4 ms·

I know of a company where they want anyone within 90m to commute, so that's up to three hours lost in a day, making an 8 hour workday actually 11+ hours

frollogaston 2mo ago
And possibly commute to an office their team isn't even at, because the point isn't colocation, it's to keep people working during work hours.
DiggyJohnson 2mo ago
I’m always confused why the default commute time in these discussions is always 60 or 90 minutes one way. 60+ minute commutes are outliers and I don’t understand why a person would take a job that far away without being aware of the commute or moving closer to the work. Does that make sense? Most American commute 10-30 minutes. That’s the middle of the bell curve.
- bluefirebrand 2mo ago
  > 60+ minute commutes are outliers and I don’t understand why a person would take a job that far away without being aware of the commute or moving closer to the work 60+ minute commute times are very common where I live. If you are anywhere outside of the downtown area you either pay for parking (expensive) and have a shorter commute, or you use public transit (cheap) and have a long commute. When I used to commute to an office it was easily an hour to an hour and a half each way every day. I hated it
  - cosmic_cheese 2mo ago
    Yes, I get the sense that this varies a lot depending on area and economic strata. In the poor rural area my hometown is located, 1-3h+ commutes aren't unusual, partially out of necessity (there aren't enough jobs nearby to sustain the population).
  - ghaff 2mo ago
    When I commuted semi-regularly into a downtown office, it was a good 90 minutes. Latterly, going into a newer company's customer briefing center was more like 2 hours each way. I had access to commuter rail which was more pleasant than driving so long as I didn't have an evening dinner/event. but it took about the same length of time. One answer to the parent's question is that I owned/own a house which was a pretty manageable 25 minute suburban commute which I wasn't going to sell just because I got a new job. (Which didn't last that long anyway.)
- Aurornis 2mo ago
  We’re in a weird period where a lot of jobs went fully remote around COVID, many weren’t prepared for it, and now they’re doing the opposite over-reaction and forcing everyone back. A lot of the people I know who went remote after COVID took remote jobs at new companies (remember “the great resignation”?) or moved to a new house because they thought they were done with commuting. Then their companies said they wanted everyone back.
- forestrywat 2mo ago
  Do you have a citation for that?
- tikhonj 2mo ago
  I mean, in a lot of these cases people take those jobs because they're able to work remotely initially... and then get hit with an inflexible, top-down RTO mandate once they've settled into the role.
- closeparen 2mo ago
  Most of the 60 minute travel time radius around a San Francisco or Silicon Valley tech HQ is water and nature preserve.
  - DiggyJohnson 1mo ago
    It doesn’t make sense to assume SF logistics even on this board because it’s such an outlier. Just my opinion.
    - deleted 1mo ago
      [deleted]
- TuringNYC 2mo ago
  >> Most American commute 10-30 minutes. You're on a board full of technologists. Many are in SF or Seattle or NYC. A 10minute commute means you live in a 5-20 Million dollar home in SF. Not sure how realistic that is. I work in NYC. The salary doesnt support having a home in the city. Yes, it can support a 1br apt, perhaps a 2br with roommates. Definitely not accomodations for a family.
  - DiggyJohnson 2mo ago
    In NYC commute times are still under 45 minutes for most tech professionals door to door.
    - TuringNYC 2mo ago
      i think there is a big diff between 10-30min and 45min your 45min assessment is probably right for early career. once you have a family, it gets much harder and less common
- s1artibartfast 2mo ago
  It's also a corresponding economic window: Laptop professionals who make enough money to own and buy a nice house in the suburbs but not FU money to buy in the city. I count myself in this category. If you don't make enough to consider buying, you might as well rent close. If you are super rich, you can buy in the city or don't have to worry about building home equity.
- xboxnolifes 2mo ago
  I could see the average commute being 20-30 minutes without traffic. I cannot see that being the average in any area with even a small amount of morning/evening traffic.
deleted 2mo ago
[deleted]
doom2 2mo ago
I somewhat frequently get recruiter mail from NYC-based companies. If it's clear the position is in office, I usually include the same bit in every response: I live ~75 minutes away by train. Make the commute free or heavily discounted for me and I'll come in the three days a week. Plus, since I won't be driving, I can do some work on the train.

frollogaston 2mo ago

And possibly commute to an office their team isn't even at, because the point isn't colocation, it's to keep people working during work hours.

DiggyJohnson 2mo ago

I’m always confused why the default commute time in these discussions is always 60 or 90 minutes one way. 60+ minute commutes are outliers and I don’t understand why a person would take a job that far away without being aware of the commute or moving closer to the work. Does that make sense? Most American commute 10-30 minutes. That’s the middle of the bell curve.

bluefirebrand 2mo ago
> 60+ minute commutes are outliers and I don’t understand why a person would take a job that far away without being aware of the commute or moving closer to the work 60+ minute commute times are very common where I live. If you are anywhere outside of the downtown area you either pay for parking (expensive) and have a shorter commute, or you use public transit (cheap) and have a long commute. When I used to commute to an office it was easily an hour to an hour and a half each way every day. I hated it
- cosmic_cheese 2mo ago
  Yes, I get the sense that this varies a lot depending on area and economic strata. In the poor rural area my hometown is located, 1-3h+ commutes aren't unusual, partially out of necessity (there aren't enough jobs nearby to sustain the population).
- ghaff 2mo ago
  When I commuted semi-regularly into a downtown office, it was a good 90 minutes. Latterly, going into a newer company's customer briefing center was more like 2 hours each way. I had access to commuter rail which was more pleasant than driving so long as I didn't have an evening dinner/event. but it took about the same length of time. One answer to the parent's question is that I owned/own a house which was a pretty manageable 25 minute suburban commute which I wasn't going to sell just because I got a new job. (Which didn't last that long anyway.)
Aurornis 2mo ago
We’re in a weird period where a lot of jobs went fully remote around COVID, many weren’t prepared for it, and now they’re doing the opposite over-reaction and forcing everyone back. A lot of the people I know who went remote after COVID took remote jobs at new companies (remember “the great resignation”?) or moved to a new house because they thought they were done with commuting. Then their companies said they wanted everyone back.
forestrywat 2mo ago
Do you have a citation for that?
tikhonj 2mo ago
I mean, in a lot of these cases people take those jobs because they're able to work remotely initially... and then get hit with an inflexible, top-down RTO mandate once they've settled into the role.
closeparen 2mo ago
Most of the 60 minute travel time radius around a San Francisco or Silicon Valley tech HQ is water and nature preserve.
- DiggyJohnson 1mo ago
  It doesn’t make sense to assume SF logistics even on this board because it’s such an outlier. Just my opinion.
  - deleted 1mo ago
    [deleted]
TuringNYC 2mo ago
>> Most American commute 10-30 minutes. You're on a board full of technologists. Many are in SF or Seattle or NYC. A 10minute commute means you live in a 5-20 Million dollar home in SF. Not sure how realistic that is. I work in NYC. The salary doesnt support having a home in the city. Yes, it can support a 1br apt, perhaps a 2br with roommates. Definitely not accomodations for a family.
- DiggyJohnson 2mo ago
  In NYC commute times are still under 45 minutes for most tech professionals door to door.
  - TuringNYC 2mo ago
    i think there is a big diff between 10-30min and 45min your 45min assessment is probably right for early career. once you have a family, it gets much harder and less common
s1artibartfast 2mo ago
It's also a corresponding economic window: Laptop professionals who make enough money to own and buy a nice house in the suburbs but not FU money to buy in the city. I count myself in this category. If you don't make enough to consider buying, you might as well rent close. If you are super rich, you can buy in the city or don't have to worry about building home equity.
xboxnolifes 2mo ago
I could see the average commute being 20-30 minutes without traffic. I cannot see that being the average in any area with even a small amount of morning/evening traffic.

deleted 2mo ago

[deleted]

doom2 2mo ago

I somewhat frequently get recruiter mail from NYC-based companies. If it's clear the position is in office, I usually include the same bit in every response: I live ~75 minutes away by train. Make the commute free or heavily discounted for me and I'll come in the three days a week. Plus, since I won't be driving, I can do some work on the train.