[UK] Returning to office costs employees 20% of their salaries

New research has found that Birmingham is the most expensive city to commute in for hybrid workers with employees spending up to 16 per cent of their salary travelling in each month, while commuting to London by train can swallow as much as 22 per cent, The HR Director reports.

The survey by ECI Software Solutions considered the cost of trains, parking, coffee and the number of remote and flexible jobs on offer to compile the Cost of Commuting Index and reveal the percentage of salary that employees are likely to be spending getting to and from work each month. 

Its findings reportedly come as a new study revealed that up to 90 per cent of companies plan to implement return-to-office policies by the end of 2024. 

Birmingham was named as the most expensive place to commute by car – with employees likely to spend up to 16 per cent of their salary each month simply getting to the office – before even taking into account petrol costs. 

For those travelling by train, London was named as the most expensive commute; using average train costs by nearby areas. The result was based on an average 40-minute commuting journey for 2.5 days a week – costing up to 22 per cent of their regular monthly earnings. 

According to the survey, Derby was the cheapest for train commuters, costing on average £76 a month with a daily return train ticket priced at £4.60. The analysis showed Kingston upon Hull to be the cheapest city for car users. 

The most expensive cities to commute by driving were: 

1. Birmingham: 16.72 per cent of salary
2. Manchester: 14.80 per cent of salary
3. Glasgow: 13.74 per cent of salary
4. London: 13.34 per cent of salary
5. Plymouth: 13.22 per cent of salary

The most expensive cities to commute by train were: 

1. London: 22.31 per cent of salary
2. Edinburgh: 15.82 per cent of salary
3. Hull: 15.10 per cent of salary
4. Birmingham: 13.52 per cent of salary
5. Glasgow: 9.08 per cent of salary

Birmingham was reportedly revealed as the priciest commute by car. Of an employee’s average monthly salary of £2,091, all that remains is £1,791 before household bills and petrol costs.

Bristol, Sheffield and Edinburgh ranked towards the bottom. Of the top 10, Edinburgh has the lowest commute expenses with only 11 per cent of the average salary being spent on parking costs. 

Commenting on the index, Emma Davies-Carolan - Vice President of Global Customer Marketing at ECI Software Solutions - said, “Recently there has been a real push to bring offices back to pre-pandemic levels. However, with so many employees used to flexible working, there might be some pushback on wanting to spend on extra commute days. 

“The research reveals whether travelling by car or train, it still costs over £100 a month just for an average of two and a half days. With the current financial climate, this could be very expensive on top of household costs. This is one of the reasons why employers might want to invest in tools such as office technology software or business management software which can help to seamlessly switch between documents either in the office or at home. Employers have the chance to seize the opportunity to see better working with technology whilst changes are occurring.” 

ECI Software Solutions considered these 7 factors for its Priciest Cities to Commute report: 

• The cost of a train ticket, based on the average commute journey closest to the specified city
• Cost of daily parking using NCP
• The average cost of a coffee
• Number of remote jobs available using LinkedIn 
• Number of hybrid jobs available using LinkedIn
• Average number of days in office
• Average time spent commuting

It reportedly calculated the average amount spent on commuting including weekly and monthly and whether by train or car.

Source: The HR Director

(Links and quotes via original reporting)

New research has found that Birmingham is the most expensive city to commute in for hybrid workers with employees spending up to 16 per cent of their salary travelling in each month, while commuting to London by train can swallow as much as 22 per cent, The HR Director reports.

The survey by ECI Software Solutions considered the cost of trains, parking, coffee and the number of remote and flexible jobs on offer to compile the Cost of Commuting Index and reveal the percentage of salary that employees are likely to be spending getting to and from work each month. 

Its findings reportedly come as a new study revealed that up to 90 per cent of companies plan to implement return-to-office policies by the end of 2024. 

Birmingham was named as the most expensive place to commute by car – with employees likely to spend up to 16 per cent of their salary each month simply getting to the office – before even taking into account petrol costs. 

For those travelling by train, London was named as the most expensive commute; using average train costs by nearby areas. The result was based on an average 40-minute commuting journey for 2.5 days a week – costing up to 22 per cent of their regular monthly earnings. 

According to the survey, Derby was the cheapest for train commuters, costing on average £76 a month with a daily return train ticket priced at £4.60. The analysis showed Kingston upon Hull to be the cheapest city for car users. 

The most expensive cities to commute by driving were: 

1. Birmingham: 16.72 per cent of salary
2. Manchester: 14.80 per cent of salary
3. Glasgow: 13.74 per cent of salary
4. London: 13.34 per cent of salary
5. Plymouth: 13.22 per cent of salary

The most expensive cities to commute by train were: 

1. London: 22.31 per cent of salary
2. Edinburgh: 15.82 per cent of salary
3. Hull: 15.10 per cent of salary
4. Birmingham: 13.52 per cent of salary
5. Glasgow: 9.08 per cent of salary

Birmingham was reportedly revealed as the priciest commute by car. Of an employee’s average monthly salary of £2,091, all that remains is £1,791 before household bills and petrol costs.

Bristol, Sheffield and Edinburgh ranked towards the bottom. Of the top 10, Edinburgh has the lowest commute expenses with only 11 per cent of the average salary being spent on parking costs. 

Commenting on the index, Emma Davies-Carolan - Vice President of Global Customer Marketing at ECI Software Solutions - said, “Recently there has been a real push to bring offices back to pre-pandemic levels. However, with so many employees used to flexible working, there might be some pushback on wanting to spend on extra commute days. 

“The research reveals whether travelling by car or train, it still costs over £100 a month just for an average of two and a half days. With the current financial climate, this could be very expensive on top of household costs. This is one of the reasons why employers might want to invest in tools such as office technology software or business management software which can help to seamlessly switch between documents either in the office or at home. Employers have the chance to seize the opportunity to see better working with technology whilst changes are occurring.” 

ECI Software Solutions considered these 7 factors for its Priciest Cities to Commute report: 

• The cost of a train ticket, based on the average commute journey closest to the specified city
• Cost of daily parking using NCP
• The average cost of a coffee
• Number of remote jobs available using LinkedIn 
• Number of hybrid jobs available using LinkedIn
• Average number of days in office
• Average time spent commuting

It reportedly calculated the average amount spent on commuting including weekly and monthly and whether by train or car.

Source: The HR Director

(Links and quotes via original reporting)