Is “Earning The Commute” Moot?
I have never fully understood the “earn the commute” refrain. I understand the issues with being on a packed bus on a hot and humid Sydney February afternoon with no aircon. It’s no fun but these days very rare. Interesting, not that long ago it was normal.
“Earn the commute” came about during covid when central marketing was working out how to get people back into the office. Time and technology have changed that as we have formed new habits and working models.
Was the commute really that bad in the first place?
Not really. According to Leesman’s Rhythms report, 62% of people surveyed are satisfied with their commute. That means 38% are dissatisfied. The reasons why are bountiful because everyone’s circumstances are unique.
The good news is that I am in the majority. I don’t mind the journey. I love travel even on a bus or train. Like everyone else, I am either reading, doing my sudoku, or gawking out the window dreaming and checking the progress of commercial real estate along the way.
Perhaps the issue was never the commute itself, but the assumption that it needed to be justified. If most people do not mind the journey, and some even enjoy it, then the idea of “earning” the commute starts to look less like a necessity and more like a marketing line from a particular moment in time. In hindsight, it was never that bad in the first place.
And speaking of marketing, this week starts the national CoreNet State of the CRE markets events.
Far from moot, these events are designed to make your commute worth it, so watch out for one happening in your capital city.
Gotta go; bus is coming.
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