regprentice Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 I work for a bank who has aggressively sold old buildings, enforced 2 days a week working from home and squeezed staff into extremely tight spaces to cut costs. - Its utter misery....but in the current market they cant sell the offices they have empty. Today they have run an article on their intranet celebrating the fact that they can't shift their now empty commercial property portfolio, but its ok because they are doing their bit for the housing crisis by converting corner offices on every floor into 'Habitable' spaces which are now occupied by 'Live in guardians' who look after the empty office block in return for a 'low' rent. Apparently any 'Young Professional' can avoid sky high rents by becoming what is essentially a 24 hour security guard for nothing, and get to live like someone from Dawn of the Dead/The walking dead/28 days later etc Must be surreal to be cocooned in a bedsit type flat and then walk out through floors of empty offices to get out to the street, having the choice of ten cubicles for your daily dump etc etc etc. http://liveinguardians.com/guardians Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locke Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 So...what they're really saying is, young people could charge up to £33k a year to occupy/look after office blocks? What purpose does this middleman serve, other than to skim from both the renter and property owner? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 35 minutes ago, Locke said: So...what they're really saying is, young people could charge up to £33k a year to occupy/look after office blocks? What purpose does this middleman serve, other than to skim from both the renter and property owner? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayward Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 In a rational market the guardian's would be paid or at least live rent free...it is grim out there.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacedin Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 This has been going on for donkey's years in the Netherlands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacedin Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 (edited) What really angers me about those comparisons is they omit to mention the incredibly weak security of tenure those 'live in guardians' have. An AST is not exactly great but that security has a quite obvious monetary value that they need to factor into the supposed savings these guardians make. Edited August 16, 2018 by spacedin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyguy Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 The word they are looking for is security guard. No well paid but paid work. Fux subbed rent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckmojo Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 12 hours ago, Wayward said: In a rational market the guardian's would be paid or at least live rent free...it is grim out there.... My thoughts too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayward Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 15 hours ago, spacedin said: This has been going on for donkey's years in the Netherlands. Its being going on for years in the UK...this is not news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riedquat Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 On 14/08/2018 at 16:08, regprentice said: ...enforced 2 days a week working from home... Employees should be able to charge their employer office rent for that. Working at home is the last thing I'd want to do (I very much prefer keeping work and home separate), to be forced to without compensation just because an employer sees my house as free office space would be completely unacceptable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckmojo Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 1 hour ago, Riedquat said: Employees should be able to charge their employer office rent for that. Working at home is the last thing I'd want to do (I very much prefer keeping work and home separate), to be forced to without compensation just because an employer sees my house as free office space would be completely unacceptable. I view this the other way around. I can do quality work in isolation (and travel a lot when needed) while listening to Slayer loudly. I have personally taken a huge pay cut to take a role in the North East and work from home compared to anywhere near London or where I was before (Dubai). Best decision I ever made for sanity and wellbeing. Though I do see your point about office space. My employer provided all the kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riedquat Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 1 hour ago, stuckmojo said: I view this the other way around. I can do quality work in isolation (and travel a lot when needed) while listening to Slayer loudly. I have personally taken a huge pay cut to take a role in the North East and work from home compared to anywhere near London or where I was before (Dubai). Best decision I ever made for sanity and wellbeing. Though I do see your point about office space. My employer provided all the kit. Fair enough, what suits one person doesn't suit another (there's no way in hell I'd want to work in either London or Dubai either). Personally I very much don't want work invading my home life - when I've left work at the end of the day that's it, when I'm at home I'm at home, not work. Even the commute is good for that, providing mental separation due to both time and space. But having the choice is good. Forcing it isn't, and even if your employer provided the kit (which they very much should) it's still them using your house as free office space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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