Commute is getting too expensive

MatticusFinch

Hi all,

I recently moved job which resulted in my commute going from about 15 mins a day to 1 hour each way. I'm making the same money in my current job as I did in my previous one. The increase in fuel costs as well as an increase in childcare is starting to make the commute unviable.

Does it look bad to bring this issue up with my manager?

I’d say if you moved to a new working location within the same company and didn’t have a choice either way you could get something in the way of travel allowance

but if it was your own decision to move jobs knowing you’ll make the same wage with an extra 90 mins commuting then “that’s on you” is the response I’d expect if you were to ask.

besides that if you’re driving, have a look into buses/trains/luas or see if anyone you work with lives nearby and is willing to carpool? May not be viable. As for crèche again try find someone who’d be willing to take the kids after school etc (grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc).

def take a look at childcare schemes you may be entitled to a few quid a week towards the crèche as well! I’m not sure if you’re a lone parent but there’s one parent family payment you can get while working to help with the extra costs especially if you’re solo.

overall, I guess it’s no harm either way to have a chat with the manager but really unless they have a travel expenses budget, there’s not much they can do. It’s not like they can make the roads shorter!

best of luck either way OP, I hope you find something to help!

magicbastarder

as a new employee whose decision to change commute is not the responsibility of your new boss, i suspect your options are limited with what he or she can or will do.

is it a cross country commute or urban commute?

L1011

What is there to raise with your manager?

Unless WFH/hybrid WFH is easily possible, your only other option is to find another job closer or cheaper to commute to.

JimmyVik

OP years ago i changed job and ended up with a longer commute than i thought it was going to be.

I had tested it one day to see what it was like, but clearly it was an anomaly because it was never like that again.

I was annoyed at myself for a while, and didnt move job because I thought it would look bad on my CV, but eventually I just got used to it. Give it a while and see how you go. If you still feel its too much think about moving job again.

MatticusFinch

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118350752#Comment_118350752

I made the change knowing I'd be on the same wage, but it wasn't an issue until the creche price increased, as my partner then got a new job that moved her from Thursday to Saturday to Monday to Friday.

Unfortunately it's the commute is from Sligo to Mayo so the public transport links are not great, and I don't know of anyone else doing to the commute.

As for family, my mother lives in England and my partners parents and grandparents all work as she has a very young family, so no options there.

I'll have to suck it up for the time being and hope things improve once we are out of the Christmas expenditure.

Thanks for your help

MatticusFinch

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118350781#Comment_118350781

It's a cross county commute, Sligo to Mayo. My partner still works in Sligo so I'd hoped to find somewhere to rent in between that would suit us both, but no such luck

MatticusFinch

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118350826#Comment_118350826

At first it didn't seem to bad, but financially things have changed so that's coloured my feelings on it. I'm going to give it another while after Christmas before I make a decision, thanks for the feedback, it's good to hear other people's experience of these commutes

mailforkev

When going to your manager with a problem, you should also always be bringing a solution, or at least a potential one.

In this case, what’s your solution?

I’m a fairly accommodating manager but not sure what I could be expected to do if someone came to me with this. It’s not a work related issue (unless there’s an option to WFH which is not what I’m picking up from your post).

bk

"I’m a fairly accommodating manager but not sure what I could be expected to do if someone came to me with this. It’s not a work related issue (unless there’s an option to WFH which is not what I’m picking up from your post)."

On the other hand as a manager you would want to think about if your employee might quit because of this and how long it might take to find someone to replace them and the cost to your business that might be involved in that.

Of course it can differ from industry to industry, maybe the OP is an industry/position that is very easy to find a replacement for. However in many industries at the moment, finding skilled employees is incredibly difficult and can take months. If the OP is in a industry/position like this, then a small pay increase to cover the extra travel costs would likely be MUCH cheaper then spending months trying to replace someone.

A manager in an industry like this would much rather hear about the issue and try and resolve it, then having to deal with a resignation letter landing on their desk and months of disturbance to the business.

Of course we don't know the OP's circumstances, but I thought worth mentioning in case it applies to the OP.

Flinty997

Pre Lockdown, We had quite a few new people try to turn office jobs into Hybrid WFH. We actually let them go, which was ironic because a few months later we were all working from home. I guess be careful how you pitch it. Also we've had long time people make a case that living costs made a role unsustainable for them, when looking for promotion or flexibility and were in some cases facilitated.

mailforkev

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118351345#Comment_118351345

i get what you’re saying but that’s not how many companies work. I can’t just give someone a pay rise, it would need to be considered at a wider management discussion and only at certain times of year etc.

Also, unless the OP is really something special, they’re just in the door so aren’t in the strongest bargaining position unfortunately.

Anyway, as I said previously, the OP needs to decide what their preferred solution looks like before talking to the manager and go from there. Go in with your strongest case, put it forward clearly and cross your fingers.

daheff

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058223651/commute-is-getting-too-expensive

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118351008#Comment_118351008

so reading this, its not really your job thats unviable. Its because your partner changed jobs & days. And the creche fees increased. What was your partners solution to changing work days and the costs involved?

dowlingm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118351578#Comment_118351578

If businesses embraced hybrid working it might reduce the pressure on backlogged transportation projects (since peak commute is usually the pressure point for system capacity), given how many of them preached that WFH was simply antithetical to their workplace culture but have been able to go remote as needed and remain profitable during pandemic.