work life balance.

 

Maybe you can and that's great. I have clients who have no tech knowledge. I personally would prefer to have the quichk interaction with my colleagues.

 

For me Marlon. ( and I’m playing catch up on this thread.) no competition.( SYCC hands down) See my response to MDG. On this page.