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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2020 17:46:14 GMT
I see that we are being encouraged to get back to working in the office, which involves commuting on public transport for most working in London. I’m really baffled - how come it is apparently safe to spend 10 hours a week on enclosed commuter trains - where you are frequently breathing in each other’s faces - as long as you wear a mask, and yet not safe to sit in a theatre at usual capacity wearing a mask for a couple of hours? How can it be safe to do my regular rush hour commute and yet not safe to sit in a theatre? I am physically much close to people on my commute for a lot longer and a lot more regularly. This is the turning point. Nobody who is being just as productive working from home will go back to commuting. Why would they? Collaboration, social interaction, face to face meetings with clients...there are a myriad of reasons, particularly for those who have spent lockdown alone. |
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Post by oxfordsimon on Aug 28, 2020 19:10:01 GMT
Proms 2020 - First Night has just started
And a felt a little tear in my eye - to see the joy on the face of the conductor as he started the concert.
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Post by theglenbucklaird on Aug 28, 2020 19:53:20 GMT
Proms 2020 - First Night has just started And a felt a little tear in my eye - to see the joy on the face of the conductor as he started the concert. My eroica |
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Post by talkingheads on Aug 28, 2020 22:55:36 GMT
This is the turning point. Nobody who is being just as productive working from home will go back to commuting. Why would they? Collaboration, social interaction, face to face meetings with clients...there are a myriad of reasons, particularly for those who have spent lockdown alone. True. But why waste so much money, either staff on commuting and businesses with office rent if people are just as productive from home? |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2020 12:12:23 GMT
Collaboration, social interaction, face to face meetings with clients...there are a myriad of reasons, particularly for those who have spent lockdown alone. True. But why waste so much money, either staff on commuting and businesses with office rent if people are just as productive from home? Clearly you don't understand, or haven't thought about, the mental health aspects of isolation. I don't think more really needs to be said than that given all it requires is a little bit of empathy and consideration, although to me at least it is rather evident that productivity at home will not remain high for all if some people are struggling mentally. Your mistake seems to be to put everyone in the same box when not everyone will actually be more productive at home or be able to cope. This is not a simple binary distinction. |
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Post by talkingheads on Aug 29, 2020 12:30:42 GMT
True. But why waste so much money, either staff on commuting and businesses with office rent if people are just as productive from home? Clearly you don't understand, or haven't thought about, the mental health aspects of isolation. I don't think more really needs to be said than that given all it requires is a little bit of empathy and consideration, although to me at least it is rather evident that productivity at home will not remain high for all if some people are struggling mentally. Your mistake seems to be to put everyone in the same box when not everyone will actually be more productive at home or be able to cope. This is not a simple binary distinction. Oh I agree. What I don't agree with is the Government's insistence on everybody getting back to offices when there is no need. There should be a choice to either work in office or work from home. |
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Post by zahidf on Aug 29, 2020 15:28:28 GMT
Clearly you don't understand, or haven't thought about, the mental health aspects of isolation. I don't think more really needs to be said than that given all it requires is a little bit of empathy and consideration, although to me at least it is rather evident that productivity at home will not remain high for all if some people are struggling mentally. Your mistake seems to be to put everyone in the same box when not everyone will actually be more productive at home or be able to cope. This is not a simple binary distinction. Oh I agree. What I don't agree with is the Government's insistence on everybody getting back to offices when there is no need. There should be a choice to either work in office or work from home. They can insist all they want. Companies and employees who want to WFH will tell them to piss off No ones going to spend hundreds of pounds, spend an extra 2 hours travelling and risk getting ill to save a Pret |
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Post by Phantom of London on Aug 29, 2020 21:59:21 GMT
Unless you job is especially niche, then if you work from home full time 5 days a week, then why can your job not be done in South Africa or India etc?
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Post by zahidf on Aug 29, 2020 23:00:47 GMT
Unless you job is especially niche, then if you work from home full time 5 days a week, then why can your job not be done in South Africa or India etc? Time zones. The middle management jobs also need a form of training and UK based component for the most part. |
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Post by Phantom of London on Aug 30, 2020 0:54:59 GMT
Not really
If you ring a help desk for Amazon, you are taken through to Philippines.
The organisation I work for, if we had I.T. issues, we used to speak to a desk in either The Canary Islands or Poland, but today it is done by a help desk in Cape Town, South Africa.
Many jobs that are done from home, can be done elsewhere but home.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2020 4:42:09 GMT
Unless you job is especially niche, then if you work from home full time 5 days a week, then why can your job not be done in South Africa or India etc? It can be, However, smart managers know that there's nothing to be saved by doing that. You can get cheaper people by outsourcing to lower-paid countries, but you also have to take into account that the best people in those countries will be able to get the best jobs and will be able to move to the companies that pay higher wages. If you employ only lower-paid workers you're picking from a pool of people who aren't good enough to command better pay. About 20 years ago the last company I worked for had a huge project to complete and needed to expand for a while. There was no room in the office to put temporary staff so they used remote working, and because they were using remote working they could get staff from anywhere in the world and eventually engaged a Latvian company to handle it. They found they could get different levels of workers. They could get people for half the UK salary but they were only suited for repetitive, simple work and if they hit a problem they would just stop. To get people who would take ownership of their projects, solve problems, manage themselves and see the work through to completion they had to pay UK wages, and that's what they did. Unfortunately there are some managers who have a higher opinion of their own intelligence than is justified and a distinctly racist attitude that third-world workers aren't smart enough to realise how much they're worth. They think they're being really clever, but the Internet is full of stories of companies failing because they don't realise the low quality of the get-what-you-pay-for work until an immense amount of damage has been done. The good employees have their pick of all the companies in the world that employ remote workers and they're playing the market too, and it takes some managers a while to understand that they can't outsmart the poor ignorant third-worlders into turning in great work for almost nothing. |
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Post by jaqs on Aug 30, 2020 8:32:45 GMT
Unless you job is especially niche, then if you work from home full time 5 days a week, then why can your job not be done in South Africa or India etc? Several people from the estate where I live in east London have moved to cheaper parts of the country. As one guy said he’s saving a grand a month on rent and getting a three bed house with garden rather than one bed flat. If I had the guarantee of another 6months to a year at home I’d consider it too. |
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Post by kathryn on Aug 31, 2020 10:53:25 GMT
Unless you job is especially niche, then if you work from home full time 5 days a week, then why can your job not be done in South Africa or India etc? We have a whole office in India that works on exactly this principle - but we’ve had them for 10 years. We still need some people in the U.K. and US to work for some clients, though now there are far fewer of us. |
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Post by zahidf on Sept 1, 2020 10:21:35 GMT
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Post by Someone in a tree on Sept 1, 2020 10:37:07 GMT
Thanks for sharing. Bubble sounds great |
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Post by TallPaul on Sept 1, 2020 11:11:13 GMT
Paging Forrest. Mark Gatiss alert! 😉 |
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Post by Forrest on Sept 1, 2020 12:51:49 GMT
Paging Forrest . Mark Gatiss alert! 😉 You're the best! :) EDIT (once I got the reference): Happy Halloween to me! |
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Post by TallPaul on Sept 1, 2020 13:41:45 GMT
Paging Forrest . Mark Gatiss alert! 😉 You're the best!  EDIT (once I got the reference): Happy Halloween to me! 'Tis true. Most people come to that conclusion sooner or later. 🙂 Sorry if I was a bit cryptic, not helped by unwittingly starting a new page. What could be better than a night in with Mark Gatiss and a bowl of treats? A night in with Mark Gatiss, Juliet Stevenson and a bowl of treats! |
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Sept 1, 2020 14:19:34 GMT
What’s up with the Royal Court? They’re currently casting for a play about a “transexual”, and are causing some social media controversy because the casting call was poorly worded.
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Post by zahidf on Sept 1, 2020 18:50:00 GMT
London podcast festival
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Post by Phantom of London on Sept 1, 2020 23:40:28 GMT
Unless you job is especially niche, then if you work from home full time 5 days a week, then why can your job not be done in South Africa or India etc? It can be, However, smart managers know that there's nothing to be saved by doing that. You can get cheaper people by outsourcing to lower-paid countries, but you also have to take into account that the best people in those countries will be able to get the best jobs and will be able to move to the companies that pay higher wages. If you employ only lower-paid workers you're picking from a pool of people who aren't good enough to command better pay. About 20 years ago the last company I worked for had a huge project to complete and needed to expand for a while. There was no room in the office to put temporary staff so they used remote working, and because they were using remote working they could get staff from anywhere in the world and eventually engaged a Latvian company to handle it. They found they could get different levels of workers. They could get people for half the UK salary but they were only suited for repetitive, simple work and if they hit a problem they would just stop. To get people who would take ownership of their projects, solve problems, manage themselves and see the work through to completion they had to pay UK wages, and that's what they did. Unfortunately there are some managers who have a higher opinion of their own intelligence than is justified and a distinctly racist attitude that third-world workers aren't smart enough to realise how much they're worth. They think they're being really clever, but the Internet is full of stories of companies failing because they don't realise the low quality of the get-what-you-pay-for work until an immense amount of damage has been done. The good employees have their pick of all the companies in the world that employ remote workers and they're playing the market too, and it takes some managers a while to understand that they can't outsmart the poor ignorant third-worlders into turning in great work for almost nothing. To use the term ‘third world’ is a middle class racist term in itself. Believe me it is possible to do British Law degree or accountancy degree And maybe a computer programming degree can be done in Mumbai or Durban, you would get get plenty of brilliant employees where £10k a year is plenty. Our I.T. Helpdesk in Cape Town are brilliant. if you have a job that can be done solely at home, most jobs can be outsourced to somewhere cheaper, it is called off-shoring, it can be equally done with products or people. |
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Sept 1, 2020 23:52:50 GMT
What’s up with the Royal Court? They’re currently casting for a play about a “transexual”, and are causing some social media controversy because the casting call was poorly worded. Nvm, found out it’s a non-public reading. Still good to know they’re progressing with new play development even if this play in particular doesn’t sound amazing. |
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Post by mistressjojo on Sept 2, 2020 7:46:14 GMT
Sydney Theatre Company are restarting their season at the end of the month.
They have reduced seating in their main theatre from 880 to 147 per performance,spread in singles & pairs across the stalls and circle. No bars open, no cloakroom, no physical ticketing,temperature checks on entry & masks compulsory.Also no waiting in foyers allowed, so basically it will be just in & out.
Will be interesting to see how it goes.
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Post by TallPaul on Sept 2, 2020 9:43:16 GMT
Busy day yesterday for announcements.
Apart from Nottingham Playhouse, the SJT in Scarborough, Hull Truck and Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch also revealed their plans for the coming months, with all three staging a Christmas production of some kind.
In the case of the SJT, they've found a way to reduce the capacity of The Round from about 400 to a maximum of 185, while still maintaining social distancing.
We are getting there!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2020 13:23:12 GMT
ENO have announced A Christmas Carol will be postponed but implication is they are looking at other smaller scale productions that they can stage under social distancing
With this and other announcements this week, companies like the RSC (well, the RSC basically as I can't think of any others in the subsidised sector) who say they can do nothing are starting to look like real outliers.
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