The average employee returning to the office spends $561 per month–that's the average two-person household’s grocery bill in the U.S. for the entire month.
The most challenging aspect of returning to the office is the commute. This isn’t surprising because commutes of only 30 minutes are linked to higher stress and anger, while 45 minutes or more is linked to poorer overall well-being, daily mood, and health.
When the only people who commuted were those that were required to be physically present for their work or those that wanted to be in the office traffic was massively reduced and commute times shortened if the reduction meant being able to go the speed limit.
That's really what this is all about. My company is not even pretending that RTO has anything to do with productivity or culture. They're not even providing any reasoning. Hell, all my bosses are in different time zones and I have no peers in the office.
It's because the big money has invested in expensive city real estate and if we all buy a house in Montana then it kills their milking model. I mean business model
They’re not even providing any reasoning. Hell, all my bosses are in different time zones and I have no peers in the office.
Same situation here. They made some vague comment about "making connections" in the office but half the people on my team are remote, including managers. It's all bullshit.
When you have the stress of having to be somewhere at a specific time and place, any delay is a pain. Train/bus/boat/traffic whatever running late or with problems? It's your fault supposedly for not 'planning better' in advance.
The commute also costs us.
So yeah. Spending 30 minutes one way. Hour daily, is an expense and time sink. It eats into your non-paid work time.