Am I mad to be switching my hybrid job for long commute?

I do a couple of days in the office which is an hour plus commute each way. Looking for a new job because all you need is one set of roadworks and you are done for.

Assuming it's 5 days a week - so 10 hours commuting? (Ie more than a working day in itself).

Not for me. Unless the job was something actually amazing, life-changingly good...

Do you need to get home to strict deadlines eg childcare pickup? The longer you're on the road in rush hour, the less predictable the commute can be ime.

1 hour on public transport, yes. 1 hour driving, no. With PT you can at least read, play games, watch TV etc.

I was kind of in this situation and went for plan C - another job.

It was going to add another 8 hours to my working week. I didn't think it worth it. Something else came up soon after that has some travel and some wfh.

Id focus on career progression. Is this good for your career? Once you say have worked a year or so could you look for your next role nearer home?

Is commute straight forward motorway or lots winding roads.

I've spent the majority of my working life commuting about an hour each way on public transport.
For the last 9 years of substantive employment, I commuted an hour and a half each way.
Never been a problem for me and you get used to it.
Hope this helps

I would need to take home an extra £2k a month to persuade me to do that.

I bloody love wfh

Similar situation here

Job is very unfulfilling

But it's 1 day a week in the office, great pension, amazing holidays

I've realised that really, what an I trying to prove?

A 10% increase for a load of hassle? In office presence? Less holidays??

Why??!

I did it for years and loved having that time to listen to music etc, it was more like 90 minutes each way, depending on the traffic. Twice it took over 4 hours to get home due to accidents.
I now WFH full time and love that too but if I was offered a significant amount of money (+30k above my pay now as it would cost about 7.5k in fuel) I wouldn't do it again.

Not being unreasonable. I do 2 days in office, 3 at home and it’s 1.5 hours each way. If I went to fully office I would have to change jobs

Personally for me I wouldn’t do it as I prefer a shorter commute and the WFH flex is also valuable to me. But if it doesn’t bother you and you can spare the 2 hours lost time each day then go for it.

I’d hate such a long commute and wouldn’t do it for the best job in the world, but if you don’t mind driving it’s probably fine.

That’s not too bad a commute - mine was twice that before covid

I’ve done long commutes in the past and not minded them. These days however, I’ve WFH for nearly 10 years and my home set up is geared around it. Salary increase would have to be significant - more than enough to cover buying in the support to maintain my current set up (doggy day care, cleaner, sending out laundry and that’s just for starters), as well as a lot more disposable income.

How much more would you enjoy the new job? Why do you want to change?

used to do it pre covid my commute was one hour each way every day. when covid happened and started wfh I realised how bloody tiresome it was. the constant concentration having to get up early to beat traffic and make sure leave office to beat traffic. then rush to get dinner on in eve housework etc at weekend. I actually dunno how I did it really and I say if kept going would have burnt out. I am still in same role but wfh 4 days a week. traffic has increased now alot more so can take 2 hours to get to work and that's even using the shortcut back roads. no public transport available at all. I will never ever go back to it. don't think I would be able to do it now am older am wrecked by my one day as it is. plus the cost of it now with diesel prices. for me hybrid and flexibility all the way

I had a 75 min commute each way for about a year - initially thought it’d be ok and could listen to audiobooks etc. It soon became tiresome and I ended up changing jobs. It was tiring and I hated arriving home an hour later than normal, especially in winter months. If I had lived alone I might have tolerated it better, but I hated losing the extra hour in the evening, always rushing to sort out homeworks/uniforms etc. If you own the car outright maybe it’s not so bad, but mine was leased at the time and I had to increase my monthly payments to cover the extra mileage.

Genuine question, how important is it to you to be fulfilled at work?

I'm not always fulfilled, but my job is homeworking, flexible and well paid so I get to work less hours and do all kids the school stuff which is more important to me at this stage of life.

There's a minimum wage job nearby that I would happily skip to each morning and it would give me enormous satisfaction. But it's not flexible, it would be draining in a different way and it would have the drawbacks of shift work and not being able to see the kids as much.

So going back to my question, even if the new job was perfect and fulfilling, would it overall make your life better or worse? Can you be content by a better work life balance or would you enjoy the commute?

I occasionally commute for about 2.5 hours each way but I hate having to down tools at a set time to get the train and then it's a lottery if its on time or overbooked or delayed. I spend half my afternoon clock watching to make sure I'm leaving on time and it's not as productive as being able to let a meet8ng sometimes overrun or book it near the end of the day.

I have done hour-long commutes each way, 30 minute commutes and 2 minutes' walk round the corner.
I preferred the 30 minute commute, gave me time to listen to the radio/news etc. on the way in and to decompress on the way home again.
I found an hour just too long, especially if traffic was busy. Going into to work was usually fine as I like to start early, but coming home was a complete lottery. One day, for example, I left the office at 16:00, but did not arrive home until 19:45 on a 75km commute, mostly on motorways. That was an exception.
I hated being 2 minutes' walk from the office.

I did this for years in my 30s and it felt worth it at the time. I wouldn’t do it now even without children. I think it creates a sense of being without balance which is ultimately bad for our mental and physical health.

Habpve you costed the commute? That could be mote then you think