Can you remember the pleasures of the daily commute? Before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Numerous people struggle to believe that we have not been near our offices in over a year or, at most, have paid only the occasional visit, due to working from home.
After all, this is where the majority of people spend their waking lives day in, day out for years or in some cases for decades.
An immediate return is now upon us, encouraged by the government. The health secretary seems unconcerned that in August, we could be in a scenario where there are 700,000 people newly infected every week.
Commuting nightmares
Very few people in larger businesses appear to take pleasure in the idea of abandoning offices and the company of colleagues completely. While even smaller numbers seem keen to return to the work of ‘9-to-5’ five days a week.
It has become increasingly apparent that the diligent and the ambitious are now working many more hours than they were before the pandemic, some even providing a 24/7 service.
One of the issues of office life was the colleagues arriving an hour later than usual, due to transport issues. This is a common occurrence in most offices as transport isn’t reliable.
Time to rethink the office commute
Studies show that fewer than 1% of accountants live within walking distance of a city-centre office. Some may be able to cycle, although that is often both dangerous and stressful, given the concerted efforts of drivers to knock them off their bikes.
Driving into the office has its benefits until you actually try to do it on a daily basis. In many cities, you will be required to pay an extortionate amount for entering the city centre and parking but unless you leave home very early, the journey will be very long and extremely slow.
Public transport is another option when commuting to the office. However, it’s unreliable and there can be long waiting times for the transport to arrive, so time delays need to be considered when planning what time you should leave to get to the office. It can also be an unpleasant time standing up crammed in an airless train or bus with large numbers of irritated, sweating fellow travellers.
If the transport has issues it’s possibly the duration of the journey will double. There are many people that aren’t lucky and are faced with an hour on a train, followed by 20 to 30 minutes on the underground or a bus. Resulting in half a day being taken up by travelling to and from the workplace, achieving nothing other than a dangerously high heart rate and a level of anger that might take the rest of the day to disperse.
Masks
Due to the covid-19 pandemic, it’s now mandatory to wear a face mask on public transport. The thought of wearing a claustrophobic face covering while commuting could make people feel faint.
On the other, if we take the Prime Minister’s word, we will be obliged to take our lives into our hands-on packed transport with nobody wearing a mask.
If the virus had been overcome, the idea of working from home more often than not would have been very attractive. But then, throw in the risk of catching coronavirus or flu as you spend half an hour in close proximity with other passengers stuck in a tunnel and it seems overwhelming.
Here at Seagrave French, we offer an unlimed amount of meetings, that are available to you whenever you need to meet. Meetings at our offices will be provided FREE of charge. Just contact us to schedule an appointment.
Happy commuting.