back to article DXC Technology puts reluctant office movers on naughty step

DXC Technology staff who continue to ignore orders to haul their asses 4km (2.5 miles) across London to repopulate shiny offices in Kings Cross will soon be locked out of the building they're reluctant to exit. Top brass at DXC – a spin-merge (with a reputation for "fun-ishment") between CSC and Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s …

  1. caffeine addict

    "Wilson didn’t shed any light in his memo as to why he wants DXC to return to the Kings Cross offices."

    That sounds like a cheap shot unless you are going to at least hint at where the guy lives...

    1. Martin Summers Silver badge

      Was this line not there when you commented?:

      "But it certainly had nothing to do with the handy location of his home in relation to a certain rail line."

      If it was then that's enough of a hint.

      1. caffeine addict

        It was there.

        If it said "But it certainly had nothing to do with the handy location of his Hertfordshire home in relation to a certain rail line." then it would be relevant, but he could well live in Exeter, Glasgow or Monaco for all we know.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      To be closer to Google?

      All this means that staff will only have to go around the corner to get a nice shiny new job at the new Google site. Why wouldn't you?

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Not getting this....

    office relocations are nothing new (I've helped in dozens for my company), and at least in London you can actually get there. It's not like they are moving 15 miles to another town. So what is actually their issue?

    1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

      Re: Not getting this....

      Perhaps... Where they are now, their cubicle is 100sq ft and their new one is 50sq ft?

      Companies are well known for using an office move to squeeze in more bodies into a smaller space.

      It might even be that they are supposed to 'hot-desk' and that there are not enough desks to go around?

      That is a good way to 1) get people into the office earlier and thus get free work out of them and 2) make people leave without any redundancy.

      Whichever it is, the beancounters love it.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Not getting this....

        but my laptop only needs 3 sq ft .

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Not getting this....

        Actually, both offices are hot desk setups, and neither have cubicles I've been working with them on a project for a few months now, partner company of DXC... the Walbrook office is pretty swish, but when HPE moved in, absolutely crammed, no meeting rooms available at all. Our team moved over to KX for our co-located day, and had a floor of 60 desks to ourselves, plenty of meeting rooms (and the screens worked too). Even coffee is better... Plus, I walked to it from Euston rather than 5 stops on Northern Line... fine by me!

    2. David Nash Silver badge
      WTF?

      Re: Not getting this....

      Yeah if your office moves, you move. It's only a couple of miles. What's wrong with these people?

      1. Andus McCoatover
        Pint

        Re: Not getting this....

        2½ miles? Closer than my fave pub! (Or further from theirs for a 'liquid lunch'?)

      2. Adam 52 Silver badge

        Re: Not getting this....

        "Yeah if your office moves, you move. It's only a couple of miles. What's wrong with these people?"

        For most people covered by English employment law, place of work is a contractual provision and can't be changed on a whim.

        As others have said, the new office may be dire, not near their clients, not have working IT. If you live somewhere with a train line to Blackfriers or Canon St then it's likely to be a much longer commute too.

        1. Number6

          Re: Not getting this....

          For most people covered by English employment law, place of work is a contractual provision and can't be changed on a whim.

          There's often a relocation provision in there. A couple of miles isn't enough to trip any redundancy provision - had they moved to Coventry then yes, staff could have claimed redundancy rather than move.

          As others have said, the new office may be dire, not near their clients, not have working IT. If you live somewhere with a train line to Blackfriers or Canon St then it's likely to be a much longer commute too.

          Not having working IT is fine, turn up, get paid, spend your time complaining about how bad it is because the infrastructure is preventing you from working.

    3. Miss Lincolnshire

      Re: Not getting this....

      Nicer Pret-A_Manger near Walbrook probably

      Underlying all of this there will be an initiative to force people into central London office space when they have been perfectly constructive shuffling in to work from a spare bedroom at home.

      Wilson doesn't do anything unless there's an ulterior motive, and this will be about pissing people off so they'll leave without seeking a payoff . I'm surprised he offer to stand in the lobby and chuck sweets at them as they arrive.

      1. d3vy

        Re: Not getting this....

        "Underlying all of this there will be an initiative to force people into central London office space when they have been perfectly constructive shuffling in to work from a spare bedroom at home"

        If they are on a CSC wage and live anywhere near London there's​ no way they've got a spare room.. they probably can't afford a dedicated bedroom...

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    This isn't a relocation issue

    This is actually about getting those who are (officially) office-based but have been used to working from home back into the office...

    1. Snowy Silver badge

      Re: This isn't a relocation issue

      In which case when they say "In addition, from week commencing the 19th of June you will see your permanent badge disabled from Walbrook as the period of transition ends." it is going to do nothing to those who work from home?

    2. caffeine addict

      Re: This isn't a relocation issue

      It's also likely to be because people were working in one location then commuting to the other (on company time) for meetings.

  4. Unep Eurobats
    Go

    2.5 miles may not sound like a lot

    But in London, it can be enough of a difference to turn a viable, fine-tuned commute into something that's significantly less bearable.

    Having said that, it is cool around King's Cross these days.

    1. caffeine addict

      Re: 2.5 miles may not sound like a lot

      True, but 4 stops on the northern line hardly sounds like the end of the world...

      1. Michael B.

        Re: 2.5 miles may not sound like a lot

        One stop on the Northern Line at rush hour is internationally classified as cruel and unusual punishment.

        1. whileI'mhere

          Re: 2.5 miles may not sound like a lot

          Which stop is that?

  5. anothercynic Silver badge

    But it certainly had nothing to do with the handy location...

    ... of his home in relation to a certain rail line.

    Oh you cynics! *smirk*

  6. Stevie

    Bah!

    Good to see that in the post-brexit UK they've at long last fallen out of love with that ridiculous "telecommuting" fad.

    Now all they have to do is get rid of these "cubicles" and everyone can work in an office that resembles a large schoolroom like they did in 1960.

    Can it be long before cloudy "computing as a service" returns us to the "one terminal in an office of twelve people" days?

    Red jackets and pith helmets all round! Mark yer target and let's have a couple of verses of "Men of Harlech"! Colour Sergeant Bourne! Form a flying platoon at once! The Empire is rebuilding itself by sheer willpower!

    1. Miss Lincolnshire

      Re: Bah!

      "Quiet now, there's a good gentlemen"

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Bah!

      The Empire is rebuilding itself by sheer willpower!

      You're referring to the wrong empire. It'll be grey uniforms, mincy little hats, and a trip to the Kings Cross Deathstar.

      On a separate note relating to red uniforms, when my dad were a lad, he knew an old boy who actually fought at Rorke's Drift. When you lived in Aldershot back in the day, you couldn't make that stuff up because people knew. How cool is that?

      1. Stevie
        Pint

        Re: Bah!

        Very cool. You and the young lady wot spoke previous can each have an e-beer on me.

        I'm currently sporting a Nigel Green CSB full set on account of me and the wife doing a bit of Victorian Steampunk Cosplay at the last Lunacon, me in the red coat, white pith helmet and equipped with the finest appropriate heavy ray gunnage, Mutinous Martians for the Zapping Of, she in a nice deep blue ensemble c/w my patent dimensional stabilizing clutch purse, Timetravellin' Amorous Kidnapper Swine for the Foilin' Of.

        Lots of green lightning. Weird Science should glow green and have lightning in it.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Good one...

    "But it certainly had nothing to do with the handy location of his home in relation to a certain rail line."

    Hahahaha... like the CEO takes the train, very funny.

    1. wyatt

      Re: Good one...

      Bigger helipad maybe?

    2. Number6

      Re: Good one...

      If he's got a first class ticket then it's probably quite a comfortable way to travel, plus he can use his laptop to work. Beats driving from Hertfordshire to Kings Cross (almost) any day.

  8. Dan 55 Silver badge

    Well duh

    There's no need for the CEO to get all fascist about it, if people don't have to move offices until day X and the other offices are a longer commute, they're not going to do that until day X.

  9. Herby

    Picture is nice as well.

    I don't know much about relocation (we have cars in Sillycon Valley), but the picture of a Basset Hound (aka Low-Rider Dog) is wonderful. It reminds me of my youth when we had two of them at home. They were nice (as pictured) tri-color Bassets, and some of the first on the west coast. My mom & dad were friends of the TV show "The Peoples Choice" which had Clio as the dog who had thoughts about the goings on.

    That was MANY moons ago, but still fond memories.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    insider view

    He'll be pretty keen on getting everybody into the King's Cross office because of the "buzz"

    Part of DXCs schizophrenic mindset is that it is somehow a great, exciting community, something you want to be a part of, rather than a bunch of underpaid, worn down bodies who are united ited in little more than their cynicism and pessimism.

    Still, "Forward Together" until the next monthly round of redundancies...

  11. XCH_CSC_DXC_WhatNext

    I wonder if it's more to do with separating DXC and Xchanging. The merger hasn't worked well and there is a bid for the London market business going on. It could be that the Xchanging Joint Ventures with the London Market stay put and the rest of DXC goes. It would make sense as they they have already hinted at offshoring a lot of Xchanging and closing the outlying offices so it would all fit in Walbrook.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    KX Offices a great place to work, expect the working part.

    It was already crowded before the merger. It was so noisy and had poor mobile coverage that you had to take your calls near the windows or walk outside and use the balcony. There were a few meeting rooms but booked by management all day. During the summer the temperature was that high that you couldn’t keep it dry?

    Everybody was excited to move to Walbrook… Is anybody wondering why they wouldn’t go back?

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    No wonder the office is empty - nobody can travel...

    No wonder its empty..... right now - unless you're travelling on your own dollar - nobody is allowed to travel anywhere anyway - let alone the shiny new office.....

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