My - admittedly slightly radical - idea on commute is: Make it part of working hours. If me being in the office five days a week is so valuable for my employer, then put your money where your mouth is. I am not commuting because I like a stuffed train, but because it's mandated by the employer - and I am likely to do email or reading industry news anyway while commuting. Sure, you can set some guardrails such as up to one hour / day of commute can be put against your working hours but such a policy would at least focus the debate on the value of being in the office versus "I feel it's better for our culture".
Thank you for your thought-provoking post. I think there may be an additional aspect that we often ignore, which is the ecosystem within which the office exists. Not sure it's just about the length of commute and the reliability and often unpleasantness of it. I think there's something about the environment in which the office location sits. Whether it's a business park, or a London suburb, or even London centre, the cultures are often sterile. They often reek of performance mentality and little of the humanity we look for outside of that. I think today's Gaping Void post made a very valid observation.
Hi Ian, based on observations in my organisation, I’d say there’s a link between the days that younger people want to come to the office and the length of the commute - and that link is housing prices. I’ve also observed my younger colleagues come to the office more, and that’s because many of them live in shared rental housing, so they don’t have a dedicated work space at home. WFH for them equals “don’t leave your bedroom all day”. The reason they are in shared housing is that to afford a larger house, they’d have to move a long way from the city centre - the commute trade off. Conversely I observe my older colleagues live further out because they want to own not rent, have space for kids etc. And guess what - they don’t come to the office so often, because of the long commute.
That’s only a data point of n=1, but might the same be true in other workplaces and cities?
My - admittedly slightly radical - idea on commute is: Make it part of working hours. If me being in the office five days a week is so valuable for my employer, then put your money where your mouth is. I am not commuting because I like a stuffed train, but because it's mandated by the employer - and I am likely to do email or reading industry news anyway while commuting. Sure, you can set some guardrails such as up to one hour / day of commute can be put against your working hours but such a policy would at least focus the debate on the value of being in the office versus "I feel it's better for our culture".
And pay for it
Thank you for your thought-provoking post. I think there may be an additional aspect that we often ignore, which is the ecosystem within which the office exists. Not sure it's just about the length of commute and the reliability and often unpleasantness of it. I think there's something about the environment in which the office location sits. Whether it's a business park, or a London suburb, or even London centre, the cultures are often sterile. They often reek of performance mentality and little of the humanity we look for outside of that. I think today's Gaping Void post made a very valid observation.
https://mailchi.mp/gapingvoid/infinite-game-or-bottomless-pit-2769567?e=22bfe218ef
Hi Ian, based on observations in my organisation, I’d say there’s a link between the days that younger people want to come to the office and the length of the commute - and that link is housing prices. I’ve also observed my younger colleagues come to the office more, and that’s because many of them live in shared rental housing, so they don’t have a dedicated work space at home. WFH for them equals “don’t leave your bedroom all day”. The reason they are in shared housing is that to afford a larger house, they’d have to move a long way from the city centre - the commute trade off. Conversely I observe my older colleagues live further out because they want to own not rent, have space for kids etc. And guess what - they don’t come to the office so often, because of the long commute.
That’s only a data point of n=1, but might the same be true in other workplaces and cities?
Thank you - yes. It’s sometimes called The Housing Theory of Everything and I talked about it here https://open.substack.com/pub/makeworkbetter/p/accepting-its-over-might-be-your?selection=909e4396-6917-4d24-b20a-db6947f710a2&utm_campaign=post-share-selection&utm_medium=web&aspectRatio=instagram&textColor=%23ffffff&bgImage=true
Thanks Bruce, that definitely chimes.
(And sorry for getting your name wrong - unfortunately I can’t edit the comment and fix it!)