1) We need a back-to-work edit and the fact we haven't had one until now.
2) Sadly, the admission no one knows what the hell is going on, who is where, what percentage of time people aren't there, how many aren't there, when they are or are not there compared with any other piece of the public service, etc.
It's Mickey mouse stuff.
The Australians have crunched the numbers and found the savings for individuals in terms of money not spent commuting is in the tens of billions of dollars per year, for each state.
Of course, they have had return to work notices for a while, although New South Wales only did it for their public workers a few weeks back.
Saving money by not dealing with traffic is probably an upside to working from home, and I have always thought this business of teamwork and camaraderie is a bit overstated and, if not overstated, certainly hard to prove.
You can prove what you save not going to work. It's a bit harder to show what outworkings have been achieved by all hanging around the kitchen together.
The other odd thing has been my naivety. I honestly thought we had it sorted ages back. I assumed we had policy in place.
Obviously Wellington is a mess, but working from home is only part of the equation. The clowns who run the city are more responsible, surely, with their determination to destroy any signs of liveability.
Also, don’t forget that for every coffee that isn't bought in Lambton Quay there is one purchased in Eastbourne.
Anyway, the skiving is over. Another of those lenient, take the mickey out of the Covid years ideas has been brought to an end, or will be shortly.
But you've got to wonder about the Government, don’t you? All the private businesses had this sorted an age ago.
But good, old, dum dee doo Wellington has no policy and no decisions. Everyone was at home for a good, long weekend all pretending it was business as usual.
Well the jig is up. On balance, as hard as a park might be to find or a bus to catch, I think we are better off in general at work than at home pretending it's normal.
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
Of course, they have had return to work notices for a while, although New South Wales only did it for their public workers a few weeks back.
Saving money by not dealing with traffic is probably an upside to working from home, and I have always thought this business of teamwork and camaraderie is a bit overstated and, if not overstated, certainly hard to prove.
You can prove what you save not going to work. It's a bit harder to show what outworkings have been achieved by all hanging around the kitchen together.
The other odd thing has been my naivety. I honestly thought we had it sorted ages back. I assumed we had policy in place.
Obviously Wellington is a mess, but working from home is only part of the equation. The clowns who run the city are more responsible, surely, with their determination to destroy any signs of liveability.
Also, don’t forget that for every coffee that isn't bought in Lambton Quay there is one purchased in Eastbourne.
Anyway, the skiving is over. Another of those lenient, take the mickey out of the Covid years ideas has been brought to an end, or will be shortly.
But you've got to wonder about the Government, don’t you? All the private businesses had this sorted an age ago.
But good, old, dum dee doo Wellington has no policy and no decisions. Everyone was at home for a good, long weekend all pretending it was business as usual.
Well the jig is up. On balance, as hard as a park might be to find or a bus to catch, I think we are better off in general at work than at home pretending it's normal.
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
4 comments:
What a joke. Some years ago it was all about pushing employees such as sales folk, out of the office and into their garage or the home office beside their bed, to reduce desks and floor space and hence corporate rental. The theory was that the team leader/group manager was responsible for arranging events that encouraged camaraderie and that technology was good enough to ensure day to day communication. And allowance of a desk or two for hot decsking if a visit to the office was essential ie unavoidable ( assumed to be rare). Then came along Skype and zoom which made it even easier. But now the desks have turned and wfh is out of fashion. Employees must come into town and go out for coffee and lunch to spend their money as part of corporate responsibility. Oh dear.
I thought we’d had enough after 6 years of pile ons and causing division. Seems that we’re getting back to it with public sector workers who are now being blamed for failing businesses in Wellington CBD.
Rather than no one wants to go to the CBD now that the WCC have made it an overpriced disaster zone.
I think our prime minister forgets that he is not a CEO anymore. Never understood why governments like to behave as a schoolmasters. Every workplace is different and it is the job of the senior executives to decide how their shop is run. And if the public service is run poorly then the executives have some explaining to do. How about this thing called performance monitoring?
I would have preferred Hon Willis to say " half stay at home monday - wednesday without pay and the other half works thursday - saturday on pay but alternates each week . Producivity would be up and costs down. PERFECT
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