To wonder why people work so far away?

[rustlesinthehall]

So many people upset about going back to the office which I do understand but I have seen so many posts bemoaning that they had to commute for hours and hours.

Didn’t people realise this before applying for the job? Why were people working hundreds of miles away and hoping for a pandemic to come and sort out the problem?

Because it's cheaper duh

Housing nearer cities is more expensive

I think people can accept their commute but still moan about it. Nobody enjoys commuting or paying for it but understands it’s part of life.

As for why people work so far away - quite obviously, some people have to travel quite far if they don’t live in an area with lots of work, it’s not always as easy as moving. Or they get better wages further out which isn’t cancelled out by the cost of commute, but wouldn’t be possible to move there.

That’s true in some cases but not all, I don’t think!

Fair enough if you work in central london but if you work in central Manchester you really don’t need to be living in Leicestershire!

Rustles it depends what you earn and your housing need.

Housing is much cheaper in Leicestershire than manchester.

People are seeking a better quality of life and being able to afford a decent home is part of that. The UK has a huge issue with housing affordability

House prices. I work in the city centre of Dublin, I don't have over a million to spend on property. But I do have to live somewhere, so I do live somewhere. In my house, which has a commute to work because I don't get paid the kind of money which would allow me to live closer.

I don't think you have to be especially astute to understand that that's the case for most people. People aren't generally so thick that they get a job and a house and then, only at that point, does it strike them that one isn't within walking distance of the other.

They might also live near family. They might have been made redundant and their new job was further away but didn’t want to move especially if their partner still works locally

Presumably people took the only job they could get or moved during the pandemic or took a promotion/ better paid/ career building job thinking the commute was worth it, but have now realised that although they can manage the commute its a waste of time and money when they have been doing their job equally effectively from home for a year or more.

My job can't be done from home and I have been working (at work) throughout the pandemic in more intense conditions than usual during the lockdowns and when many people were having paid time off. I somewhat resented people complaining about paid time off although I understood that sometimes it was actually the stress of not knowing what would happen talking (people complaining about being bored when I was working 70 hour weeks on shifts and have 3 school aged children gave me the rage though). I have never seen any reason to resent people working from home though!

Its equally valid to say that if you aren't suited to working from home and need colleagues for social interaction or support or need a change of scene then change job/ career to one which cannot be done from home!

More people working from home seems like a good thing environmentally and the quieter roads are a big plus. I don't think anyone has the right to resent others working from home and there's nothing praiseworthy about presenteeism or employers having a bums on seats policy purely for the sake of it when insisting on employees sitting in the office together doesn't make a tangible, objectively measurable difference to productivity (or in some cases is actually less productive).

I spend 1-2 hours commuting, because my job doesn't really exist in the less affluent city where I can afford to live. There are plenty of nanny jobs in the neighbouring city but the housing costs are much higher.
I don't moan about it though, it is what it is, and I try to use the time constructively by listening to audio books/podcasts etc

My DD moved to Leeds from London but her job is still based in london. They just couldn't afford to buy a house there. She only needs to go in 2 days a fortnight now and it suits her perfectly.

Price of houses
Partner's job location
Good schools / not wanting to disrupt schooling if they take a new job elsewhere
City v country
Close to family
Ultimately though, if you take a job on and it doesn't move then you chose the commute so don't really have grounds to complain about it.

I think sometimes you don't actually need to live that far away to have a commute of over an hour though, if you need to get public transport into a city for example.
My commute is 1 hour door to door and I only live 8 miles away.

DHs job is in Hampshire.
We live in Yorkshire.
He doesn't commute daily though (he gets free work accommodation and 2 trips home a month paid for, we pay for the other two)

Overall this is better for the family.

It's not always down to the people themselves. My organisation moved their HQ from a mile away from my house to an hour's drive away. Why should I uproot all of my family to live in the arsecrack of nowhere just to suit my employer? We have sites within a number of different locations and it's up to the company where I work. I've been moved to five different sites in the years I've worked there. Should my family be uprooted five times too?

I also think for many, the benefits of homeworking weren't apparent until covid ended. For lots of people a commute of an hour or two was just the given thing everyone did. I know it was for me. It wasn't until people had to work from home that they saw how much more work they could get done, how much more free time they had and how much happier they all were being with their families instead of stuck on the motorway.

I think people accepted it before and now they've experienced a better alternative, they don't want to go back.

*covid happened even

Well it varies I suppose.

• Some people thought WFH would be forever so moved further away
• Some people put up with a long commute previously, but have subsequently decided that they value the time more than they realised
• Some people have no option but to live a long way from work because of housing costs
• Some people's workplaces have moved locations
• Some people's family circumstances have changed in the last 2 years

Because my office moved
Because DH needs to get to work too
Because I have a much better house and schools where I live than I would in the city where I work
Because living closer to the office is t really closer in time

@MichaelAndEagle

I think sometimes you don't actually need to live that far away to have a commute of over an hour though, if you need to get public transport into a city for example. My commute is 1 hour door to door and I only live 8 miles away.

This is also true. In rush hour, my commute is at least an hour. At 10pm I've done it in 20 minutes. Purely due to the volume of traffic.

Oh come on. I’m sure you can get the many reason why

• partner has a job in the other direction and it’s in the middle
• housing is cheaper and more affordable vs what they earn
• children are setlled at school and they don’t want to move them
• parent that needs support or caring
• this was THE job they could find and they just took whatever they could
• moving itself is expensive

"Nobody enjoys commuting"

Plenty of people do.

"Its equally valid to say that if you aren't suited to working from home and need colleagues for social interaction or support or need a change of scene then change job/ career to one which cannot be done from home!"

That's totally NOT a valid argument. It's not that easy to lines of work, is it? Much easier to move house.

Btw, depending on where you live/where you are going, it can be quicker if you leave miles and miles away and can use let’s say the train than living close by and be stuck in traffic jam everyday. Let alone living close by and using (anon existent) bus system.

One of my colleagues lives a few miles down the road. It would take about 5~10mins by car. She doesn’t have a car (too expensive), used the bus. She has to take 3 different buses, 2 change over and nearly 1h30 each way (lots of waiting between the different buses)….

I work in London and can't afford to live anywhere nice in London, so I commute.

I think the reason so many people are moaning now is that they've proven they can be just as productive working from home and now they're bing told "yeah, well come in the office anyway" without there seeming to be a good reason for it.

I prefered working from home, apart from the money saving I got to spend more time with my family and doing other things that are better than sitting in traffic! I have to admit my job really requires me to be in the office and even through lockdown I had to come in a couple of times a week - but if I could do my job fully from home I would begrudge coming back into the office now.

@PleasantBirthday

House prices. I work in the city centre of Dublin, I don't have over a million to spend on property. But I do have to live somewhere, so I do live somewhere. In my house, which has a commute to work because I don't get paid the kind of money which would allow me to live closer.

I don't think you have to be especially astute to understand that that's the case for most people. People aren't generally so thick that they get a job and a house and then, only at that point, does it strike them that one isn't within walking distance of the other.

Lots of reasons I suppose.
My DH has a long commute but we live very close to my former work place. Living in the middle wasn't an option as I was contractually obliged to live within a certain distance due to being needed in emergencies.
I've recently taken early retirement so we could in theiry move nearer DH's work now but we still have children in full time education and don't want to move schools, and then he'll be close to retiring so we will stay where we are happy.
Some people will have obligations to elderly parents.
Some people will view their current jobs as stepping stones and be intending to move later so don't want the hassle of multiple moves.
Some will have family members who need or want to stay in a particular area - maybe to support a child's ambitions (I know a family who moved near to Manchester to give their son easy access to training at the velodrome) or to access specific healthcare (not ideal to live in rural Wales if you need 3 times weekly dialysis or have monthly appointments at Great Ormond Street I wouldn't think)
Probably lots I've not thought of too. People have lives that their work is a part of, but not necessarily the centre.