The office.

[cromwell]

The recent WFH has shown my daughter's firm that some management jobs aren't actually needed. They are on about evryone working from home in this region, with just one central office. No commuting yes, but also maybe a long journey to this one central office when you are needed.
WFH is not ideal for my daughter. She has a two year old toddler and an enthusiastic dog and getting quiet time to do your work can be a problem for her. Without family support it would be really difficult.
WFH will have a bad effect on the commercial property market. I can see a lot of office space standing empty in the near future.
There are upsides too, like the lesser commuting, better air quality and benefits for those who are disciplined enough to actually get their work done; but there are downsides too.

[Workingman]

We have to accept, as the EU accepted, that there are things we are simply not going to make any more.

If you take that to another level then we do not need stock exchanges, financial institutions, banking, insurance or many other "services" in the big, shiny, Western cities either..They can all be done anywhere with electricity and and Internet connection. Those jobs are a lot easier to "export" than factories, machinery and supply chains. Dilip and Aarayha are just waiting for the call in Pusadabad.

I suspect the reason that has not happened, just yet, is that the bosses do not want to be based in the rat and mosquito infested suburbs of Shantyslumville in the tropics. Once it sinks in that John and Jane's individual £500k jobs can be done by Dilip and Aarayha for £50k between them the temptation might be too great. That could lead to a time when Jeff, Elon. Mark, Jacob, Richard, Boris, Bill and their likes are locked away in their antiseptic enclaves while the rest of us on the outside fight for the scraps. A new world may be over the horizon and it might be a living Hell for the many.

Cromwell. I share your view. At the moment WFH is like that bright and shiny Christmas toy played with and played with for a short while then chucked in a box under the stairs never to be seen again until it is sent to the charity shop. Houses were built to be lived in not worked from and my bet is that it will not take too long for many of them to return to that purpose. Businesses would be wise to hold on to their offices in the short term to see how the dice fall.

[miasmum]

I cannot but also wouldnt want to work from home. Neither can Tim but he wouldnt mind.

[Suff]

WM, if you follow current trends, India describes itself as the back office of the world. It is not quite true and it often does not work well. The front office, however, remains where it always was and will continue to do so for very good reasons.

Also the recent moves by the EU, to "rape" taxes from companies in direct opposition to the international taxation obligations they signed up to will distort the market.

Actions. Like the apple case tend to drive companiess to specific locations and the cheaper places in the world are more likely to bend to outside pressure.

I like the DW assessment of the situation.

But a closer examination of it also suggests that it is not really up to either Ireland or Apple to solve a taxation problem that really is the whole world's issue to deal with.

It is an interesting read, but it shows that the reasons for the places some business is done are not always quite so straightforward.

[Workingman]

Suff, you really should let that EU bee fly from your bonnet.

The current issue is whether large swathes of UK workers WFH is feasible or desirable in the long term.

The impression I am getting from their outpourings is that they are talking up their performances to bolster their self-esteem / importance. The truth is that they cannot all be being 'more' productive than before when they were in the office. That can only be true if there is more work coming in, and there is scant evidence for that being the case. If anything it has gone the other way.

[Suff]

Unlikely to be any evidence that more work is coming in any time soon.