The most challenging aspect of returning to the office is the commute. This isn’t surprising because commutes of only 30 minutes are linked to higher stress and anger, while 45 minutes or more is linked to poorer overall well-being, daily mood, and health.
When the only people who commuted were those that were required to be physically present for their work or those that wanted to be in the office traffic was massively reduced and commute times shortened if the reduction meant being able to go the speed limit.
Yeah, but McDonald’s and Shell weren’t making enough so they made the bosses tell us to work from the office.
When you have the stress of having to be somewhere at a specific time and place, any delay is a pain. Train/bus/boat/traffic whatever running late or with problems? It’s your fault supposedly for not ‘planning better’ in advance.
The commute also costs us.
So yeah. Spending 30 minutes one way. Hour daily, is an expense and time sink. It eats into your non-paid work time.
Commuting stinks.
It’s past time for commute time to be paid for by our employers. If they want to save money on paying for people’s commutes, they should pay us enough to live closer to our workplaces, or allow us to work from home.
Literally this. My employer has been vocally against wfh for all roles except IT, and recently my manager told me they are relocating the office an hour away from my house and asked me if I was going to “grow with them.” I asked them “what kind of pay increase is on the table?” And they huffed and said “none.” And they got mad at me for asking the question. I’m not subsidizing the cost of your relocation, I’m not taking on 2 hours a day of unpaid commute time not even including the time it takes to get dressed/ready and out the door versus 20-30 minutes per day at present. If I can do it at home, let me, if I need to commute fucking PAY me for the time wasted for this bs. 😤
“First, focus on maximizing the benefits…”
No. First, get your CV up to date and start jobhunting for a guaranteed fully remote position. That’s what the smarter employers are offering. You don’t want to be stuck working for those stone-age dinosaurs who insist on in-office work.
