111
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Post by 111 on Jan 20, 2022 14:20:11 GMT
I'd be surprised if we get another huge wave to be honest. People are being exposed to it repeatedly on a daily basis now, the shit is everywhere. Just to put into context, hospitalisations are now estimated to be 45% incidental. Half the people going in are there for something else and don't even know they have covid. Don't think incidentals are people who don't know they have Covid. Well obviously some are - people go in for a broken leg and only find out they have covid because it's routine to be tested, but they may at no point develop any symptoms. And then some may be symptomatic but those symptoms are not enough to be hospitalised for - they're in hospital with said broken leg and also pick up a bit of a cough while in there. And then some could get seriously ill with covid to the extent that their covid alone warrants being in hospital, even if covid isn't what they originally went in for. The point is that the existence of the first two compromise the use of "hospitalisations" as a shorthand for how many people "got it bad" - they're in hospital and have covid, but they don't have covid itself badly enough to require hospitalisation.
Unhelpfully, "incidental" seems to be used to cover all three, so isn't quite the right word/stat for how many are in those first two groups.
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Post by dfunked on Jan 20, 2022 14:22:59 GMT
Listen mate, I love all of are facking freedoms right!
Back in the office starting next month. Looking forward to the packed commute already!
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Post by elstoof on Jan 20, 2022 14:24:41 GMT
I can’t wait to just kiss random men on the mouth in Wetherspoons again, give me your full viral load Nige
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Post by Vandelay on Jan 20, 2022 14:51:29 GMT
What is most people's situation with the working from home thing? Are there actually lots that will be told they have to go in now, if they have spent most of last 2 years WFH without difficulties?
I find it quite strange to hear people being ordered to return, when I can only see it being in the interest of employers (and employees) to just allow it to continue. Sell off big offices and get somewhere where you only need space for about a quarter of your staff on a daily basis. It would save a fortune. The fact that we have only the usual sort of nutters complaining about productivity and no actually numbers to suggest it has been effected means that previous studies in WFH's favour have been confirmed to be accurate.
I work for an incredibly Tory local authority and did half expect that previous relaxing of restrictions would be accompanied with orders from the members to get staff back in, but this has not happened and I fully expect us to just carry on WFH as the norm. The few times have been in have shown that my team isn't alone, as the offices have been mostly empty.
To hear of other people doing work that really can be done from home being ordered to come back in just feels incredibly weird and to no one's benefit.
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Post by Dougs on Jan 20, 2022 14:56:52 GMT
Ours will be a move to more hybrid working, with the expectation that most people would do 2 days in the office a week. Which is what I did for 13 years pre-covid, so no real change for me. I am hoping to knock that down to one day unless there's a specific need (or I make plans in London...). I do think face-to-face catch ups are important though
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Post by khanivor on Jan 20, 2022 14:57:16 GMT
Schools are closing round here due to lack of staff. In a neighboring state the National Guard is being drafted in to act as substitute teachers, (frankly a touch envious of kids getting PFC Chad in to talk about that time he went mudding in a Humvee)
Was talking to a buddy who services wind turbines, currently in Nebraska, (pro tip; avoid being atop of hundreds foot tall wind turbine in Nebraska in January) He also worries about omicron taking significant numbers of power infrastructure workers off the board all at once. I’d be very surprised if a journalist wouldn’t be able to quickly find examples of power plants staffed by actively infected and sick people because otherwise ‘lights off/reactor shut down’
There’s a hell of a risk to the entire system being taken. It’s good that the peak appears to have occurred in some states. Question is, how long is omicron going to be on the rampage in all the states down here where two dose rates are around 30% lower than, say, New York, with boosters even lower
And hey, just to complete my daily ‘doom monger’ bingo, even after all the hubris, denial and systemic failures, I’m still surprised that folks seem willing to just let Omicron go on unrestricted tour in the hope it brings herd immunity, (don’t think about it further mutating to reupholster virility and/or further spike chants to fully swerve vaccinations and natural antigens)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2022 14:57:18 GMT
We have closed down most of our office space and been told this is the new normal. Work from home with minimum 1 day a month in office for 121s but more if you want.
Personally I have been told I never need to go back if I don't need to as I was contemplating a move to the country and commute would be too long.
Company worked out a slight productivity drop was offset by much better employee happiness and less sick days
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111
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Post by 111 on Jan 20, 2022 14:59:14 GMT
Ours are being painstakingly conscientious about finding out what staff would like to do - how many days in office vs at home would you ideally choose, what things would you like to be happening on the days you're in the office vs at home, what facilities do you think the office needs to accommodate hybrid working, what concerns you about being the office / commuting - etc.
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Post by dfunked on Jan 20, 2022 15:02:11 GMT
In fairness I'm making a big deal over nothing really, I just found it annoying that we're following government guidance that I really don't agree with.
It'll still only be one day a fortnight for me, and my boss has been pretty lax about even that. I'm sure when I talk to him and say I'm not really comfortable with it yet he'd be fine. I want to get into the office and meet people, but would rather avoid the inevitable sickness and potential long covid given a choice.
There's absolutely nothing in my contract about it though, so if he goes I'd be at the mercy of whoever takes over who might not be as pro-WFH. I'd hand in my notice immediately if I was forced back in every day.
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H-alphaFox
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Post by H-alphaFox on Jan 20, 2022 15:13:21 GMT
Before Christmas my wife was supposed to be in 2-3 times a week but she mostly stayed at home going in only when something needed signing but submitted her time book saying she had gone in. lol Nobody said anything, now because of omicron they have said to stay at home until February so there is that. Odd culture over here, they wear going back to the office as a badge. Plus they only just finished building a multi million dollar office block then had to shut down everything.
Fuck knows what will happen, still haven't had our 2nd dose yet either.
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Post by simple on Jan 20, 2022 15:45:47 GMT
Message at my work is that the current working arrangements will remain in place until further notice. No return to the office plans are being rushed forward for support staff although academics are expected to be teaching in person when classes start over the next two weeks. Which is the same as it was last semester.
The university has been very pro WFH and has had internal regulations slightly stricter than the government guidance ever since lockdown 1 ended.
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dogbot
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Post by dogbot on Jan 20, 2022 15:54:31 GMT
In January, I agreed to be permanently WFH, to spend more time with my family.
We then moved to Norfolk. My office is in Wiltshire. It'd be a long commute.
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スコットランド
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Post by スコットランド on Jan 20, 2022 16:01:31 GMT
FFFS, during our daily Standup meeting (virtual obvs) my Austrian colleague who is a conspiracy theorist idiot (last week he was telling me about his plot of land to be self-sufficient with food so that he was ready for when he would not be allowed in the supermarket) whose wife heals with Körbler symbols (some quack theory from an Austrian electrician) started a rant that from today as an anti-vaxxer he would be a criminal. He then went on and on and ranted about the "shit injection". I asked him why he said that and he ranted about the excess mortality worldwide due to the jab, it's all about money, that a book was coming out which would reveal the tRuTh which he hoped everyone would learn from and that the vaccine doesn't work. At that point I had to blurt out "Dieter, that's bullshit", thankfully we stopped and went back to work discussion. He previously educated us on Morgellons, the microscopic worms in face masks (in the real world, fibre movement from static). It's astonishing to hear intelligent people so far down the rabbit hole, batshit insane.
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Bongo Heracles
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Post by Bongo Heracles on Jan 20, 2022 16:01:58 GMT
No going back for us. We used the last two years to hire people from all over the country and they converted our old floorplate into a call centre.
I had my mot before xmas and Ive gone from doing 13-14k a year to 1k. Im saving at least a couple of hundred a month on commuting/eating/drinking coffee.
I know energy prices have gone up, so working at home isnt free but at £1.50 a litre for diesel, I would be looking to WFH almost full time anyway.
The other half is being asked to work from home after they rushed everyone back in, a ton of people got covid and they had to cancel shows over xmas.
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Post by dfunked on Jan 20, 2022 16:24:28 GMT
He previously educated us on Morgellons, the microscopic worms in face masks How do they get face masks that fit?...
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Post by Dougs on Jan 20, 2022 16:29:05 GMT
He previously educated us on Morgellons, the microscopic worms in face masks How do they get face masks that fit?... Nanotechnology innit
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スコットランド
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Post by スコットランド on Jan 20, 2022 16:30:19 GMT
I haven't been in the office since March 2020 I think, there's a current nationwide mandatory WFH till end of February, at some point they'll gradually bring people back in step by step but definitely seem to be heading in a flexible direction. I'll be pushing to be mostly WFH with occasional office visits, hopefully successful. Medium term I'd love to be able to spend periods abroad WFHing as normal.
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スコットランド
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Post by スコットランド on Jan 20, 2022 16:30:56 GMT
How do they get face masks that fit?... Nanotechnology innit Same tech that fits the 5g chips into the syringes.
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mcmonkeyplc
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Post by mcmonkeyplc on Jan 20, 2022 17:09:03 GMT
Medium term I'd love to be able to spend periods abroad WFHing as normal. We have this already and I actually want to do it, will save money on holidays
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Post by TheSaint on Jan 20, 2022 17:41:51 GMT
Yeah I've been thinking about that as well. Time difference is the only potential issue if you still have to attend meetings.
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Post by Trowel 🏴 on Jan 20, 2022 18:05:29 GMT
Re. WFH, don't forget to claim your tax relief through the portal or via Self Assessment.
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Frog
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Post by Frog on Jan 20, 2022 18:16:57 GMT
Wife's company has started employing people all over the place now, mostly leaning towards Canada as that's where their time zone is for meetings. Would love to jump over there at some point to try something new.
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geefe
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Post by geefe on Jan 20, 2022 18:40:22 GMT
Re. WFH, don't forget to claim your tax relief through the portal or via Self Assessment. I went self assessment last year (2020?? Dunno how time works anymore) and paid my first lot of tax in 2021 but I wasn't WFH. Now I'm fully WFH with a paye job and some part time private work outside. How do I claim that?
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Post by Trowel 🏴 on Jan 20, 2022 19:02:01 GMT
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Post by GigaChad Sigma. on Jan 20, 2022 20:53:41 GMT
BBC says the Banks are preparing for staff to return to the office but I haven't seen any emails mentioning a mass return. I would like to go in once a week to break things up but ultimately it's down to the individual at out place.
In my previous role there wasn't enough space per-covid and they recently sold off several large properties so they won't be encouraging staff to rush back.
After 2 years of WFH I don't think people really want to start having to deal with shitty commutes, stressed school runs and missing deliveries.
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Post by 😎 on Jan 20, 2022 21:03:39 GMT
What a name change
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cubby
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Post by cubby on Jan 20, 2022 21:06:29 GMT
Honk
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Post by dfunked on Jan 20, 2022 21:09:01 GMT
It's like that well known phrase. "Mess with the honk you get the chonky penis."
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Frog
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Post by Frog on Jan 20, 2022 21:36:01 GMT
Mate at work who tested positive on the same day as me is faring much worse. Struggling to breathe and thought he was going to hospital last night. He is a similar age to me, much fitter and triple jabbed as well. Looks like he is going to be ok but show that letting it rip might be quite a bumpy road.
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Post by Dougs on Jan 20, 2022 21:45:34 GMT
Mate at work who tested positive on the same day as me is faring much worse. Struggling to breathe and thought he was going to hospital last night. He is a similar age to me, much fitter and triple jabbed as well. Looks like he is going to be ok but show that letting it rip might be quite a bumpy road. Scary shit innit
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