A 20 minutes commute or more is as bad as a 19 percent pay cut for job satisfaction. If you are the person who travels a lot between work and home every day then there are huge chances of lower job satisfaction, a study has said.
A Longer commute time
Living in Bengaluru and having an easy commute towards your office is considered a difficult job. There are hard to find people who do not complain about commuting longer distance to reach office, paving through insane traffic every morning to reach your destination and vice versa is never pleasant.
A group of researchers has discovered that people who travel a long distance to work, enjoy less job satisfaction. However, not all commuters came up with the problems. According to the research, commuters who walk or use vehicles to work don’t describe the same disappointment as compared to those who commute by bus or metro.
A study by the University of the West of England observed that every extra minute spent traveling to and from work reduces job and leisure time satisfaction. It also increases strain and worsens mental health. In fact, Women related their long commutes to more impact on their job satisfaction than men did. This is possible because of greater household and family responsibilities.
Loss of free time
Dr. Kiron Chatterjee, an associate professor in travel behavior at UWE Bristol, who led the research, said: “The findings indicate that longer journeys to work have adverse subjective wellbeing effects, particularly through loss of free time.”
According to the study, when a person commutes 20 additional minutes to work, he feels as demotivated as getting a 19 percent pay cut. This means, to make them enjoy better job satisfaction, they need to earn 19 percent extra.
IT also made an interesting revelation that Younger workers, and people on lower incomes, were less badly influenced by long commutes, which could be possible due to acceptance amongst them that long commute times are inevitable.
A higher salary and longer commute
Besides, people will usually take on more extended commute times for a job that pays more, which eventually develops satisfaction, according to Dr. Kiron Chatterjee.
The researchers mentioned a study in which they asked some employees to choose between two job scenarios: “Job 1, with a salary of Rs 67,000 a month and a commuting time of 50 minutes, and Job 2, with a salary of Rs 64,000 a month and a commuting time of 20 minutes.” And surprisingly, 84% of participants chose Job 1, with a higher salary and longer commute.
ConclusionÂ
Research bestowing a conclusion explains; People who kept small routines on the way to work, get involved with little things such as checking the news on the bus or having a look at other entertainment options for the day, felt more enthusiastic about the day ahead. They are more satisfied with their jobs, and less stressed-out than those who had no fixed routine.
The study also suggested a way to reduce commute time; which is possible by moving to a new area or changing jobs. Indeed, people can also try other ways to make the commute more delightful and keep up the job satisfaction, like talking with fellow riders or taking a different mode of transportation.
