I currently work as the Sr. Technical Product Manager for API solutions at the largest gift / prepaid card company in the US.
I live in Dallas, Texas now and have been married 17 years.
Time flies. Good to see all the familiar names from 20 years ago still here!
How's life in Dallas/Texas/USA with Covid?
Hi chaps.
I run an IT consultancy and have done for 15 years. It seems that all the hard work is slowly paying off.
We provide IT support services to SMEs, provide hardware, design solutions and mend stuff when it breaks.
I have a small team working for me.
We are also Milko's bitch in that we provide some operations for his company (and others) in sports stadia and have done for about 12 years!
I too decided to log on to see if there had been any activity. I've ditched facebook as it's full of berks.
I remember being sat in Geneva airport with my boss and him going “what we need is an IT company based near Middlesbrough” and me taking about 30 minutes to remember that I knew one all along.
Well that's nice to read because I did wonder if you two had ended up competitors.
Honestly, the relationship has been amazing for us and I still remember where I was when you phoned me as back then we were a relatively new company finding our way.
I'm sure I have thanked you but thank you!
Turned out nicely for all concerned I think!
So who has returned to the office if they've been WFH?
My place are encouraging returns but I'm yet to go in. May do a day or two a week from September. Maybe.
Working from home is now officially the default for us, until further notice. The main office in Glasgow is open, but we need to request to be put on the rota to work there. The Edinburgh office is closed, with a view to opening it soon, and the London office is kind of in limbo - the lease ran out during lockdown, and the plans to move to the new place are going as well as can be expected given the circumstances.
We seem to be getting on OK working remotely, although I've definitely noticed the effect on my mental health and sleep patterns, especially if I don't get out for exercise.
Our Slough office is open but I’ve not been there in 2020 anyway I don’t think. We’re lapsing the London lease, probably at some point (debate over soonish or 2021) we’ll get a smaller one and hot-desk, there are a few people miss human contact and don’t have much at home. Or don’t have good working space. If that happens I might go in once or twice a week if there’s a meeting or to Show Leadership, I dunno.
There’s also talk of a budget for getting us all together in a social setting on the regular, once that’s sensibly allowed.
There's definitely a balance to be found. One of the issues I face (or maybe it's in my head) is that because I work at a factory there's been quite a few people in the office/management team who have remained on site as they're more "operational" and they can't exactly do their jobs at home, but their presence on site gives off the feeling that they're risking more for the business (and was seen via a bonus for on-site workers a few months ago....). I'd say I could do all my on site stuff in a day a week.
There's also been a decent amount of recruitment during this period across other departments, all of which are on site. Not being able to actually see and speak to these new people face-to-face for the first time isn't too great.
I started going in two days a week, mainly for some hardware upgrades, but also doing some dev stuff.
I won't be back this year I don't think. Doesn't bother me much if I'm honest as I was WFH before, albeit with odd office trips now and again. My company's approach though is that people should only go into the office if they have problems working from home (kids, lack of space, that kind of thing). Given I've got a dedicated man-cave with three monitors, I don't think that'll apply to me :)
We're under a fair bit of pressure to get everyone* back in the office ASAP. We're resisting and currently am doing 2 days in, 3 days at home.
The 2 days in the office is really weird, but definitely helpful for mental health if nothing else. Now the kids are back at school it's really odd being in the house alone all day.
my boss wan'ts to 'promote' me but he's since revealed there's essentially zero budget for pay raise or whatever (unsurprising seeing as we've been making a loss for years and are permanently on the verge of going under...), so might push for an official WFH half the week as a compromise. I have better IT facilties and a much nicer working environment at home than at work, and the saving on fuel would effectively be a pay raise in itself. We'll see though!
Sort of expecting a second lockdown in Scotland in about a month anyway, case numbers are going up fast and suspect the local lockdowns are going to start merging into one soon.
Decided I'm gonna go back in next Thursday to get my office sorted. Then likely each Wednesday after that. Going to be in a different office to when I started WFH in March, which is a good thing, actually my office before we did a big office move late last year. Less people around and less distractions.
I'm still working from home, recording lectures, delivering shiz remotely. Don't think that will change too soon.
Hello Greg.
How's this work for freshers?
Are many starting uni from home? Or moving into halls/wherever and attending minimal lectures?
It differs a bit depending upon what type of students they are, but there is a general expectation that students will move into halls and have some face-to-face teaching during the first term. Face-to-face teaching is obviously a headache now, as big lectures are a no-no. For intro week, we're having 25% of the cohort in on each of 4 days. Rooms that would previously hold 18 students for group work now hold 4. So sessions are going to be repeated multiple times. Teaching will be done pretty safely, I reckon, and I suspect that the risks arise more from just having the students on campus/in halls.
The MASSIVE ELEPHANT in the room is that I think we all know what the outcomes of this will be. We can pretend that freshers will socially distance and be 'responsible' within various bubbles, but I think that reality will hit home at some point. My real concern isn't so much for the freshers, the majority of whom will probably not suffer dramatic consequences. My concern is about what happens when we reach the point in the first term where everyone decides to go home for the weekend (usually around week 5, I reckon). Coinciding with declining temperatures and the predicted start of a real second wave.
Because of who I teach (med students), there are particular reasons to maintain 'business as usual' where possible, so I can understand why my department is taking its approach. Other departments, I'm not sure that the justifications are quite the same.