What happens when people can’t afford to actually get to work?

[Standbylove]

We have this scenario potentially cropping up, one of our team members is struggling for money since the cost of living has risen - they are tied into a large mortgage and even though we are paid well she’s finding it hard to find the money to make the 50 mile commute daily. It’s starting to make her stressed and anxious.
We don’t really have a WFH policy but the job could be done WFH but then that would open the can of worms for the whole organisation.
Surely this is going to crop up more and more. I wonder how sympathetic businesses will be….

It’s not a can of worms. It’s moving with the times. We don’t all need to be driving our cars around the country miles and miles every day, anymore. If the job can be done from home, it is the most ethical thing to do.

For everyone saying move, it wasn't so long ago mumsnet was screaming that 90 mins or 70 miles was average for a commute so saying, if you can't afford it move jobs, it's really not that simple.

Those with heavy commutes are likely to be working in large cities where housing is unaffordable and as such have ended up in the outer areas but with still large mortgages. This is only going to get worse if the predictions are anything to go by.

Other options include…

Hybrid working
Renting a room near work
Buying a moped that does 100mpg
Driving or riding to a train station

Not very. Why should they be? You said she's well paid, just prioritised her massive mortgage 🤷🏻‍♀️

The good employers will be sympathetic, mine letting people WFH for 3 days per week instead of 2, some paying people extra money to cover their commute!

Honestly, recruiting & training workers is an expensive business, especially when we have more job vacancies than people!

Savvy employers will be flexible!

Nobody blamed the employee. But it's also not the employers problem.

Very interesting responses above. I wonder what they will be in a year's time.

I’m also curious if the 50 miles is round trip or each way! I ready it as each way as I think 25 miles is pretty typical but maybe that was wrong.

In my partners case (80 mile commute one way)

A room nearby would be more than he currently pays in petrol per month
He's tried to find work locally but the money is so much less and the travel within the county so much to pay that we wouldnt be able to afford our outgoings, he hasnt even passed any interviews anyway, no qualifcations and near retirement age
He cant take (and I wouldnt let him) a moped on a motorway
The train is far more money and much longer journeywise that the petrol

As ever this will depend on the employer's attitude and the employee's usefulness. One answer is a payrise. Another is a cost of living payment (we got one). Or a small second job, cutting back elsewhere, hybrid working, car sharing or finding a better paid role.

This issue is going to affect more and more people soon. It is a problem for business as disruption is expensive.

This is both the business and the employee’s problem.

Many many people’s financial situations are based on life 2012-2019. And life in 2022 is a rude shock. Many businesses need to attract staff in a wide geographical area or they wouldn’t have the staff.

Wow no sympathy or understanding on here is there? I read it as 25 miles each way which is not unreasonable. A large mortgage doesn’t necessarily mean a large house, particularly if you are a first time buyer who only managed to save the minimum deposit.
Every household bill has increased yet wages haven’t moved. Very few employers are offering wage rises either. Civil servant here with a measly 3% and Jacob Reece Mogg hovering round telling us all we need to stop wfh (although no good reason as to why).

I'm loving all the people saying just move or get a job closer to home. Who do you think is going to serve the coffees, teach the kids, collect the trash, etc etc in expensive areas if nobody worked where they couldn't afford to live. Look at the staffing difficulties of tourist areas already then start thinking about if people can't afford to commute to work.

Some people on here have no understanding of how other people live. It’s so hard to ‘just move’ - what if her husband works in the order direction? Kids in school doing exams? You can’t just ‘move’ - plus it costs so much in fees, maybe the area closer to work is more expensive which is why she lives 50 miles away.
Petrol prices are bonkers now. Who would have predicted that? And those who say go on public transport are having a laugh. Public transport in most areas of the country is terrible - I live less than an hour from London, so hardly rural, but I can’t get public transport to my job 10 miles away without it taking 90 minutes on a bus, heading in one direction to another town and changing bus. I can’t cycle as the roads are too dangerous & I work weird hours so cycling in the dark. And crossing dual carriageways. So that’s a no go either. No trains anywhere nearby.
I wish people would stop coming up with patronising ‘solutions’ that aren’t workable for so many people.

I’d be more interested to know what your colleagues suggestion is to solve her problem?

It’s not really the businesses problem, nor yours OP. What’s her solution and can the Company make it work?

I have to disagree with those who say it's the employees problem, it is but it will also impact the employer. The cost of losing and replacing an experienced member of staff is high and in the current labour market, very difficult.

OP if some of the work can be done from home then I think the most sensible option is looking into this arrangement not just for this employee but something you could roll out. She is unlikely to be the only one struggling but may be the only one who has told you. It may prevent higher attrition levels from other areas as I'm afraid these issues are only going to get worse.

“Just move closer to work”

teachers who work at highly rated state schools, where the parents buy within the catchment in order to send their chidkren and house prices are high, can’t just do that. Oh well, I’m sure those schools will just find other teachers

It’s not the employer’s problem. Most colleagues will presumably live closer

however I’m surprised that there is no wfh policy. If everyone wfh some days there would be less pressure, that said people will just have to pay to heat their homes instead of commuting costs. What happened in the pandemic?

One of my teacher colleagues has also done this - by moving schools he will save around £200 a month on petrol costs. He doesn’t want to move but felt like he didn’t have much choice.

Employers will not care. But when things get better those employers will then bemoan the rest of the staff leaving and those they lost.

You’re absolutely right in everything you say, however if someone works 50 miles away from where they live, they should be aware of the possible extra costs of commuting if prices rise (as they have). I purposely worked very close to where I lived when money was tight as I had been bitten by inflation in the 80s when mortgage rates went through the roof.

employers will have a problem if the place of employment is in an area with expensive housing that isn’t affordable on the wages they pay

*Some people on here have no understanding of how other people live. It’s so hard to ‘just move’ - what if her husband works in the order direction? Kids in school doing exams? You can’t just ‘move’ - plus it costs so much in fees, maybe the area closer to work is more expensive which is why she lives 50 miles away.

Petrol prices are bonkers now. Who would have predicted that? And those who say go on public transport are having a laugh. Public transport in most areas of the country is terrible - I live less than an hour from London, so hardly rural, but I can’t get public transport to my job 10 miles away without it taking 90 minutes on a bus, heading in one direction to another town and changing bus. I can’t cycle as the roads are too dangerous & I work weird hours so cycling in the dark. And crossing dual carriageways. So that’s a no go either. No trains anywhere nearby.

I wish people would stop coming up with patronising ‘solutions’ that aren’t workable for so many people.*

what is your suggested solution?

If someone can’t afford their lifestyle then they need to do something to change it.
they can reduce outgoings or increase what’s incoming. Of these, if you’re already in a decent job then it’s usually easier to decrease outgoings.

We don’t really have a WFH policy but the job could be done WFH but then that would open the can of worms for the whole organisation

Why would hybrid working open a can of worms? It's pretty much standard practice across organisations for roles which lend themselves to home working, it's hardly a new concept. It all depends on whether the organisation is willing to move with the times, embrace new ways of working, work to retain good staff, commit to cutting down its carbon footprint andacknowledge the economic climate and associated hardships that are being felt right across the country. Good organisations do that.

I think if you choose to live 50 miles away from where you have applied for a job then it is on you to do the maths and look to having wiggle room between what the job is paying and any potential increases in any outgoings you have.

We were in a position years ago where we moved out to the middle of nowhere for dh’s work. Dh was then made redundant a few years later and although there were plenty of jobs going back in London and we really wanted to move back we think as soon as any potential employer saw his address his application and cv went in the bin.

Only when friends said we could use their address did he immediately get the next job he applied for.
After going through 2 years of Dh being out of work and constant rejections because employers wouldn’t take a chance on someone from out of the standard commute zone this type of thing only goes to confirm that employers are correct in binning anyones job application after just reading the address.

FWIW when we did move back to London our outgoings went down by about £250 per month even after taking out the cost of commuting.