Commute Time: The Most Ignored Hygiene Factor Sabotaging Employee Engagement
Job location post Covid-19 pandemic.
During the pandemic, remote work saved 60 million hours of daily commute time in the U.S. and over 8 billion hours in the U.K. throughout 2020. That is why when the pandemic was over, 98% of three thousand workers surveyed by Buffer, expressed a desire to continue working remotely, even if it entails just one day a week. In a separate poll conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) found that the top reason employees preferred remote work was to save commute time. Interestingly, twice as many respondents valued avoiding commutes over achieving work-life balance (such as spending more time with family and friends) when opting to work from home.
Historically, researchers debated whether that the time it takes to commute work would be listed among the hygiene factors. However, after the pandemic and the increasing demand of Return-to-Office mandates, a recent field study published this year found empirical evidence linking commute time to job satisfaction as a significant hygiene factor. I strongly support this conclusion because there is an overwhelming number of studies that proves that commute times has a substantial adverse effect on retention, well-being, work performance and overall employee experience. Yet, commute time may not be universally considered as a core baseline workplace aspect since the effect of long commutes can be reversed depending on the industry. For example, in the oil and gas sector, commute time had little or no effect on job satisfaction and can be easily circumvented through incentives or other motivational initiatives.
Commute Distance Matters
How far employees would take to get to work has a profound impact on both staff loyalty and productivity. Studies conducted by Xerox Services, the VU University in the Netherlands, found that commute time is strongly associated with employee engagement and productivity. When an aerospace manufacturing plant in Ohio investigated the reasons behind their high workforce attrition rate, researchers learned that the longer the workers commute time, the less likely they would stay with the company. Even more alarming, they discovered that workers who commute for more than 30 minutes one-way, had a 92% chance that they would quit within a span of two years. This finding aligns with a global study undertaken by Regus on staff engagement from different industries, which revealed that 2 in 5 mostly satisfied employees who commuted for more than an hour considered leaving their job.
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Moreover, 69% of people who commute more than 30 minutes (one way) to work said that commuting has had some form of mental and physical strain on them. Besides, the economic strain on commuters can also be costly. For example, right before the pandemic started, commuters in the US lost an average of $1,377 just from sitting in traffic congestion alone.
The strain of commuting is associated with raised blood pressure, musculoskeletal disorders, lowered frustration tolerance and increased anxiety and hostility, being in a bad mood when arriving at work in the morning and coming home in the evening, increased lateness, absenteeism and turnover at work, as well as adverse effects on cognitive performance.
— says professors Alois Stutzer and Bruno S. Frey from the Institute for Empirical Research in Economics at University of Zurich.
Solutions for Problematic Commute Issues
To mitigate this problem altogether, some companies such as IBM give priority to candidates who live nearby during the hiring process. Gate Gourmet, one of the largest airline catering provider, was able to reduce its turnover rate by nearly half after it had changed its hiring criteria depending on how far workers lived from the job site. While this strategy may have worked for some, regarding applicants’ address and distance to work as a hiring factor will severely limit your chances of finding great talent and skills. Yet, there are many other solutions that can work out best for both your business and employees. Below are seven practices that you can adopt to help circumvent the negative effects of commuting to work without risk of losing your best performers or marginalizing your hiring pool:
1. Flexible work:
Allow flexible start and end times to avoid standard rush hours during the mornings and evenings. A study published in 2024 proved that burnout from morning rush hours impaired daily job performance. Burnout was then reduced when employees were asked to come to work off-peak hours.
2. Hire candidates who are willing to relocate:
Facebook rewards employees with various bonuses for living within 1–8 km of work. That is because there is evidence from research studies on workforce performance that employees who live less than 5 miles (8 km) stay with their employers at least 20 percent longer compared to employees who live further away [14].
3. Provide transportation services:
A comfortable company bus equipped with Wi-Fi access would allow employees to complete work-related tasks during a long commute. However, using travel time for work does not automatically improve commute satisfaction. In fact, productivity during long commutes may help under some conditions but harm under others. Voluntary or involuntary work activities in a company shuttle may work under certain conditions and recent studies published in 2024 & 2025 point out to two important criterions:
· Task Complexity: Encourage employees to use shuttle time only for simple, low-effort tasks, such as reviewing emails, quick phone calls, or listening to audio recordings. Research shows that tasks that require high mental effort or cognitive-load performed during travel would increase emotional exhaustion upon arrival, which then reduces on-site task performance throughout the day. Activities requiring concentration should be avoided while commuting, even on comfortable shuttles.
· Gender differences: Men and women perceive travel-time productivity and most commute activities differently. One recent study published earlier this year found that performing any type of activity during the commute can disproportionately worsen travel experience for female employees, even if these activities are passive or tech-based [16]. A gender-sensitive policy response is to treat any work performed during company-provided transportation as paid working time, especially when employees are expected to use the commute for productivity. This ensures fairness and reducing unintended burdens.
4. Encourage Carpooling:
If a company bus is not available, you can encourage employees to carpool through subsidies or rewards. The social interaction experienced in shared transportation methods such as carpooling or a shuttle bus are scientifically proven to improve mood and satisfaction. There is strong evidence that when we connect and talk with other passengers & coworkers during work commute is considered to be among the most influential factors in improving commuters’ overall travel experience. Carpooling not only reduces costs and daily mental strains but also creates opportunities for meaningful interpersonal interaction that can make long commutes feel shorter and more enjoyable.
5. Hybrid work:
Allow long-commuting employees to work from home, even if it is for a day or two per week. This would lower employee stress levels and burnouts.
6. Support Localized Co‑Working Spaces:
Coworkers who live in relative proximity to each other in areas distant from the job site, can get together at flexible office spaces within their vicinity or use coworking spaces whenever needed. The company can help arrange an on-demand workspace when hosting in-person meetings with clients and partners without having everyone travel long distances or when employees need to co-locate a few times per month for presentations, sharing ideas, bonding and brainstorming together.
7. Midday Nap or Rest Breaks:
If none of these options are possible, then consider allowing nap times or midday siestas at the workplace. Studies have shown that napping breaks at work can help offset the negative impact of commuting on job satisfaction.
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.
