In a race to reduce costs, the Commission is preparing a document that will enable all DGs to organize themselves in “hot desk”mode …
What is the “hot desk”? It’s very simple: you do not have an office of your own. The first colleague to arrive in the morning runs to his small locker at the entrance of the building, takes the few belongings he or she could store there, and rushes to the “office” (individual, shared or landscape) he or she prefers. Information: the “Office/plateau” in question may measure 1.00m by 0.75m … The remaining colleagues take the offices that are left, and so on. You are too late and there are no more offices available in your building? No problem: you go into the meeting rooms … or in the next building!
What are the technical solutions considered for post, PC or the phone? The Commission has thought of everything (of course …):
– Post will be deposited in mail boxes on each floor …
– The desktop PC will be replaced by a laptop which you will be responsible for!
– Your telephone will be rerouted to your PC (a Commission Skype) and the Commission will provide you with a pair of headphones free of charge.
All the details mentioned above (and many other, more sinister …) are taken from a document under preparation: R&D hasn’t made it up! What is the official justification for this new way of working? Cost reduction is mentioned but it is also “stimulating creativity and “the new generations who are attracted to the dynamic aspect and the use of these new technologies!” It sounds like a dream!
Does the paper bother about what the staff thinks? Not in the least! Has the middle management, who will have to organize the life of a unit under these conditions, been consulted? That does not seem to be the case!
A simple Internet search will give you an idea of the drawbacks associated with this type of work organization … Don’t hesitate to send us your views on the subject, or to inform DG HR about that through the current staff survey. R&D will take all possible steps to ensure that your views are echoed at the highest level of the Commission.