I always tell my wife not to clean up my office

Corona has certainly blurred the boundaries between living and working, and Home Office became part of everyday life for many people. What will remain of it? We were able to talk about this with Federal President Guy Parmelin before the 25th Grenchner Wohntage.

Federal President Guy Parmelin arrived at the Parktheater Grenchen shortly before 10.30 a.m., and spoke at the 25th Grenchner Wohntage, which is taking place in this form for the last time. He came to give a lecture on the topic of "Living and working, hand in hand" at the 25th Grenchner Wohntage. The lecture is about the opportunities and risks of an increasing fusion of living and working environment. But before that, he took time for a short interview.

Mr. President, have you spent a lot of time in home office yourself?
Guy Parmelin: As a Federal Councillor, I’ve probably experienced this less than certain parts of the population. We were, of course, always physically present at the Federal Council meetings. - with restrictions and taking all protective measures into account.

Have you ever take part in video calls?
Yes, of course. For the preparatory meetings or the meetings with the offices in particular, we almost all did them either via Skype or Zoom. But not from my home in Bursins, but from my office in the Bundeshaus. This is a change that makes certain things more difficult, but also has advantages.

Do you think some of the changes associated with working from home will remain in place beyond the corona period?
Certainly. But, ultimately, every company has to decide for itself how you want to handle it. I can only speak for myself in that sense. We will continue to do the preparatory sessions on Monday morning via video call. That works well.

Photo 1: Federal President Guy Parmelin arrived at the Parktheater Grenchen shortly before 10.30 a.m., and spoke at the 25th Grenchner Wohntage, which is taking place in this form for the last time.
Photo 2: Before Guy Parmelin gave a lecture at the symposium, he took time for the questions of CH Media.
Photos: Jose R. Martinez

Where are the limits?
Let's assume that the Federal Housing Office (Bundesamt für Wohnungswesen) (which organised the Grenchner Wohntage together with the city of Grenchen) had a huge problem: I would then like Martin Tschirren (BWO director) to come to Bern (smiles).
In such a case, I want to be able to see people and discuss directly with them. Ultimately, it will come down to a mix between face-to-face work and home office.

The everyday things can be done well from home, while special things need physical contact?
One could perhaps generalise it that way. But I also see from my employees that you need both. In the beginning, it was interesting to be able to work from home. The uncertainty about the virus was great, no one knew exactly how bad it was. But now, many people desperately want to go back to their normal offices.

Really?
Oh yes, I have an employee who said to me: 'If I had a problem before Corona, I went to a neighbouring office for a coffee with a colleague, and we would find the solution.'

Home office, travel restrictions - Corona has also led to many people investing in their home, in housing. To make it more beautiful. Did you do this too?
Absolutely not. My office is always messy. I know exactly where my dossiers are, but I always tell my wife not to touch anything until I am there. She accepts this, but in return demands that I dust them off myself.

You also had a lot to do, so hardly any time to do anything?
Probably. We actually haven’t changed anything in our house. And we don't have a space problem.

Note:
Federal President Guy Parmelin will be visiting Zug on September 27 to attend the memorial service on the 20^th anniversary of the Zug Massacre.