September 23rd 2023.
The debate over whether commute time to and from work should be counted as part of the work day is raging across the U.S. According to a working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research, there are two main issues that are blocking the return to the office: workers think that the morning commute time could be used for more productive work, and they don’t understand the difficulties of managing a remote workforce.
Jose Maria Barrero, one of the researchers for the paper, said that eliminating the commute time is a “big deal” in terms of assessing the effectiveness of remote work. Data backs this up, with 86% of respondents stating that they are more productive working from home, and that it saves them time and money. Furthermore, the average American spends $8,500 and more than 200 hours a year commuting, so those who work remotely save 31% more money and 20% more time than before the pandemic.
On the other hand, managers are worried about the effect of remote work on company culture. They fear that remote work reduces opportunities for training and upskilling among workers, which could lead to a 20% decrease in productivity. Supervising, training, mentoring, and building firm culture is much harder when working with remote workers than with workers who come in once to twice a week, Barrero said. Managers have also been dealing with an increase in responsibilities, which has led to burnout.
The best solution appears to be a hybrid schedule, where workers come in once or twice a week. This way, they get the chance to connect face-to-face with colleagues and save time and money from commuting. A survey by Clever Real Estate found that 66% of financial executives would rather quit their job than give up remote work, which suggests that a hybrid schedule is the preferred solution.
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