The Losing Battle to Get Public Sector ‘TWaTs’ Back in the Office
Four years on from Covid, the Civil Service’s reluctance to return to the office is tanking productivity and leaving empty desks in its wake. In the Telegraph, Tom Haynes explains how the pampered civil service’s obsession with working from home is costing us all. Here’s an excerpt:
The Conservatives tried to force staff to turn up to their place of work just three days out of five, but the small ask was met with intense resistance.
The new Labour Government has so far failed to lay out any demands at all. All the while, the Government’s weekly office attendance figures have remained unpublished since the General Election was called.
Yet while public sector productivity has fallen, Labour is now dangling an inflation-busting pay rise in front of civil servants – many of whom are making considerable savings on childcare and commuting costs by doing their jobs at home. …
One said: “We’re TWaTs [Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays], the lot of us. On Mondays I’d say the office is about 50% full, Friday maybe 25%, and the other days 75-100%.”
Another added: “What’s the point of coming in on Friday when no one else is in?”
Public sector workers have long resisted attempts by previous governments to haul them back into the office. In April, it was reported that some 1,000 employees at the Office for National Statistics had refused to come into the office for even two days out of five.
The 60% in-office mandate, meanwhile, prompted 40% of civil servants to consider jumping ship, according to a November survey by the Public and Commerical Services union.
Childcare remains a strong draw for continued hybrid working across the private and public sectors – an October survey by Capital One found that 87% of remote workers regularly look after children while working from home, with a further 85% doing so in the same room as a child.
However, Neil Leitch, Chief Executive of the Early Years Alliance charity, warned that parents juggling working from home with childcare could be damaging for children.
He said: “If you can work from home and at same time you can be around your child, you can save a small fortune.
“Not a word has been spoken about what’s in the interest of the child. The reality is if you’re holding down a job, it’s very difficult to spend adequate time with the child.”
It comes despite repeated criticism that continued remote work has led to a decline in efficiency across departments. This week it emerged that workers at the Department for Work and Pensions had left customers on hold for the equivalent of 753 years, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).
As an ex-employee I can confirm that DWP policy, and it certainly was and is policy is to refer to anybody claiming benefits as a “customer.” I refused. I never ever referred to a claimant as a “customer,” they were ALWAYS claimants.
My logic, repeated frequently was…
“Well they are not going to take their business elsewhere.”
This is the sort of garbage rhetoric that is embedded in the Civil Service and for the vast majority of staff they see no other logic. The majority are woke and extremely lazy.
I was on hold on the phone to HMRC today with their interminable musical loop being regularly interrupted by messages telling me that me that my call was important to them. Clearly it wasn’t at all important or they would have answered me sooner,…!
I was amused rather, after a blue light episode, to be asked if I would recommend the hospital to family and friends for emergency care?
As it happens the care I received was excellent and I’m still here as a result, but I did ask them where else I might have gone under the circumstances… no response, so far!
The problem isn’t where they work, it’s that there’s nothing that requires them to work or that can be easily done to replace underperformers. Those that want to do minimal work can do so.
It’s also that they’re protected from consequences by the system.
A few years ago I had to call DVLA for something. As it happened I had time on my hands, so was able to hold… for nearly an hour. Long story short; I complained to my MP and, when the answer came it was to say that all calls to DVLA are answered within 10 seconds and therefore there was nothing that needed attention, everything is hunky dory… so, the moment your call is ‘answered’ and you go into the queue is all they measure. I imagine this kind of jiggery pokery is rampant through every facet of the civil service?
Motivated people will work wherever they need to or can. Well supervised people will work wherever they have to.
This article is about the DWP staff who are apparently neither motivated nor well supervised and will leave customers on hold for unreasonable amounts of time.
I know what it’s about, what I can’t see in the excerpts is any reference to hard evidence that current poor productivity is related to working from home.
I can imagine. I know a couple, one county council and one Whitehall, who work hard and are intrinsically motivated, but probably they are the exception. One is a socialist and has devoted his life to the public sector, the other is decidedly not a socialist and is actively working on starting his own business or moving into the private sector – not a surprise but a shame as he’s exceptionally bright.
PS I’ve just logged off work (at home, 5 days a week) – not done tons of hours today, just my standard 7.5ish, spread out a bit so I can fit other things in that make me happy and a better worker when I am working. Whenever I am on calls and there are people in the office there’s a cacophony of noise from chatting – how anyone can work in that environment is beyond me!
When I visit the office every so often I am a lot less efficient. My work requires focused concentration for long periods of time, and my excellent boss understands this. When I am in the office I often arrive late in the morning so I can then stay late and get some work done after everyone has gone home and I can be certain I am not going to be interrupted.
Working from home is what everyone used to do, let’s face it.
But yes, an ill-motivated and ill-managed individual will find a way to avoid work wherever they are. The worst offenders in my experience are the “managers”. Where the Civil Service is concerned, I imagine this effect is multiplied many times – other people spending other people’s money on what other people tell them are other people’s problems, so no-one cares about quality service or product and they don’t care how much it costs.
This is why state must be as small as possible. Where’s Maggie when you need her?
I look back on my early days of commuting into London and working in the office with fondness, and perhaps for some of our younger staff who choose to do that it’s the same now (we have a lovely office available for people who prefer it, as many or as few days as they choose), but at my advanced age I find my lovely home in a more rural setting (or wherever I am with my laptop) much improve my quality of life. Horses for courses. If your staff are valuable to you, look after them as long as they deliver the work.
We did internal studies – WFH was a mess. Office productivity measured in outputs, alignment, and meeting KPIs was achieved by being in the office. GDAD (geo agile projects) also suffered from failure – about 60% failed in some way (failure needs clear defining).
Interesting. Overall it has made little difference to us – some have been more productive, others less. What aspects of WFH do you think made the difference?
During the earlier lockdowns my whole department (bar one) worked from home. We did all the usual stuff to the usual schedule, occasionally popping in to the office for the odd day when necessary and delivering paperwork to each others homes as necessary. I’m sure some of my staff didn’t work exactly office hours, though I did (plus some as I didn’t have to commute), but we all achieved the same output as normal and management accounts were published on time.
I guess, as a small team, we after motivated to do what we always did. I suspect that the behemoth that is the Civil ‘Service’ doesn’t have the same motivation…
soundofreason
1 year ago
That chart… ‘Annual change in productivity growth‘.
Change in growth? Rate of a rate? Really?
So in Q1 2021 there was a -10% change in growth of productivity compared with a year before – or 90% of the growth in productivity from the year before? No mention of a decline in productivity at all?
“Not a word has been spoken about what’s in the interest of the child. The reality is if you’re holding down a job, it’s very difficult to spend adequate time with the child”
Best to get another government department or an expensive stranger to look after your children. Longer term, it’s easier to get them wearing masks and be vaccinated without the burden of parental consent.
What we have to be aware of is that this collapse in civil service productivity, productivity which I would argue is largely immeasurable, is deliberate. All our public services are being collapsed: The police pick and choose who to arrest and similarly arbitrarily pick and choose what they might deem arrestable offences depending on lots of factors – skin colour, religion, height, weight, sex or lack thereof, length of time to end of shift. Most of the above can be applied to the NHS although here the game is to make lots of noises while doing F A except creating waiting lists. ELCOM – absolutely brilliant at knowing nothing and doing less while sending you round in circles and all while we interrupt their watching of ‘Flog It’ or some such crap. We are deliberately being led and manipulated in to believing we are a Third World shit hole and within a couple of years we will be. The tory Party has undergone a controlled demolition orchestrated from within. The same demolition processes are being applied to all the mechanisms of state. Kneel is already overturning Parliamentary traditions eg rearranging the David Amess Bills Day and other procedures. The country… Read more »
“We are deliberately being led and manipulated in to believing we are a Third World shit hole and within a couple of years we will be.”
Perhaps that’s why there’s been a trend over recent years of eateries with a run-down look so that people get used to it before it stops being a choice.
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Customers?!
FFS!
If they don’t buck their ideas up I’ll use another department for my State Pension!
Yes, HMRC use “customers” also as if you have a choice.
That comes from some very expensive management consulting …
As an ex-employee I can confirm that DWP policy, and it certainly was and is policy is to refer to anybody claiming benefits as a “customer.” I refused. I never ever referred to a claimant as a “customer,” they were ALWAYS claimants.
My logic, repeated frequently was…
“Well they are not going to take their business elsewhere.”
This is the sort of garbage rhetoric that is embedded in the Civil Service and for the vast majority of staff they see no other logic. The majority are woke and extremely lazy.
Huxley you are a very unusual individual. In a good way. Much respect.
Many thanks MAk. Very kind of you.
Yeah that’s like “thanks for your patience” – as if I had an option!
😀 😀 😀
I was on hold on the phone to HMRC today with their interminable musical loop being regularly interrupted by messages telling me that me that my call was important to them. Clearly it wasn’t at all important or they would have answered me sooner,…!
I was amused rather, after a blue light episode, to be asked if I would recommend the hospital to family and friends for emergency care?
As it happens the care I received was excellent and I’m still here as a result, but I did ask them where else I might have gone under the circumstances… no response, so far!
For emergency care?
I would have expected that there wouldn’t be the time to ponder.
The problem isn’t where they work, it’s that there’s nothing that requires them to work or that can be easily done to replace underperformers. Those that want to do minimal work can do so.
It’s also that they’re protected from consequences by the system.
A few years ago I had to call DVLA for something. As it happened I had time on my hands, so was able to hold… for nearly an hour. Long story short; I complained to my MP and, when the answer came it was to say that all calls to DVLA are answered within 10 seconds and therefore there was nothing that needed attention, everything is hunky dory… so, the moment your call is ‘answered’ and you go into the queue is all they measure. I imagine this kind of jiggery pokery is rampant through every facet of the civil service?
Where’s the hard evidence that working from home is related to productivity?
Motivated people will work wherever they need to or can. Well supervised people will work wherever they have to.
This article is about the DWP staff who are apparently neither motivated nor well supervised and will leave customers on hold for unreasonable amounts of time.
I know what it’s about, what I can’t see in the excerpts is any reference to hard evidence that current poor productivity is related to working from home.
tof, if you have never worked in the Civil Service you will never understand that it really is another planet.
I can imagine. I know a couple, one county council and one Whitehall, who work hard and are intrinsically motivated, but probably they are the exception. One is a socialist and has devoted his life to the public sector, the other is decidedly not a socialist and is actively working on starting his own business or moving into the private sector – not a surprise but a shame as he’s exceptionally bright.
Elcom (Electoral Commission) are still I believe “working” from home and boy can they give people the run around on the ‘phone. An absolute shower.
PS I’ve just logged off work (at home, 5 days a week) – not done tons of hours today, just my standard 7.5ish, spread out a bit so I can fit other things in that make me happy and a better worker when I am working. Whenever I am on calls and there are people in the office there’s a cacophony of noise from chatting – how anyone can work in that environment is beyond me!
When I visit the office every so often I am a lot less efficient. My work requires focused concentration for long periods of time, and my excellent boss understands this. When I am in the office I often arrive late in the morning so I can then stay late and get some work done after everyone has gone home and I can be certain I am not going to be interrupted.
Working from home is what everyone used to do, let’s face it.
But yes, an ill-motivated and ill-managed individual will find a way to avoid work wherever they are. The worst offenders in my experience are the “managers”. Where the Civil Service is concerned, I imagine this effect is multiplied many times – other people spending other people’s money on what other people tell them are other people’s problems, so no-one cares about quality service or product and they don’t care how much it costs.
This is why state must be as small as possible. Where’s Maggie when you need her?
100% agree
I look back on my early days of commuting into London and working in the office with fondness, and perhaps for some of our younger staff who choose to do that it’s the same now (we have a lovely office available for people who prefer it, as many or as few days as they choose), but at my advanced age I find my lovely home in a more rural setting (or wherever I am with my laptop) much improve my quality of life. Horses for courses. If your staff are valuable to you, look after them as long as they deliver the work.
We did internal studies – WFH was a mess. Office productivity measured in outputs, alignment, and meeting KPIs was achieved by being in the office. GDAD (geo agile projects) also suffered from failure – about 60% failed in some way (failure needs clear defining).
Interesting. Overall it has made little difference to us – some have been more productive, others less. What aspects of WFH do you think made the difference?
During the earlier lockdowns my whole department (bar one) worked from home. We did all the usual stuff to the usual schedule, occasionally popping in to the office for the odd day when necessary and delivering paperwork to each others homes as necessary. I’m sure some of my staff didn’t work exactly office hours, though I did (plus some as I didn’t have to commute), but we all achieved the same output as normal and management accounts were published on time.
I guess, as a small team, we after motivated to do what we always did. I suspect that the behemoth that is the Civil ‘Service’ doesn’t have the same motivation…
That chart… ‘Annual change in productivity growth‘.
Change in growth? Rate of a rate? Really?
So in Q1 2021 there was a -10% change in growth of productivity compared with a year before – or 90% of the growth in productivity from the year before? No mention of a decline in productivity at all?
“Not a word has been spoken about what’s in the interest of the child. The reality is if you’re holding down a job, it’s very difficult to spend adequate time with the child”
Best to get another government department or an expensive stranger to look after your children. Longer term, it’s easier to get them wearing masks and be vaccinated without the burden of parental consent.
What we have to be aware of is that this collapse in civil service productivity, productivity which I would argue is largely immeasurable, is deliberate. All our public services are being collapsed: The police pick and choose who to arrest and similarly arbitrarily pick and choose what they might deem arrestable offences depending on lots of factors – skin colour, religion, height, weight, sex or lack thereof, length of time to end of shift. Most of the above can be applied to the NHS although here the game is to make lots of noises while doing F A except creating waiting lists. ELCOM – absolutely brilliant at knowing nothing and doing less while sending you round in circles and all while we interrupt their watching of ‘Flog It’ or some such crap. We are deliberately being led and manipulated in to believing we are a Third World shit hole and within a couple of years we will be. The tory Party has undergone a controlled demolition orchestrated from within. The same demolition processes are being applied to all the mechanisms of state. Kneel is already overturning Parliamentary traditions eg rearranging the David Amess Bills Day and other procedures. The country… Read more »
“We are deliberately being led and manipulated in to believing we are a Third World shit hole and within a couple of years we will be.”
Perhaps that’s why there’s been a trend over recent years of eateries with a run-down look so that people get used to it before it stops being a choice.
Yes more than likely.
E-mail to all staff: “A failure to return to work on Mondays or Fridays will be construed as indication of your wish to terminate your employment…”