British prudishness

[Donnywolf]

Well THAT opened a can of worms.

The good old fashioned euphemism I was alluding to seems to have been too subtle.

It's got worse on the evening news. Beauticians complaining that a man can get his beard trimmed in lockdown but a woman can't get a facial.

Beards as far as I know are not allowed to be worked on.

I walked in my local Barbers looking like a tramp on Monday and came out looking like Wolves Manager - neat hair but massive Beard (still) as when I asked if they could see to it they said NO sorry not allowed

So I was half a tramp for a few days till Mrs DW got creative

[sha66y]

Apart from all the “ I know more than you “ posturing ( you know who you all are)
This scheme is bloody brilliant, I get to eat fillet for the price of ribeye, and help someone keep their job....what’s not to like ?

Oh yeah forgot.....that Covid things still out their, at least whilst it suits...

but as the government initiatives are driven by the science ( heard that enough haven’t we) and this is another science driven initiative, then what have you got to lose, go out with the family bubble, sit away from other bubbles and enjoy this new freedom the science allows.....

[River Don]

Perhaps there could be an option for people such as yourself tyke to contribute to those who would lose jobs if we all had your attitude?

There is a better solution. It's blindingly obvious.

Govt continues to spend massively to underpin perfectly viable jobs which could be taken up again safely when we have properly got the infection rate down.

And in future, we all pay this back by working hard and paying tax.

That way, the job losses are minimised without compromising people's health.

Perfectly simple really.

The only problem with that is there are a lot of jobs that are not going to be viable anymore. What CV19 has done is speed up economic change that was already underway.

I think we are going to see a lot more homeworking as office based employees and employers find they are able to work just as effectively without the cost of running an office and using transport. That is going to have a knock on effect in city centres as the services like cafes and shops see a dramatic loss of footfall.  The other change that has been accelerated is the switch from the high street to online shopping.

All in all what's heading down the track is mass unemployment in lower skilled, lower paid jobs in the service sector on the high street.

[BillyStubbsTears]

RD.

What you are talking about is a revolution in the way we work being implemented in a matter of months.

If that is how it is going to be, then fine.  But  without massive Govt underpinning of the economy, you will be looking at mass unemployment like none of us have ever known. Forget the 3 million under Thatcher and Major. You can double that and keep going.

That would not be socially viable for any length of time.

So the conclusion remains the same. Whether you are trying to preserve existing jobs, or underpinning society while we make a revolutionary change to a new way of working, you need unprecedented amounts of Govt borrowing to stop society falling apart.

And then we pay it back over the rest of the century.

[River Don]

I wouldn't dispute what you're saying BST.

I think there has been a wholesale change in the way people work in a matter of months. If only 50% of those who have been working from home continue to do so, then that is a massive change. Anecdotal evidence suggests it going to be that big.

I think other sectors are going to see massive upheaval too. Tourism for instance. There just aren't going to be the same numbers of people flying, hence the lay offs at Rolls Royce and Boeing ending production of the 747.

I really do think we're going to see an unemployment problem like nothing we've witnessed before.

The only option is for massive government spending and job creation. I don't think they are prepared for it. Boris coming on and saying time to get back to work and go back to how it used to be, doesn't cut it.

[turnbull for england]

It's huge , they are talking about the 100 or so staff in our building never being all there together again ,. Aside from risk to lease itself , that's. Fuel , cars sandwich vans , shops , multiply that out  and there's a huge impact on jobs , and that's for a business that still needs to operate, we are nowhere near seeing bottom of this yet

[ravenrover]

Daughter was telling me how much better off financially she is working from home. She has been told there is little chance of getting back to her office this side of Christmas and probably then only for the odd meeting rest of time carry on working from home. As she says no coffee walking across town no nipping out for a sandwich at lunch time no nip into a shop for a new item of clothing or the odd CD no bus/tram fares.

[IDM]

I usually don’t have much of a commute, but working from home saves me at least £60 a month in unused petrol.  There’s the £5-10 a week in pocket cash spent on snacks, never mind the lack of social type spending.

It all adds up..

[BillyStubbsTears]

I usually don’t have much of a commute, but working from home saves me at least £60 a month in unused petrol.  There’s the £5-10 a week in pocket cash spent on snacks, never mind the lack of social type spending.

It all adds up..

A lot of us are having a similar experience. Which is great for us individually.

Problem is, it is awful for the whole economy, because my spending is another person's earning..

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

I usually don’t have much of a commute, but working from home saves me at least £60 a month in unused petrol.  There’s the £5-10 a week in pocket cash spent on snacks, never mind the lack of social type spending.

It all adds up..

A lot of us are having a similar experience. Which is great for us individually.

Problem is, it is awful for the whole economy, because my spending is another person's earning..

Absolutely the case, I've saved a huge amount of money of late on loads of things and that's great in some ways.  It's actually quite a misbalance and advantageous for the non furloughed workers who are at home earning the same money but spending less in comparison with those who were furloughed/lost jobs.  Some of the economic strategies to get us spending are working.  I've managed to tie up a big reduction in my mortgage interest and there is little value in savings accounts currently.  Though if you save via other means there has been significant % gains to have been made in the last few months.

But, there is a cost to it, working from a room in the house for over 4 months now alone has had an impact on those of us who've done that with no break or more work to do.  Clearly though far more preferable than having no job.

[wilts rover]

I usually don’t have much of a commute, but working from home saves me at least £60 a month in unused petrol.  There’s the £5-10 a week in pocket cash spent on snacks, never mind the lack of social type spending.

It all adds up..

Its actually costing me money.

I commute to work by bike so have no fuel costs. Work also supplies free tea & coffee.

However now I am using my electricity &  extra data on my broadband (tho Plusnet are not charging for the extra at the moment) and they are not giving us anything for it.

I am happily working my way through my lp collection tho so think I am good for at least 18 months yet.

[Filo]

It’s costing me money at the moment, have n’t worked since the lockdown, glad I have a small company pension that I get, so supplementing my income from my savings. Not likely to get back to work anytime soon either due to recently breaking my ankle 😢

[River Don]

It will be swings and roundabouts for some. Come the winter time those working from home will notice bigger energy bills but probably cancelled out by travel savings.

What the government has realised is that its going to be very bad news for high street retailers like Pret and Costa. There is also going to be a huge impact on office space in the cities. Public transport will take a huge hit. The likes of TM Lewin, Brooks Brothers and J Crew all going bust... At least partly because they have realised nobody is going to need so much office clothing. Deliveroo riders might do better.

All in all there is a very big adjustment coming and it won't be easy.

[IDM]

If you work from home permanently, you can claim some of your heating and lighting etc against tax.