Not to take job as it's 1 hour commute ?

[pollyputaket]

Basically I've been looking for a job for a while now and the only job I've been offered is 1 hour commute.
It's a 5 min walk from my house to train station
Then 50 min train journey
Plus 5 min walk from train station to office.
£11 train per day travel
So that is £55 on fares per week
Aibu not to take it for this reason ?
What would you do?

@pollyputaket, are you well enough to work if you are on sickness benefits? You've only mentioned your commuting costs, not your health.

So basically it's a metro from Sunderland to four lane ends?
That's a bog standard commute! That's how people get to work! Travelling from Newcastle to Sunderland and vice versa!
Also an weekly all zone metro pass is £23.10, 4 weekly is £78.30 and an annual one is £688.00.

You'll probably find that there's a travel card offered by your work once you start. So my leapcard would cost me 40 euro a week but only 29 is deducted from my wages every week because work take the deduction before tax (?) so it ends up being less than you'd pay

I’ve never heard of this in the UK (I miss the lunch coupons I got when working in Germany which don’t exist here either!) but it is quite common for employers to offer interest-free season ticket loans so that you can save money by buying an annual season ticket rather than weekly/monthly, and also fairly common to participate in cycle to work schemes to help you get a bike.

I'd take it and keep looking for a job in your home city. When prospective employers assess your application you will stand out from others as already being in employment, and if they know you are willing to travel to another city for work it also shows you are committed.

Which business park is it op? I’ve not lived that way for a while but if it’s Quorum it’s only 20min walk, unless that would be too far (You mention sickness benefit so didn’t want to presume).

Anyway, you know what will be too much for you, if you think it’ll be too much then don’t go for it, but if it was me I would go for it. It’ll be more money than you have now, another job to add to your CV and as PPs have said if you can wfh after 6 months then it won’t be forever. If you get a seat on the metro too you can fit in loads of reading!

I guess that's what benefits are for - to save you the inconvenience of a commute.

@LBunz that's the one.
I don't have a clue at all tbh where it is.
I've never been outside the city centre of Newcastle

[quote pollyputaket]@LBunz sorry I did my working out wrong.
It's four lane ends the metro stops but the business park is 5 mins away by car (by map I thought walk but it meant drive )
So from four lane ends I would need a Uber there and back which adds the cost or I get off at longbenton and walk which just leaves the metro cost [/quote]
@pollyputaket an Uber to work?! On NMW?
Sorry but your whole attitude is off. You seem to have really unrealistic ideas about the world of work.
Unless you have some form of disability which you have not mentioned on here, you should walk from the metro. And if you have a disability which means you can’t walk, then talk to your employer because they should provide some support. Just so you know, the vast majority of employees do not take taxis to work, even those on 6 figure salaries.

If you're basing your walk time on google maps, it's based on quite a slow pace, so unless you have mobility issues, it won't take as long as it says.

Your average 'marching commuter' could probably do it in 50-70% of the time stated.

Pretty much everyone I know has at least an hour commute. ( I live in a commuter town not far from London.)

I suppose it depends how much you want or need the job- so many people out of work at the moment- could you afford not to take it?

Normal commute - both time and cost. If you haven't done that before you have been lucky. Not taking the job because of a commute like this would be very short sighted and stupid!

I commute, an hour each way, by car on busy motorways. Factor in fuel, bridge tolls and wear and tear and it costs me £300 a month out of my £1500 take home salary. Its that or benefits .....hoping there will be opportunity to relocate work closer to home soon.

[quote pollyputaket]@LBunz that's the one.
I don't have a clue at all tbh where it is.
I've never been outside the city centre of Newcastle [/quote]
It’s literally a straight road from the metro! Before you accept or decline could you try the commute? See the walk for yourself? I walk pretty slow (overweight) so usually match google maps walk speed but it’s honestly not a bad walk.

Trains can be a hassle with delays and what not, but I used to have a 40 min train journey each way and having that time to read helped me to de stress a little and by the time I got home work was a distant memory.

Will you be better or worse off at the end of the month by taking it? Even if the commuting cuts into your income, a job is a job and with no children, if it's more money that you would have with no job, then it sounds worth taking. Even if it's only temporary.

To put into context, in normal times, I commute six hours a day (yes, 3 hours each way) to my office three days a week. I have two children under 8. So I spent 18 hours a week travelling on top of my full time job. The difference is that I'm on a good salary and while travel costs are significant, it's still better to be in this job that doing something else locally. And it's a job I enjoy.

No, any commute adds to your working day.
The best jobs you don't need to leave your home.
Some people have a 10 hour day instead of 8, it's giving your time away for free.

I have to say it makes me really sad to see our society now considers a 2 hr daily commute to be 'standard'

Makes me feel our society has gone wrong somewhere if this is the case.

@NameChange2PostThis the latest finish is 11pm,if it was that time I would get a Uber to the metro
1.because I would be catching the last metro and 2.I wouldn't feel safe walking alone that time of night
If it was early shift or summer nights I would just walk it

@LBunz thanks that's good to know.
So hopefully I could do it in around 10 mins
It's just a bit daunting when it's a new area
You've made me feel a lot better about it now
Thankyou

@mindutopia now working it out with no Uber fares mostly I would be around £370 ish better off per month

@BarbaraofSeville yeah it was google maps
I think I'm pretty fast Walker so could hopefully half the time off.

Take the job and keep looking for another one. It will be easier to find another one closer to home when you have been there for a while.

It may seem a lot when you are not used to paying to commute, but the cost is extremely low compared with what you would be paying in other areas. I'm now retired but the 50 minute train journey I used to do now costs £42 a day for a return ticket.

Your idea of walking to a further stop to cut down on costs sounds a very sensible one and will be good exercise.

My longest commute was when I lived and worked in London but had to travel from one end to the other. Good day it was 1.5 hours each way, 2+ hours on a bad day. I would avoid that length of commute in the future.

Most of my jobs have had a 50min - 1 hour commute by tube and that's been fine by me. My ideal scenario would be 15-30 mins commute, but anything under/up to an hour is good as far as I'm concerned.

Take the job, and keep looking. You may end up loving it or having more opps there and if not then job hunt. Always easier to get a job while employed than not.
I would think nothing of that commute. Listen to a podcast or audio book. Walk some of the way for exercise when the weather is better.
Take the job!!

It depends on your circumstances. I couldn't take a job an hour away due to family reasons. Certainly not for minimum wage either.