Reading the COVID-19 thread, it prompts me to ask what the plans are for you (and yours) going forward.
What does return-to-work look like?
Are you even returning to work?
Made any "when we come out the other side” decisions?
I’d like to continue to work from home as much as possible as I don’t want to go back to spending 2h every day on trains. Remains to be seen though
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For me, little will change. When I get absolutely bored stupid, I’ll go back to looking for work. I’m very fortunate that I have my final salary pension to keep me going between my periods of work downtime. The Wife, since Covid, she’s now permanently contracted to work from home and she’s extremely happy with the arrangement.
As for what happens over the next few months, well for us, the Covid restrictions have just become the new normal. We’re in no rush to start the big social mix that most other people seem to be craving for. We’re extremely fortunate that our mental health has remained unaffected by the pandemic.
All that aside, if we do get chance to fly away later in the year because it’s safe to do so, we’ll be off, but we’re not going to jam ourselves into a plane just yet.
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Yes. A lot will stem from how honest employers will be in recognising that much more can be done at home than was ever thought possible.
There’ll be those, unfortunately, who’ll just assume their people are abusing the freedom to not be at the office, and will want to drag them back in.
Any sensible employer will already be looking at what recovery & restoration means for the workforce. Truth is staring us in the face - so much has changed from here on in….
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Yep - all that.
But not that - us and planes ain’t happening.
Me and 'er have had that chat about flying. We feel at this juncture, and this is our opinion, that sitting in an aircraft with upwards of 200 plus people, is not safe. Maybe in another 4 or 5 months time, things may have significantly improved that will make us decide that it is safe in our opinion, to fly across the Pond. As it stands, we’re happy to carry on as we are.
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For me, work hasn’t changed throughout.
I can’t work from home (bus driver) so apart from less customers thigs have been pretty much the same.
Thankfully, things are slowly picking up so maybe a sense of normality will eventually return.
@Topsy2 The phrase “the new normal” is one thing I would love to see the back of.
I know I may be in a bit of a minority, but i really want things back to how they were.
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Launch my own business, just not really sure how to traverse the scam that is VAT registration. If we removed that, businesses would be a lot more viable, especially for young people trying [for the first time] to avoid a run-in with HMRC’s long phallic shaped stick to beat you with
Planning to be able to work from home/abroad and start offering services in SEA’s poorer regions (which are growing rapidly, bringing a middle class population to the forefront) where it should be a lot easier to compete than the UK against already established incumbents who I’d never be able to compete with.
P.S. if anyone wants to hire me as a web/software developer or a cybersec engi (which is what my degree is in) I’m looking for work that’s at least part-time and decent money, although as this would be good experience I’d be willing to work for less than market value if I received mentorship
Day-to-day I run my own business (well, 3). The first lockdown did lead to all of us working from home, which I’ll be honest, I wasn’t a fan of. I like the office atmosphere, bouncing ideas off each other and the whole social aspect of it too.
I went back to the office after the first lockdown for my own sanity and the ease of working from there but everyone else worked from home, so I was alone.
We’re not a big team, but everyone wanted to come back to the office at least part time. I guess I’d put it down to better connectivity (it isn’t great anywhere around here, but we do have FTTP at the office), better equipment, a good team to socialise with (even in work) and for one particular person - an escape from the kids 
That doesn’t mean we’ve gone back to the way we were however. While I have, everyone else is split home and office working.
I should add that in general, my work/life balance is dreadful 
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Told my boss not to expect me back, other then maybe once or twice a month for a day. So much better not having to go in.
I would like to continue to work from home as much as possible and only go to office when I have too. I don’t miss the train and bus commute every day.
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I took early retirement just before covid hit 
Lots of plans, all deferred till 2022.
I’m not rushing on to a plane any time soon.
Just how to fill the void while the world wakes up again.
I’ll probably keep working from home for as long as possible, I get much more done without constant interruptions.
Seems to me, from conversations at work, that those who most want to go back are the ones who do the interrupting 
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I am going to go out on limb and suggest this is quite an immature attitude to have in you’re intending to start a business. But also unless your planning on turning over £85k in your 1st year then you don’t really have anything to worry about.
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I am planning on working from home as long as I am allowed to and perhaps go in once a week to catch up with work colleagues. I do really miss the face to face sometimes
I mentioned once a week to my boss, he seemed okay with that. He has similar ideas about going back but all it takes is someone important to decide that productivity is better in the office, then all go back.
I do wonder how quickly the novelty of seeing everyone will be lost to the inane office chat, disruptions and long commutes.
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Just to add to my point behind the article, since my Wife was permanently contracted to work from home, she’s saving around £150 a month in petrol. The £1800 a year saving is very real as is the HMRC tax allowance on working from home.
disclaimer: I haven’t read the article yet
I wonder how much people are saving on travel vs how much they are spending extra on bills, food and t-bags 
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I’m sure I’m up over-all, electric has gone up and heating in the winter.
But saved maybe 8ish tanks of fuel. That’s £500. Saved an horrendous amount having lunches at home instead of walking into town for something.
But I wish it was as high as those numbers. And now idea where that money has gone instead. Probably on takeaways in the evenings instead!
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Our food shopping bill has not changed, we’re quite disciplined, so you won’t find 500 empty packets of Monster Munch around my Wife’s work desk 
Electric, marginal increase, but pretty much covered by the tax relief from HMRC on the Wife’s personal tax allowance.