Driving on overcrowded highways with potholes beats up on your automobile, requiring costly work to ... [+]
If you are told to return to the office, it's back to the dreaded commute. Getting into the city from the suburbs requires long travel times because of traffic congestion and delays with public transportation. You’ll need to allocate more money from the family budget to commute back and forth from the office daily. The schlep wears you down mentally, physically and emotionally.
According to Scientific American, “Each added travel minute correlates with an increase in health problems.” People who commute long distances risk suffering from psychosomatic disorders with physical symptoms, including headaches, backaches, digestive problems and high blood pressure. Other ailments include sleep disturbances, fatigue and problems with concentration.
Long commutes require sedentary activity, causing adverse impacts on your physical and mental health. Sitting for prolonged periods raises the chances of being overweight, heart disease and other health issues. To add insult to injury, you are so tired at the end of the work day that you don’t have the time or strength to take care of yourself and exercise.
The Bosses Want You Back In Your Seats
Corporate leaders at Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Salesforce vociferously called for people to come into the office. They believe that in-office work is necessary to maintain a company culture, foster collaboration, creativity and innovation and bolster productivity.
The CEOs and their top executives lead very different lives than their workers. Highly compensated managers have the money to live in New York City, hire nannies and household help and have a corporate car whisk them to and from their office suites. Either they are blissfully unaware or pretending not to know that their employees are dealing with a completely different reality. The long and expensive commute significantly decreases their quality of life and impacts their financial situation.
Workers Want Flexibility
Workers say they appreciate the flexibility that remote work or hybrid options provide. They enjoy a more fulfilling work-life balance. Remote work or hybrid models empower workers to decide the best way to work for themselves. Employees working from home claim they are more productive and happier. They also point to the environmental benefits of not having to commute. Commuting long distances contributes to increased carbon emissions and pollution. It contributes to traffic congestion, which can harm air quality and contribute to overall environmental degradation.
Pre-Pandemic Commuting
Before the Covid-19 outbreak, Americans resigned themselves to long, brutal, painful and soul-sucking commutes into cities. For example, riding a bus or train or driving from a New Jersey suburb into Manhattan could take three hours round trip.
You're trapped in an iron rattling through 100-year-old train tracks, stuck between people sneezing or coughing, wondering where that ungodly smell is emanating from. The trains and buses are uncomfortable, and the air quality is lackluster. Despite train or bus delays and breakdowns, the ticket prices are very high.
Once you’re in the city, you may need to catch another bus, subway or walk a long way to reach your office. You are freezing in the winter and boiling in the hot August summer. Walking the city streets, you need to be careful about your safety. This experience leads to decreased job satisfaction. You may also bring the stress back home and take it out on loved ones, causing rifts with family and friends.
Driving on overcrowded highways with potholes beats up your automobile, requiring costly work to fix your car.
You can stock up on food at home and buy in bulk to save money. In a city, you’ll pay more than $30 daily for breakfast, lunch and a drink or two after work with colleagues. There is also an opportunity cost. You lose hours out of your day commuting. It leaves less time for meeting deadlines, exercising and spending time with your family.
Returning to the office requires purchasing a new wardrobe and ditching your sweatpants. You’ll need to spend a small fortune for childcare if you have young children. After eight-plus hours working, a three-hour commute and some time to decompress, there is not enough time to take care of the chores around the house.
