30 min commute for this wage?

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I am being made redundant and have a job I can apply for but I’m wondering if it’s worth it for the drive
currently earn 27k WFH
new job would be 29k but hours are 8am - 6pm with a 30 min drive each way
it’s also a notorious motorway for constant accidents!

jobs either seem to be min wage or 40k stuff I’m not qualified for so I’m struggling a bit

you’ll find it exhausting if you’ve been wfh

could you realistically get min wage near home!

Hopefully but will still have to work more than 40hrs to get the pay

I guess I’m frustrated and fucked off that I can’t even find a job that’s 28- 30k and doesn’t require a 50hr week. How the fuck do you live if you have a disability that means you can’t work 2-3 jobs but you aren’t disabled enough for PIP?

Will keep searching…

I’d say 30 minutes is a pretty good commute tbh.

Could you ask for reasonable adjustments? Part in the office and part at home?

No WFH available
I’ve found one that’s part WFH but min wage and PT 35 hours meaning I would need a second job

8-6 is unusual for an office job. Usually 9-5. Presumably its an hour for lunch. Could you negotiate either a 30 min or 45 min lunch. Are you sure 8-6 isn't the core hours?

My commute is 30 mins into London and I think I am very lucky.

Second what people are saying - those are very long hours. That's more the problem than the commute.

no, it’s the industry it’s in, breaks and lunches are set times and you’re in for as long as the place is open (trying to be vaguely anonymous!)

HMRC are hiring but it’s less money than I’m on so I’m still to end up worse off there

What is the extra cost of commuting ? For me my commute costs me 35e in fuel and 10e in food and coffee a day. Will this be eaten up with your extra money - personally WFH jobs are very scarce i would not be giving that up easy, and an extra 2k a year not worth it

I wouldn’t give it up but they’re making us all redundant so no choice annoyingly!

This sounds really tough, OP. As others have said, 50 hours for £29,000 can’t be much above minimum wage. A lot of people couldn’t afford to run a car on minimum wage. I wouldn’t listen to the people saying this is a dream commute. This is a lot of hours out of the house each week.

Yeah the car can’t go as I can’t use public transport
thankfully it’s good on fuel and all paid off etc so the running costs are pretty low!
I’ve got a while yet but just stressed and panicking

30 minutes is a short commute by many people's standards.

I would expect you to be worse off compared to WFH for 2K a year less.

But since you're being made redundant, your comparator is not your current job. Your comparator is being unemployed.

Do you think you can find a better job in a short space of time? If not, take this one.

Yeah. I guess I didn’t think I would have to take a wage drop effectively so I need to work out the commute costs etc - I can’t afford any savings/wage drop so I was vaguely hoping I could apply for jobs that are slightly more well paid but I’m not finding anything

Do you think there is any scope to negotiate the salary for this job?

Still wouldn't do it - what is the difference take home pay wise compared to now? I have similar to you and am allowed to work from home 4 days a weeks as due to my illness the commute is too much. My car is getting old now and cant afford money too fix it some but cant afford to change. Lucky we have parking on site, but am still tired sore and takes me a few days to recover after my days on site after

Are you due any redundancy ? With your disability is there specialists recruitment agencies to help you ?

Any options to retrain to a job that is more flexible or better paid? Can you use some of your redundancy money to invest in that?

Yes statutory for 6 years so about 3k? Means I’m ok for about 6 weeks
none that I’ve found but I’m with a couple of standard ones. Have applied for a job I’m not totally qualified for and 9 others but not a single reply yet even to reject me

I don’t know what I would do! I’m open to suggestions
mostly worked in customer service and have a BA hons degree in leisure management, good GCSEs, a levels, national diploma etc
18 years call centre experience, fast typer and speed reader

Public transport is more tiring and stressful than driving and always takes longer as you have to factor in the delays and unpredictability, so I wouldn't see it as a bad thing that you'd have to drive. A 30min drive with music or a podcast on can become quite relaxing when you adjust to it. Just trying to be positive here, not minimising your issues.

Sorry to be all doom and gloom, but you have to weigh everything up. I have a 30 minute commute, unfortunately I have to bypass the M25 leading to the Dartford Crossing, I have often sat in traffic for nearly 3 hours and I don't even go across the bloody river. 30 minutes is fine if your travelling outside of the rush hour, but beware its not very likely in reality op especially if as you say the road is notorious for accidents.

reach out to recruitment agencies etc, when is your final date? Is there any research job hunting you can start now? sign up on linked in for all remote jobs in your field

£29k salary for 40 hours a week - what’s the industry and which part of the country? Can you go for the £40k jobs and learn on the job? You don’t have to match qualifications/experience 100% to apply.

I can’t believe employers think it’s acceptable to pay someone £29k pa for a 40 hour contract in 2025. Minimum wage for those hours is just under £26k.