2x week commute - how long is too long?

[BerryBlu]

I started my job during Covid and have a 'Hybrid' contract. We are now being told to do a min of 2 days on office. My days in or out of the office aren't specified but I don't want to rock the boat in pointing that out! I used to come in once or twice a week, sometimes per fortnight commuting into a city.

How long of a commute - if any - would you say is a reasonable argument for less office days?

Door to Door, whether I drive or use public transport the commute time is the same but I'd be interested if you thought one travel method would be acceptable for longer and why you think that.

I have one of the longest commutes in the company as I live very far out from the city I work in.

from the business point of I’d say it’s not their problem.

Personally, I think 2 hours twice a week would be my very max.

I do 90 minutes each way and that's my into really. Getting home always feels longer!

Dh does 2.5 h each way, worse in traffic 2-3 times per week. Work with a few people who commute Birmingham/ Manchester.

I think 2 hours is OK 2-3 times a week

90 mins each way would be my max i think

Two hours but public transport is preferable as can sleep/do life admin/stare into space/read rather than have to concentrate whilst driving

Entirely dependent on circumstances. My current commute is about 30 minutes including 20 minutes driving and 10 minutes walking. I wouldn't want it to be longer than that but that's because I'm permanently exhausted as it is, and also my time is very tight due to circumstances. Back in my childless days I would have said 1.5 hours each way.

The commute is down to you.
You accepted the job and you must have realised , during Covid, that companies might want more in house attendance.

It's up to you whether you can deal with this.

Prior to Covid, my husband left home at 5.30 and came home after 8pm. This was for a 9-5 job.

I think quality of commute is important. Eg a train where I get a seat so can read or do some work emails etc is vastly different to multiple trains with potential for missed connections or a stressful car drive with bad traffic. I'd pick a longer easy journey every time.

Also I agree with pp that your length of commute isn't really your employers problem unless they have moved office locations.

The number of days in the office is presumably driven by a business need.

I do 90 mins each way twice a week. Some weeks do a 3 hour each way commute for one day. Both manageable.

I have an hour's commute each way and that is for 4 days a week. It's not the best as I leave at 8 am and don't get back till 6 but I need the money so you just get on with it.. I have 3 youngish children as well which adds to the pressure of life, if I had no children I don't think the commute would bother me as much.

DH had a 2 hour commute each way, 5 days a week for decades. He’s WFH a lot more now, but it was just the norm for him and many colleagues.

How long is your commute, @BerryBlu ? How many times a day do you think you should be going into the office?

Impossible to say without context.

I drove for around 80 minutes each way five days a week to get me into the industry I wanted to work in for around a year and didn't love it.

Used to take the inter city train to London twice a week - total journey time about two hours each way. Didn't mind it.

Mine is about 1hr45 each way I wouldn't want much more than that.

I wouldn’t do more than an hour.

Hybrid was always going to require weekly travel longer term. Agree 90minutes is very normal.

I think length of commute is an employee issue to think about when applying for/accepting a job.

I don't think any length of commute will count as a good reason not to do the required 2 days a week in the office. I think if the employer allowed length of commute as a discretionary factor then it opens them up to all sorts of other arguments from other employees about why they also shouldn't have to do two days a week in the office.

I suspect your employer would tell you that if you aren't happy with the length of commute you are free to move house. Or apply for a job closer to home.

But to answer your specific question, I knew someone who commuted Dublin to Brussels. Usually daily. I also know plenty of people who do Manchester/Leeds to London a couple of times a week.

I do an hour each way twice a week. An hour and a half each way would be okay if needed but that would be my max. My old boss travelled 1hr 45 minutes each way daily for 7 years until covid. I think he was bonkers.

For context, my job is 10 minutes drive and 10 minutes walk but our company was taken over and now I have to drive a hour twice a week.

I wouldn't do more than an hour or thereabouts. Currently drive 45 minutes each way, 2 days in the office. Can't believe I used to do it 5 days a week, 7.5 hours of dead time!

Mines around 90 mins each way, usually a bit less in the morning because I leave early. I've done it for 10 years 5 days a week. I don't love it especially in the winter when I never see daylight but just try not to think about it
I start a new job soon which is only a 20 minute commute. I've started to feel excited for the extra hours I'll gain each week and not having to get up at 5am anymore.

I do 2.5 hours door to door twice a week every week. Have done since Covid. But that’s by train (the train is 2 hours) plus a short walk/tube and as a result it’s time I cherish. I have three fairly young children and a demanding job therefore this my “me” time. I get a train before 6am, so feel like that is time that is legitimately mine, not my work’s, and therefore I choose to love watching downloaded Netflix series, enjoying a flask of hot coffee, rather than seeing it as a long commute. I find it totally manageable and I like that I get to live somewhere beautiful and work in the City.

The commute isn’t relevant to your employer, though.
I did an hour and 20 mins each way, five days a week, for years. Could be more, or less.
An hour each way daily is completely normal, I’d say.

I do an hour each way twice a week. I am out the house for 12 hours. I have compressed my hours to compensate. I hated the shorter hours 5 days a week.

Personally I wouldn't commute more than 20 minutes.

But you took a hybrid job knowing you had a long commute so it's irrelevant really - you either suck it up or get a job closer to home.

Agreed.
2 hours each way would be about max too.
but ultimately if you pootle off to the outer Hebrides it’s not really the businesses problem.

some people really don’t care… I worked in soho with 2 senior guys who both lived outside Edinburgh.. as in an hour drive. they would fly down Mon night and do Tue-Thu in the office and fly early Friday and work on the flight.