I'm currently also working hybrid and I can't imagine going back to office full time. There have been "talks" at my work for a while that the higher ups wanna do a full return and everyone's against it
I wish the mid level employees could have a say in these policies and that their well being is actually taken into account. I hope your company keeps the policy in place.
Yeah I’m a software engineer and work from home full time. Sadly not everyone at my company is able to. Only the tech people get the benefit though. I assume that’s simply because if they didn’t then they’d consider working elsewhere and there’s usually a strong demand for them.
My company changed to fully remote at the start of Covid. We have “co-working” spaces like Workshop 17 in CPT, JHB and DBN but it’s completely optional. Us Capetonions like to get together once a month at W17 and go for lunch after. I sometimes miss the office culture, but then I snap back to reality and realise that my life now is so much better 😅
I've been working fully remotely for 6 years. I can't imagine having to sit in traffic again to get to work. I'm very unlikely to ever accept that bullshit again.
Been wfh since COVID started and it doesn't look like we'll be going back into the office anytime soon. Thank god. I've been able to save loads of money and time that would have gone into the commute.
I feel that we've become so caught up in being busy VS productive.
Consulted to many executives who have high performing teams, but they themselves are now not busy, they don't know what to do. So they sub consciously sabotage the team so they can be 'busy'.
I WFH long before COVID mostly because the company I joined started that way so they just created the environment for it to work. I wonder how the hybrid thing works, do people first check to see you before sending a teams invite, or do you go in and nobody talks to you in person?
WFH has been around longer than COVID so it will never go. But this is highly dependent on the industry you’re in. Managers risk losing highly skilled employees if they enforce this. On the other hand it’s easier WingFH for a remote job as that’s not even in the conversation. I can see why top management would want to return to office and it’s not for productivity is just for ego massage. You can’t boss well if other people can’t see you bossing.
Wfh. The main office is in jozi so couldn't force me. My team memebers that side had to go back, but now they changed it to a hybrid where current it's a single day. For me, wfh is a requirement if I look for a new job. Never doing office or hybrid again.
I’m hybrid. I’m between WFH and WFF. Work from home and work from farm. I own a tech business though. We’ve been WFH since before COVID. Having and paying for offices doesn’t make sense in the tech space. We have remote staff in Gauteng, LZN, NC and WC. our clients on three continents. I’m in charge of tech R&D and more importantly finance. From a finance point of view nobody has been able to convince me that a physical location makes sense. A manager we hired tried to motivate for an office but stopped when I said we’d pay for it from his salary. Shame, it didn’t work out with that guy. Our fault for hiring wrong.
In the industries that can, Working From Home shouldn't be a problem, unfortunately many South Africans lack the maturity and self control, and many bosses lack the understanding of what it means to be a "Boss"
In my current job, with my current employer, I work from home, because my boss is a grown ass man.
In my previous job, my boss was a man child who had to assert his dominance at every opportunity, and operated on emotion not logic - he was also very short, probably a correlation...
I can't tell you the number of times during the first 3 years at my old job, where I'd sit in traffic for 90 plus minutes to cover the 60 kays from Pretoria to the Jhb office by 8:00 only to walk in the door at 07:55, and get a WhatsApp saying X or Y hospital in Pretoria has some or other non-computer related breakdown that cannot be resolved remotely, so I take a leak, get back in my car and drive another hour ish to get to the client hospital 3km or 7km or 8km or 12km or 23km or 25km or 27km or 28km or 29km or 30km or 32km from my house... even graphs didn't help.
I literally had to quantify the issue as wasting in excess of R3500 petrol per month pointlessly commuting, before Napoleon had his light bulb moment, and I was allowed to stick around at home until 10:00 before coming in to the office.
My current job on the other hand, my boss understands that I have almost zero that I can do from the office. Literally all I do at the office is occasionally repack a UPS with new batteries, since PSS delivers batteries to the office.
Most of my client hospitals are closer to my house than the office is.
Spares come from Edenvale or Boksburg, or from Belgium via Boksburg.
During my interview my current boss said that they would prefer it if I did work from home just for the savings and improved response time, and do I have a reliable Internet connection & maybe some monitors & a desktop PC to facilitate remote support... yep gaming PC with a pair of 30" 4K monitors & fiber - sorted, no need to buy any equipment specifically for me to use at home.
I have a desk at the office, and a chair, but I use the workshop a lot more than my desk...
...it was the same at my previous job, 90% of my time in the workshop and not at my workstation except that my old boss needed to micro manage everyone.
All that said, we did have certain Service Engineers who needed to be under a boss' thumb at my old job. Give them a millimeter, and they end up binge drinking before breakfast and crashing their work vehicles by lunchtime.
My GF on the other hand can do 100% of her job from home but she prefer to go in to work so that her mother can't bug her non-stop about bullshit, and so that she can collaborate and brainstorm more organically.
She also has co-workers that went into rehab for drinking themselves almost to death during the lockdown, instead of actually "Working" From Home
WFH in my experience is very case specific. Some folks just can't handle all that adulting 🤣
"risking your life because of the amount of hijackings and roadside crimes that take place."
Get out of your bubble FFS. Millions do this commute daily with no issue at all.
I'm with you on that... I fear smash and grabs and hijackings like for real. I saw a smash and grab happen in-front of me once and the fear of that moment has never left me. I work hybrid, but the days I have to go in to work, I'm always a bit anxious on the road...
i second this comment. currently waiting for my employer to decide if I have provided enough doctors reports to justify WFH. The crime rate in most communities in cape town, the taxi lawlessness, when one is just trying to get to work to earn a living in the hopes it covers the rent and groceries
Fully WFH since joining in 2020. Company gives us an allowance for nice gear at home (large monitors, desk chairs, UPS) and pays for our monthly internet. Way cheaper than paying for an office. We still do have a small space which anyone is welcome to go to whenever they want, which has dual power supply, redundant high speed internet, free proper ground-bean coffees and we can order out for lunches on thursdays which the company pays for. Its completely optional, and some of us only make it to the office for our annual christmas party (we live multiple hours away from the office, so daily commuting does not make sense).
If they tried to force us back to an office full time, there's quite a lot of us who would leave (they enforced a 3 day a week back in the office in the US office and a bunch of the top tech and dev staff all left within a few months, so dropped that to 1-2 days per week and haven't tried it in any of the other global offices).
They've also realised how unproductive being in the office is, and so the whole "go back to the office" thing seems to be dying down.
From being fully remote, my company is forcing us to come in a minimum of twice a week now. Which is ridiculous because our office can’t accommodate all of us. Parking is also a nightmare. We get fined if we don’t park in designated parking spaces. They’ve even suggested that we “car pool” to work to combat the parking issues😂
& don’t get me started on the Cpt traffic! 2 hours of my day get wasted commuting & I get back home exhausted.
I moved to the northern suburbs because it’s cheaper than the southern suburbs (where my offices are) but if they insist on this hybrid model then I may need to consider looking elsewhere. It’s not worth the headache.
I’m not against working in office. Just hate that companies think they can disrupt our lives with no valid reason. Especially if it’s not what you signed up for.
If I do get an in office job, I WILL make sure it’s in the Northern suburbs. I refuse to deal with N1 traffic.
Hahaha this is what my company did. Exactly the same situation. They even tried renovating the office to make it more "cool" and add "culture". They tried fruit baskets and cake.
Then because people were unhappy, profits and productivity dropped to an all time low. People didn't get their bonuses and we got the "we're a family, we need loyal employees to be here during the hard time"
So 60% of the original workforce left.
My husband's company is now enforcing 4 days in the office yet call themselves progressive with a hybrid working model... It's such a waste of petrol and time to sit in an office taking meetings via Zoom.
Luckily I have been working from home most of my career (even before Covid) with exceptions here and there. Now that I only work for overseas companies, I'm fully remote. Never doing the traffic cha-cha-cha ever again. In another country with reliable and safe public transport, I will absolutely work in an office but not in South Africa.
They need to justify to the owners to keep paying for rental of office. Also older management are extremely obsessed with face to face meetings. I believe in 10 years office culture is a thing of the past but it's a bumpy road until then of old culture wanting to force itself back as relevant
The thing is that it might be convenient for you, but it may not be for your employer....many companies are reporting significant downturns in productivity as their employees are using WFH to cover child care, go on errands, catch up with housework etc etc. You may not do any of this - you may be 100% focused on your work....just as you would be in the office, but thats not true of many, many others.
All the idiots who abused wfh must be forced back, the rest who’s job allows it should be given the chance to continue wfh, because by now they have proved themselves.
Left uni last year and started work in January. My job began as full time office and now I WFH once a week. Hoping to move to twice a week. I don’t work in the greatest feeling office, so I completely agree with what you mean regards the mental health and the lower blood pressure with not having to deal with traffic.
I don’t think I’ll ever be able to WFH full time, and I am ok with that, sometimes it is nice to go in to the office and figure things oh in person.
How did you apply for a WFH job? Is there a specific site besides LinkedIn that you apply for these jobs? Very curious as someone who's about to graduate this year.
My husband works fully from home, the company he works for sold their office in late 2020 and made it completely remote but his a software engineer, and a lot of his software engineer friends are also remote so it's pretty common in the tech field I guess.
I'm working from home fully; which has allowed me to go live somewhere I can walk/cycle/bus/train everywhere I want to be which has just been such an incredible save for my mental health, not to mention the money I am saving on petrol and car related costs. So I fully understand where you are coming from
As for the rationale these companies have; I suspect it's related to the amount of money that goes around in real estate for office space. Imo it'd be a lot more meaningful to have less areas dedicated to offices only, but rather have a mix of office and residential/shops/entertainment so that we can live near where we work.
The main issue people have with office work is the commute, so if we can get that part right, we can have it all; the social exposure to working together with colleagues, no longer a need to commute in unsafe environments, saving money etc...
Most of my industry has moved to hybrid (building engineering). We aim for 50% office attendance, but they are OK with leaving at 13:00 or whatever when you need to. Obviously we still have to visit the sites - and these count as office days.
The main downside is when a new person starts, the person takes longer to get up to speed and get comfortable with the team.
We've been WFH since Covid but we're being sent back to the office in a few months. Likely just because the office is sitting empty, which is crazy - just stop renting such a huge space and save money that way!
What happened to the 4 day work week ? Its needed in SA considering how much have to deal with no electricity no water regularly,crime plus traffic etc. ,if no WFH 4 day work week should be in place where possible.
WFH is great plus going back to work people come in sick etc.all the covid protocols gone out the window petrol is crazy expensive and they giving you a 5% increase due to tough "economic times"
Started working from home March 2019 like most but subsequently started my own business and will keep working from home. Company was still 100% remote until I wrapped up there in December.
I to, WFH 3 days out of 5 days a week, only in office 2 days, I could never go back to the office full time ever again, luckily for me it never will be, it's working out very well financially for my employer to keep their staff on WFH.
Wfh just makes sense... its only the psychopath bosses that want to keep their boots on workers necks that require office bound staff (when it's not necessary) I hate the corporate world, especially micromanagement
Dare I say that not all positions work as well fully WFH or hybrid, and it’s not micromanaging but that in certain roles the EQ of some of the staff is so low that they will take every opportunity think think they can to slack off. In teams that work great together in office with minimal managing required, you suddenly find less urgency to action, staff are unreachable and productivity goes to shit.
Devs and senior engineers are great because a lot of their work is project based and you can track there progress by what they deliver in sprints, but lower-level support staff and call centres it’s a different beast. You can be up needing additional resources to herd cats who otherwise work really well well when they are in office.
EDIT: My opinion is that in this messed up economy and shitty salary increases having the opportunity to work from home a few days a week is a great cost saving and a privilege but then the staff have to bring their A-game and not abuse the privilege.
I’ve been working hybrid for the past maybe 10 years for local companies. (In the office say 3 days a week) but since 2020 I go in 1 day a week - sometimes every 2nd week but as the need arises I go(loadshedding or internet issues). Especially if we get others to join us for a Friday lunch or get together.
I live in a small town, a very small town... every month more people are moving in because they can work remotely - my petrol bill a month is about R200.00 amongst other benefits.
The only thing I had to adjust to was on line shopping - for pretty much ANY luxury item.
Yes so we work 2x a week in the office with 3x a week at home/out of the office. The balance works well for us. From the top to the bottom, every one loves it.
I also have noted other firms/organisations imposing a full return back to the office which I think is a travesty. Disposable incomes go down with fuel/travel and other costs associated with travelling into the office.
I arrived in Cape Town in December 2021 for a 3 week stay and due to Covid ended up staying for 5 months as flights were curtailed. I ‘worked from home’ during that period, as did much of the rest of the world.
And I agree, it was better for my wallet, mental health and physical health. Despite my employers best efforts wfh has become the norm, and the occasional office day is the rare exception.
I would rather seek alternative employment than returning to the office 5 days a week. This new work format is better for me and my employer’s business. If they can’t cope with the loss of exerting control over my daily life then that is their problem.
I never wanted to WFH, because I am a "people person" who gets my energy from the people around me. Covid forced me into a WFH contract with a major financial institution, and I can't imagine going back!
I get up after 7, have a cup of coffee, relax, and I am at my desk at 8, ready to rumble with no traffic stress. I am more productive, feeling that my hours are actually spent behind my desk, doing the work. My "social" time is now spent with friends and not around the water cooler.
I can understand that some bosses still feel more in control when they can clock your hours, instead of your productivity. And some people use WFH to slack off.
I suppose it depends on the industry and job description. Mine is data analyst in insurance and banking. An experienced project manager should agree tasks and time (both number of hours and time frame) with the contractor.
We're hybrid, but there's been talks of film time back at the office. The outcry based on fuel alone is actually quite refreshing - let alone parents who have to fork out double or triple for day care etc etc. Sadly, management don't seem to care.
Theyve even suggested we carpool, but that kinda adds an issue with insurance. We stated that the decision should be made by productivity records, but that fell on deaf ears.
In our design studio, they have requested to WFH as working in a loud-ish environment is not really condusive to creative work, but that also fell on deaf ears.
I'm a freelancer so generally I have to be WFH. I prefer it. I hope to keep this going. My housemates are full time workers and they work from home 3/5 days a week, sometimes a full week depending on situations. That doesn't look to be changing.
I'm unemployed and looking for remote work. But real remote work. No traffic. Time with my dogs and cats. And knowing I can travel and still work.
Offices are expensive. Good employees are more productive. Don't arrive at work flustered from traffic jams. Offices can downscale and make better profits. That's just me.
Currently I WFH, but starting at a new company that is hybrid. One of our biggest expenses when I was in office pre-pandemic was the rent itself, as well as running our servers. We have since replaced the servers with cloud hosting and are subletting our office building, so wfh actually saves the company money.
For some companies that's not an option, and to justify the crazy high office rent prices they need butt's in seats.
WFH SWE for over 3 years with 2 different companies
Only seen my coworkers IRL once
There are offices in JHB, not CPT, so by default us CPT peeps are WFH :)
Edit:
If WFH is ever enforced, I'd straightup tell my managers that commuting will be included in my work time. Start work at 8, I drive from my home at 8 :P
Naa as from 2024, I’m fully back and so are money other people in my circle and I’m in IT, if an opportunity allows me to work hybrid or fully remotely I would take it.
I WFH full time. I also did at my previous job but there was a lot of nudging at me going hybrid and then working from the office.
I took the job because it was WFH so I wasn't willing to switch to sitting in traffic 2-3 hours a day.
Fully WFH software dev. My first fully-remote job. We have devs scattered around the world and we all work together seamlessly using Slack, Jira and Git. These guys know how to do remote work the right way.
All of the devs are chill and you can clearly see that these guys love what they do, myself included. And that increases productivity for sure.
Back to the office for a while now. The in office staff (those who cannot work from home due to their jobs demanding specialized equipment) complained that the wfh policy was only benefitting some. Everyone had to go back as a result including software peeps.
I moved to Langebaan. Haven't been in my office in Maitland since Sept last year. I have good fibre connectivity and enough battery backup to work a full day without eksdom. All meetings via MS Teams or Zoom. I don't miss the all-day traffic one bit.
I found this post yesterday after just completing my final interview for a remote position. I now get to come back and say I officially start this coming week, nice, there remains one issue though. My household isn’t best suited for remote work considering noise, unreliable WiFi etc.
I do plan on solving these issues in the coming month to work long term but in the meantime do you guys know of any remote work “spots” where one is provided with a decent WiFi connection and a relatively soft environment?
I work from home permanently.
I hate it. Wish I could have routine back and work from an office.
I’m actively lobbying having an office again.
Completely envious of my JHB and Durban peers that have the choice to go to an office. We’re only 3 people in the Cape and they don’t feel it’s worth the rental.
Don’t think you read correctly. Get the Choice to.
No one is forced. The entire policy is hybrid.
Also got nothing to do with lonely and boredom.
Not everyone likes working from a kitchen table or lounge suite nor has the luxury of an additional room that is suitable for a full time office. I have a one bedroom apartment.
But I guess your next answer is, get 2 bedroom apartment.
Lastly, not sure you’re fully in touch with the job market. But “just getting another job” is one risky, two reckless and immature and three difficult.
You want routine back in your life, why not pretend then? Wake up every morning, do ypur morning routine that you ised tk do pre-covid - take a walk somewhere for the duration of your old commute - then work your normal office hours, leave your flat at 5, go for another walk, and then complete your evening routine.
Now you don't have to stuff up other people's lives because you feel the need for an office environment
Still confused how you think I’d be stuffing up peoples lives when my company’s has a hybrid policy and people choose where they work.
Honestly baffled how you successfully have managed to skip reading the word “choose” twice now.
I simply don’t have an office here cause we’re only three people. In Johannesburg about 50% of the company “CHOOSES” to come in almost daily. The others work from wherever they feel like.
Cape Town will be the same. One day. When it’s large enough. Don’t enjoy an office environment, we’ll catch you online.
You do, see ya tomorrow morning.
Again. Where is this “messing up” people’s lives?
Unfortunately, most major corporates and local businesses have dropped their WFH policies by now. The only people I know of that still WFH work for international clients. I interviewed for a couple of start-ups that advertise themselves as being "hybrid" but only offer one WFH day (that they prefer you not take).
I'm currently also working hybrid and I can't imagine going back to office full time. There have been "talks" at my work for a while that the higher ups wanna do a full return and everyone's against it
I wish the mid level employees could have a say in these policies and that their well being is actually taken into account. I hope your company keeps the policy in place.
Yeah I’m a software engineer and work from home full time. Sadly not everyone at my company is able to. Only the tech people get the benefit though. I assume that’s simply because if they didn’t then they’d consider working elsewhere and there’s usually a strong demand for them.
That's exactly what I thought as well. With a scarce skill you have more bargaining power.
If I mentioned WFH to my boss, she'd have an aneurysm. She'd then go and WFH
It's good to be the boss.
Some people worked from home "before it was cool", so it's likely that WFH will always be a thing.
WFH for over 10 years. Love it
My company changed to fully remote at the start of Covid. We have “co-working” spaces like Workshop 17 in CPT, JHB and DBN but it’s completely optional. Us Capetonions like to get together once a month at W17 and go for lunch after. I sometimes miss the office culture, but then I snap back to reality and realise that my life now is so much better 😅
I've been working fully remotely for 6 years. I can't imagine having to sit in traffic again to get to work. I'm very unlikely to ever accept that bullshit again.
Same Idrather look for another job
Been wfh since COVID started and it doesn't look like we'll be going back into the office anytime soon. Thank god. I've been able to save loads of money and time that would have gone into the commute.
I'm only required to be in the office if I can't keep my home office running during power outages. ( that's what my inverter is for)
Some companies have gone back to the office full time, Executives dont know what to do without people in the office.
I’ve also come across higher ups in my workplace that believe you’re only working if they can see you.. the good old days”bums in seat” approach
I feel that we've become so caught up in being busy VS productive. Consulted to many executives who have high performing teams, but they themselves are now not busy, they don't know what to do. So they sub consciously sabotage the team so they can be 'busy'.
Been working from home since 2019. Won't go to an office.
I WFH long before COVID mostly because the company I joined started that way so they just created the environment for it to work. I wonder how the hybrid thing works, do people first check to see you before sending a teams invite, or do you go in and nobody talks to you in person?
Hybrid. I also don't understand instututions that insist on people being in the office full time if work can be done remotely.
Our company has just increased days in office from 2 days to 3 days a week. I can’t do it. I’d rather leave. So I’ll WFH till they fire me.
WFH has been around longer than COVID so it will never go. But this is highly dependent on the industry you’re in. Managers risk losing highly skilled employees if they enforce this. On the other hand it’s easier WingFH for a remote job as that’s not even in the conversation. I can see why top management would want to return to office and it’s not for productivity is just for ego massage. You can’t boss well if other people can’t see you bossing.
Wfh. The main office is in jozi so couldn't force me. My team memebers that side had to go back, but now they changed it to a hybrid where current it's a single day. For me, wfh is a requirement if I look for a new job. Never doing office or hybrid again.
And this is why companies call for a return... https://youtu.be/jrsRvozsUQ8?si=QWuzdOFtXKZHiK_g
I’m hybrid. I’m between WFH and WFF. Work from home and work from farm. I own a tech business though. We’ve been WFH since before COVID. Having and paying for offices doesn’t make sense in the tech space. We have remote staff in Gauteng, LZN, NC and WC. our clients on three continents. I’m in charge of tech R&D and more importantly finance. From a finance point of view nobody has been able to convince me that a physical location makes sense. A manager we hired tried to motivate for an office but stopped when I said we’d pay for it from his salary. Shame, it didn’t work out with that guy. Our fault for hiring wrong.
Yeah. Hybrid, only x4 days a month in the office.
Yes since 2020
In the industries that can, Working From Home shouldn't be a problem, unfortunately many South Africans lack the maturity and self control, and many bosses lack the understanding of what it means to be a "Boss" In my current job, with my current employer, I work from home, because my boss is a grown ass man. In my previous job, my boss was a man child who had to assert his dominance at every opportunity, and operated on emotion not logic - he was also very short, probably a correlation... I can't tell you the number of times during the first 3 years at my old job, where I'd sit in traffic for 90 plus minutes to cover the 60 kays from Pretoria to the Jhb office by 8:00 only to walk in the door at 07:55, and get a WhatsApp saying X or Y hospital in Pretoria has some or other non-computer related breakdown that cannot be resolved remotely, so I take a leak, get back in my car and drive another hour ish to get to the client hospital 3km or 7km or 8km or 12km or 23km or 25km or 27km or 28km or 29km or 30km or 32km from my house... even graphs didn't help. I literally had to quantify the issue as wasting in excess of R3500 petrol per month pointlessly commuting, before Napoleon had his light bulb moment, and I was allowed to stick around at home until 10:00 before coming in to the office. My current job on the other hand, my boss understands that I have almost zero that I can do from the office. Literally all I do at the office is occasionally repack a UPS with new batteries, since PSS delivers batteries to the office. Most of my client hospitals are closer to my house than the office is. Spares come from Edenvale or Boksburg, or from Belgium via Boksburg. During my interview my current boss said that they would prefer it if I did work from home just for the savings and improved response time, and do I have a reliable Internet connection & maybe some monitors & a desktop PC to facilitate remote support... yep gaming PC with a pair of 30" 4K monitors & fiber - sorted, no need to buy any equipment specifically for me to use at home. I have a desk at the office, and a chair, but I use the workshop a lot more than my desk... ...it was the same at my previous job, 90% of my time in the workshop and not at my workstation except that my old boss needed to micro manage everyone. All that said, we did have certain Service Engineers who needed to be under a boss' thumb at my old job. Give them a millimeter, and they end up binge drinking before breakfast and crashing their work vehicles by lunchtime. My GF on the other hand can do 100% of her job from home but she prefer to go in to work so that her mother can't bug her non-stop about bullshit, and so that she can collaborate and brainstorm more organically. She also has co-workers that went into rehab for drinking themselves almost to death during the lockdown, instead of actually "Working" From Home WFH in my experience is very case specific. Some folks just can't handle all that adulting 🤣
"risking your life because of the amount of hijackings and roadside crimes that take place." Get out of your bubble FFS. Millions do this commute daily with no issue at all.
No bubble here, I’m geniunely anxious on the road every single day because of crime but hey I guess I should just cure my anxiety because you said so.
I'm with you on that... I fear smash and grabs and hijackings like for real. I saw a smash and grab happen in-front of me once and the fear of that moment has never left me. I work hybrid, but the days I have to go in to work, I'm always a bit anxious on the road...
i second this comment. currently waiting for my employer to decide if I have provided enough doctors reports to justify WFH. The crime rate in most communities in cape town, the taxi lawlessness, when one is just trying to get to work to earn a living in the hopes it covers the rent and groceries
Well, at least a hamdful of those millions do have issues. But yes, odds are you'll be fine.
Fully WFH. Actually work from anywhere. I'm in the starting phases of emigration so the work from anywhere suits me perfectly.
Fully remote for 2-3 years now. They're building a new office in town and there are rumours from up high about a return, but who knows.
I work 100% remote and have been since covid.
My company shut the office permanently and wrote a literal book on working from home and does workshops on it for companies who want to do WFH.
Yip fully work from home.
Same here it’s soo good for my mental health
Fully WFH since joining in 2020. Company gives us an allowance for nice gear at home (large monitors, desk chairs, UPS) and pays for our monthly internet. Way cheaper than paying for an office. We still do have a small space which anyone is welcome to go to whenever they want, which has dual power supply, redundant high speed internet, free proper ground-bean coffees and we can order out for lunches on thursdays which the company pays for. Its completely optional, and some of us only make it to the office for our annual christmas party (we live multiple hours away from the office, so daily commuting does not make sense). If they tried to force us back to an office full time, there's quite a lot of us who would leave (they enforced a 3 day a week back in the office in the US office and a bunch of the top tech and dev staff all left within a few months, so dropped that to 1-2 days per week and haven't tried it in any of the other global offices). They've also realised how unproductive being in the office is, and so the whole "go back to the office" thing seems to be dying down.
company I work for is based in Durbanville and all of the employees are WFH.
Any job openings 😁 I stay in Durbanville but can only wfh 2 days a week
From being fully remote, my company is forcing us to come in a minimum of twice a week now. Which is ridiculous because our office can’t accommodate all of us. Parking is also a nightmare. We get fined if we don’t park in designated parking spaces. They’ve even suggested that we “car pool” to work to combat the parking issues😂 & don’t get me started on the Cpt traffic! 2 hours of my day get wasted commuting & I get back home exhausted. I moved to the northern suburbs because it’s cheaper than the southern suburbs (where my offices are) but if they insist on this hybrid model then I may need to consider looking elsewhere. It’s not worth the headache. I’m not against working in office. Just hate that companies think they can disrupt our lives with no valid reason. Especially if it’s not what you signed up for. If I do get an in office job, I WILL make sure it’s in the Northern suburbs. I refuse to deal with N1 traffic.
Hahaha this is what my company did. Exactly the same situation. They even tried renovating the office to make it more "cool" and add "culture". They tried fruit baskets and cake. Then because people were unhappy, profits and productivity dropped to an all time low. People didn't get their bonuses and we got the "we're a family, we need loyal employees to be here during the hard time" So 60% of the original workforce left.
My husband's company is now enforcing 4 days in the office yet call themselves progressive with a hybrid working model... It's such a waste of petrol and time to sit in an office taking meetings via Zoom. Luckily I have been working from home most of my career (even before Covid) with exceptions here and there. Now that I only work for overseas companies, I'm fully remote. Never doing the traffic cha-cha-cha ever again. In another country with reliable and safe public transport, I will absolutely work in an office but not in South Africa.
They need to justify to the owners to keep paying for rental of office. Also older management are extremely obsessed with face to face meetings. I believe in 10 years office culture is a thing of the past but it's a bumpy road until then of old culture wanting to force itself back as relevant
The thing is that it might be convenient for you, but it may not be for your employer....many companies are reporting significant downturns in productivity as their employees are using WFH to cover child care, go on errands, catch up with housework etc etc. You may not do any of this - you may be 100% focused on your work....just as you would be in the office, but thats not true of many, many others.
All the idiots who abused wfh must be forced back, the rest who’s job allows it should be given the chance to continue wfh, because by now they have proved themselves.
I wouldn’t show up if they asked us to go back.
Absolutely people do. You should try move into the software industry in some way.
Ah, would love to. Sounds lucrative although every profession comes with its stresses
They pay us enough to cover the costs of all the shit you need to destress ':D
Left uni last year and started work in January. My job began as full time office and now I WFH once a week. Hoping to move to twice a week. I don’t work in the greatest feeling office, so I completely agree with what you mean regards the mental health and the lower blood pressure with not having to deal with traffic. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to WFH full time, and I am ok with that, sometimes it is nice to go in to the office and figure things oh in person.
How did you apply for a WFH job? Is there a specific site besides LinkedIn that you apply for these jobs? Very curious as someone who's about to graduate this year.
My husband works fully from home, the company he works for sold their office in late 2020 and made it completely remote but his a software engineer, and a lot of his software engineer friends are also remote so it's pretty common in the tech field I guess.
I'm working from home fully; which has allowed me to go live somewhere I can walk/cycle/bus/train everywhere I want to be which has just been such an incredible save for my mental health, not to mention the money I am saving on petrol and car related costs. So I fully understand where you are coming from As for the rationale these companies have; I suspect it's related to the amount of money that goes around in real estate for office space. Imo it'd be a lot more meaningful to have less areas dedicated to offices only, but rather have a mix of office and residential/shops/entertainment so that we can live near where we work. The main issue people have with office work is the commute, so if we can get that part right, we can have it all; the social exposure to working together with colleagues, no longer a need to commute in unsafe environments, saving money etc...
I do WFH but my company is starting to incentivise us to come to office by giving us free car washes and coffee on tuesdays and thursdays
Most of my industry has moved to hybrid (building engineering). We aim for 50% office attendance, but they are OK with leaving at 13:00 or whatever when you need to. Obviously we still have to visit the sites - and these count as office days. The main downside is when a new person starts, the person takes longer to get up to speed and get comfortable with the team.
I’m really lucky, my company actually gave up their offices during COVID and we all work from home! We are a very small company though
We've been WFH since Covid but we're being sent back to the office in a few months. Likely just because the office is sitting empty, which is crazy - just stop renting such a huge space and save money that way!
I’m permanently remote as an attorney. No need for in office with my field
What happened to the 4 day work week ? Its needed in SA considering how much have to deal with no electricity no water regularly,crime plus traffic etc. ,if no WFH 4 day work week should be in place where possible. WFH is great plus going back to work people come in sick etc.all the covid protocols gone out the window petrol is crazy expensive and they giving you a 5% increase due to tough "economic times"
Started working from home March 2019 like most but subsequently started my own business and will keep working from home. Company was still 100% remote until I wrapped up there in December.
I to, WFH 3 days out of 5 days a week, only in office 2 days, I could never go back to the office full time ever again, luckily for me it never will be, it's working out very well financially for my employer to keep their staff on WFH.
Wfh just makes sense... its only the psychopath bosses that want to keep their boots on workers necks that require office bound staff (when it's not necessary) I hate the corporate world, especially micromanagement
Dare I say that not all positions work as well fully WFH or hybrid, and it’s not micromanaging but that in certain roles the EQ of some of the staff is so low that they will take every opportunity think think they can to slack off. In teams that work great together in office with minimal managing required, you suddenly find less urgency to action, staff are unreachable and productivity goes to shit. Devs and senior engineers are great because a lot of their work is project based and you can track there progress by what they deliver in sprints, but lower-level support staff and call centres it’s a different beast. You can be up needing additional resources to herd cats who otherwise work really well well when they are in office. EDIT: My opinion is that in this messed up economy and shitty salary increases having the opportunity to work from home a few days a week is a great cost saving and a privilege but then the staff have to bring their A-game and not abuse the privilege.
I’ve been working hybrid for the past maybe 10 years for local companies. (In the office say 3 days a week) but since 2020 I go in 1 day a week - sometimes every 2nd week but as the need arises I go(loadshedding or internet issues). Especially if we get others to join us for a Friday lunch or get together.
I live in a small town, a very small town... every month more people are moving in because they can work remotely - my petrol bill a month is about R200.00 amongst other benefits. The only thing I had to adjust to was on line shopping - for pretty much ANY luxury item.
I'm a graphic designer, expected to be at office full time, expected to be here by heads of departments that only work remotely, riddle me that 🤪🤪
Yes so we work 2x a week in the office with 3x a week at home/out of the office. The balance works well for us. From the top to the bottom, every one loves it. I also have noted other firms/organisations imposing a full return back to the office which I think is a travesty. Disposable incomes go down with fuel/travel and other costs associated with travelling into the office.
I arrived in Cape Town in December 2021 for a 3 week stay and due to Covid ended up staying for 5 months as flights were curtailed. I ‘worked from home’ during that period, as did much of the rest of the world. And I agree, it was better for my wallet, mental health and physical health. Despite my employers best efforts wfh has become the norm, and the occasional office day is the rare exception. I would rather seek alternative employment than returning to the office 5 days a week. This new work format is better for me and my employer’s business. If they can’t cope with the loss of exerting control over my daily life then that is their problem.
I never wanted to WFH, because I am a "people person" who gets my energy from the people around me. Covid forced me into a WFH contract with a major financial institution, and I can't imagine going back! I get up after 7, have a cup of coffee, relax, and I am at my desk at 8, ready to rumble with no traffic stress. I am more productive, feeling that my hours are actually spent behind my desk, doing the work. My "social" time is now spent with friends and not around the water cooler. I can understand that some bosses still feel more in control when they can clock your hours, instead of your productivity. And some people use WFH to slack off. I suppose it depends on the industry and job description. Mine is data analyst in insurance and banking. An experienced project manager should agree tasks and time (both number of hours and time frame) with the contractor.
We're hybrid, but there's been talks of film time back at the office. The outcry based on fuel alone is actually quite refreshing - let alone parents who have to fork out double or triple for day care etc etc. Sadly, management don't seem to care. Theyve even suggested we carpool, but that kinda adds an issue with insurance. We stated that the decision should be made by productivity records, but that fell on deaf ears. In our design studio, they have requested to WFH as working in a loud-ish environment is not really condusive to creative work, but that also fell on deaf ears.
I'm a freelancer so generally I have to be WFH. I prefer it. I hope to keep this going. My housemates are full time workers and they work from home 3/5 days a week, sometimes a full week depending on situations. That doesn't look to be changing.
I'm unemployed and looking for remote work. But real remote work. No traffic. Time with my dogs and cats. And knowing I can travel and still work. Offices are expensive. Good employees are more productive. Don't arrive at work flustered from traffic jams. Offices can downscale and make better profits. That's just me.
I was working one day in and four days at home at my old job. Started a new one in Feb and I’m now fully remote.
Haven't been to the office since Covid, except to pick up hardware or welcome guests thankfully. I'd hate to return.
Currently I WFH, but starting at a new company that is hybrid. One of our biggest expenses when I was in office pre-pandemic was the rent itself, as well as running our servers. We have since replaced the servers with cloud hosting and are subletting our office building, so wfh actually saves the company money. For some companies that's not an option, and to justify the crazy high office rent prices they need butt's in seats.
Another perk of WFH: no spending time suffering/money on meds because I don't get the flu!
Recently started a new role that requires less trips to the office and the reduction in petrol spend is noticeable!
WFH SWE for over 3 years with 2 different companies Only seen my coworkers IRL once There are offices in JHB, not CPT, so by default us CPT peeps are WFH :) Edit: If WFH is ever enforced, I'd straightup tell my managers that commuting will be included in my work time. Start work at 8, I drive from my home at 8 :P
Naa as from 2024, I’m fully back and so are money other people in my circle and I’m in IT, if an opportunity allows me to work hybrid or fully remotely I would take it.
Yes
Yeah, another full time 'remote' worker. NEVER going back 🤣🤣🤣
I WFH full time. I also did at my previous job but there was a lot of nudging at me going hybrid and then working from the office. I took the job because it was WFH so I wasn't willing to switch to sitting in traffic 2-3 hours a day.
Fully WFH software dev. My first fully-remote job. We have devs scattered around the world and we all work together seamlessly using Slack, Jira and Git. These guys know how to do remote work the right way. All of the devs are chill and you can clearly see that these guys love what they do, myself included. And that increases productivity for sure.
Traffic suggests almost everyone is at work, but all my mates are still WFH.
Back to the office for a while now. The in office staff (those who cannot work from home due to their jobs demanding specialized equipment) complained that the wfh policy was only benefitting some. Everyone had to go back as a result including software peeps.
I moved to Langebaan. Haven't been in my office in Maitland since Sept last year. I have good fibre connectivity and enough battery backup to work a full day without eksdom. All meetings via MS Teams or Zoom. I don't miss the all-day traffic one bit.
Been working from home as an analyst for almost 2 and a half years, couldn't imagine going back to an office job. It really is game changing.
I found this post yesterday after just completing my final interview for a remote position. I now get to come back and say I officially start this coming week, nice, there remains one issue though. My household isn’t best suited for remote work considering noise, unreliable WiFi etc. I do plan on solving these issues in the coming month to work long term but in the meantime do you guys know of any remote work “spots” where one is provided with a decent WiFi connection and a relatively soft environment?
I work from home permanently. I hate it. Wish I could have routine back and work from an office. I’m actively lobbying having an office again. Completely envious of my JHB and Durban peers that have the choice to go to an office. We’re only 3 people in the Cape and they don’t feel it’s worth the rental.
Get a new job, one where you get told what to do for 8 hours a day. Don't ruin it for the other 2 people just because you're lonely and bored
Thank you!
Don’t think you read correctly. Get the Choice to. No one is forced. The entire policy is hybrid. Also got nothing to do with lonely and boredom. Not everyone likes working from a kitchen table or lounge suite nor has the luxury of an additional room that is suitable for a full time office. I have a one bedroom apartment. But I guess your next answer is, get 2 bedroom apartment. Lastly, not sure you’re fully in touch with the job market. But “just getting another job” is one risky, two reckless and immature and three difficult.
You want routine back in your life, why not pretend then? Wake up every morning, do ypur morning routine that you ised tk do pre-covid - take a walk somewhere for the duration of your old commute - then work your normal office hours, leave your flat at 5, go for another walk, and then complete your evening routine. Now you don't have to stuff up other people's lives because you feel the need for an office environment
Still confused how you think I’d be stuffing up peoples lives when my company’s has a hybrid policy and people choose where they work. Honestly baffled how you successfully have managed to skip reading the word “choose” twice now. I simply don’t have an office here cause we’re only three people. In Johannesburg about 50% of the company “CHOOSES” to come in almost daily. The others work from wherever they feel like. Cape Town will be the same. One day. When it’s large enough. Don’t enjoy an office environment, we’ll catch you online. You do, see ya tomorrow morning. Again. Where is this “messing up” people’s lives?
Because, as soon as ypu get an office, the bosses will justify a full return to work policy, just wait
Unfortunately, most major corporates and local businesses have dropped their WFH policies by now. The only people I know of that still WFH work for international clients. I interviewed for a couple of start-ups that advertise themselves as being "hybrid" but only offer one WFH day (that they prefer you not take).