In a recent poll on LinkedIn, this question was asked, the response, well was quite surprising, it seems that 18% of people think that the rewards are worth it.
A minority, not quite!
Another interesting fact is that 27% of people no longer think it is worth the commute, is it because the cost of commuting has increased, crammed transport or maybe the unreliability of the trains, tubes or buses.
A further 27% agree that the rewards are worth the commute but only when the trains/buses run on time, as we are seeing more and more news updates, twitter and Facebook complaints about the problems commuters face everyday with signalling problems, power failures, a leaf on the line etc. No wonder people are getting fed up with it.
The lowest response from the poll was 9% saying that the rewards never was worth the hassle, so these who answered directly know that there is more to life than spending 70% of your day at work.
Depending on what you take from these responses, the fact is that there is a stereotype that the city pays more!
But does it…….
If you weigh up the cost of your commute, the cost to your work life balance and more importantly the cost to your own family life, no matter how much more you get it will never pay for those precious moments you lose because you are waiting for a train that will never leave on time, working until 9pm because it’s ‘what we do in the city’, I’m sorry but have you not heard of mobile phones, on the move emails, you don’t need to be sat at a desk for 15 hours a day then another 4 hours on the train…..Yes a presence in the office is always required, but wouldn’t it be nice, to leave your home, jump in your car and be at work within 20 or 30 minutes, and do the same in the evening, you could even leave (wait for it..) at 6pm without being applauded out the office or being looked at like some freak because you want to have a life outside of work, the days of the boiler room have long gone.
So, maybe some out of the city companies pay a little less in basic salaries, but once you take into account all the other costs there really is no difference, but there is a huge difference to how you live and for a family person, this you cannot buy.
Think about it……
