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The office landscapes are abandoned.
This week, even the Storting President Tone W. Trøen stayed at the table in the living room on Eidsvoll.
On Saturday last week, the government introduced the strictest measures since March 12, 2020. A mutated virus from the UK has started to spread in Norway.
Companies have sent their employees home. Some have been sitting there since March of last year.
One of them is CTO Ingeborg Øfsthus at Telenor. It has been placed on the windowsill of the Grefsen house, although it is not “completely ergonomically good”.
– There are two of us sitting at home, so while my husband is sitting in the basement with an office chair, a big screen, and a nice office desk, I have chosen to sit by the window up here, Øfsthus says.
– It can get very hectic at work with meetings from 7 to 19. So being able to straighten in the back and look towards Nordmarka gives me some energy. It’s also a bonus that it’s only four meters from the coffee machine from here, he says.
For many, having a home office is very positive.
At Frogirseteren in Oslo, cars are parked close together this Tuesday at 3pm. Cross-country ski enthusiasts go out on skis while it’s still light.
Communications director Kine Søyland at Norgesgruppen has had a better time dealing with the morning rush before school and kindergarten.
Since Oslo closed in November, Søyland has more or less ruled the living room of the house in Bygdøy, while the man has occupied the nursery.
– Maybe we’ll see each other for two minutes over new coffee in the kitchen between two Teams meetings, and a couple of times we’ve ordered lunch at the door, to brighten up home office life a bit, he says.
In the background, wild cheers are heard from the children playing on their respective iPads.
– Over time, we need more than a digital contact, says Søyland.
– It is not the same with meetings in Teams, although I feel that the work itself is done just as well, says Søyland.
From head office in Stabekk, Morten Halleraker leads Hydro’s battery investment. Since October, he has been working to build a new international team.
– On the one hand, it is very effective. We spent little time traveling and managed to work with many people at the same time, says Halleraker.
– On the other hand, I miss contact with people and look forward to the day when we can meet physically and deepen relationships.
Halleraker believes that we gain efficiency, but we lose creativity by being in the home office.
– I miss being able to explore ideas with new colleagues and business partners, in an informal setting, he says.
“We should take some of the lessons and routines we’ve done, but we’ll probably never work in a home office, Halleraker.”
– An observation I have made: these are good times for dogs.
Half a meter from Halleraker’s feet is Elsi, a happy Danish-Swedish farm dog.
Storting Tone President W. Trøen has made another observation.
– I think the home office shows a slightly different side of people. You get a kind of preview of people’s lives and how they feel at home. It’s lovely, says Trøen.
Since March, he alternates between being at the Storting and his home office.
– We solve the Storting tasks as usual, we have only become much more digital, says Trøen.
Behind her is a wall plastered with the Storting logo. Trøen just appeared in an interview on Dagsrevyen.
– I must admit that I find it difficult to set limits on the hours of work on the days I work from home, and I spend too much time on the PC without breaks.
While Trøen is sitting at home, there is a ghostly plot in the Storting.
There is not a single human being in sight.
Also at the DNB head office in Bjørvika, it is empty of people.
DNB CEO Kjerstin Braathen says the vast majority have worked from their home offices in the past year.
– I thrive in a home office when I’m there and have actual days, says Braathen.
She is most concerned about the younger people who work at DNB, who are often overcrowded and alone all day.
– It can be lonely, and we do our best to be aware of colleagues who are now struggling a bit, says Braathen.
One at DNB with an additional challenge is the director of communications at DNB, Vibeke Hansen. She started in the position during the pandemic.
From the Nesoddtangen office, he leads a team of 19 people, with whom he has become primarily acquainted through Teams.
– The pandemic demands more of us, whether we are employees or leaders. It takes a lot longer to meet and build relationships in Teams, so we planned a little more to give our new colleagues the best possible start, Hansen says.
– I think a lot about how employees feel in the home office and especially in the darkest part of winter. We talk a lot about what gives us energy and well-being, he says.
For some occupational groups, a new shutdown has meant a new round of layoffs. While Vinmonopolet in the center of Alna, after much deliberation, is allowed to remain open, XXL must close.
– For those of us who live and work in Oslo, daily life has been turned upside down. From a bustling sale of skis and skates one day to empty stores the next day, says CEO Pål Wibe.
Wibe says closure is difficult for everyone in XXL and the most difficult for those who are not allowed to report to work.
Recent figures from Nav show that the share of layoffs has increased by 5,700 since December. A total of 124,000 people are registered as completely unemployed.
– At the same time, there are opportunities in all crises. The goal is for XXL to emerge stronger from the crisis, says Wibe.
