Tag: Home Office

The normalisation of a distributed workforce has seen some companies fall short when it comes to maintaining effective communications with their employees. Engagement between workers was always taken for granted in traditional office environments.

Nashua's survival is partly thanks to looking beyond specific tech to a broader ecosystem. It has become a rarity for technology companies to thrive for half-a-century or more. Globally, the likes of Intel, Apple and IBM are exceptions. In South Africa, rare hardly begins to describe the lack of longevity in the high-tech space.

While some aspects of office life may be replicated as we work from home, there are some instances where it can’t be replaced. Do you miss the office? You’re not alone.

Internet access has come a long way from the R28,000 it cost for a 256kbps connection in 1995. Even prior to the lockdown, almost 500,000 homes and more than 114,000 business premises were connected to fibre according to FTTX Council research from the end of June 2019. Of course, having high-speed access does not necessarily solve all problems.

The threat of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a national lockdown in South Africa that commenced on 27 March 2020. This has brought about a significant change whereby many employees are now being required to work from home. The question now arises as to whether these employees will be entitled to claim any home office expenses incurred during the period that they are required to work from home.

As most household incomes shrink, Savings Month, this year coinciding with South Africa’s fifth month of COVID-19 lockdown, is placing monthly expenses, especially insurance bills, firmly in the spotlight. And it is not a kind light. It is critical that South Africans under stress use any extra time they may have in lockdown to sensibly review their insurance covers.

In recent years, the refusal rates for UK visit visas have climbed astronomically. With over 260,000 visit visas rejected in 2018, critics are accusing the Home Office of being unjustly restrictive in the applications which they accept.