Many people now spend less time commuting to work due to the shift to remote working. But what are they doing with the time previously spent getting to and from the office?
Researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York have found that workers of various ages are sleeping more, pursuing more recreational activities and cutting their total working hours.
Using data from WFH Research’s US Time Use Survey (ATUS), as of June 2022, 15% of full-time employees work entirely remotely, while 55% work full-time in the office and 30% work in the future.
In total, Americans now spend less than 60 million hours commuting to work each day, said David Dam, a former research analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. explained in a blog post.
“We found that employed individuals allocate their savings from work to leisure and sleep activities, while reducing overall work hours.”
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Before jumping to the conclusion that teleworkers are avoiding more, it’s worth noting that the researchers used the data to illustrate how “one hour of the commute is allocated to activities.” other.”
“First, we found a significant reduction in working hours; the reduction in hours worked away from home was only partially offset by an increase in working from home,” Dam wrote.
“Our results from ATUS show that while individuals may have increased their working hours within the exact amount of time they used to commute, total hours worked has decreased as a result. substitute for other activities of the day.”
The analysis shows that people who work remotely spend more time on both leisure and sleep. Younger Americans say they spend more time at social events, eating out at restaurants or bars, and exercising. Older age groups spend more time on childcare, housework and repairs, as well as meal preparation.
These findings will likely increase growing tension between CEOs and employees about what the new standard should be. While workers claim to be as productive as working from home, most business leaders don’t trust their telecommuters and want them back in the office. According to Microsoft, this leads to senior executives suffering from “productivity paranoia,” threatening the future of hybrid work.
Some employers are now sounding the alarm about “too much work“, where workers are taking on two or more full-time roles. On the other hand, the number of sick days has decreased for many companies as WFH has raised the limit for what is considered sick, like The Economist recently reported.
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But these most recent findings also mean that it may be hard for workers to bargain to retain the benefits of flexible work arrangements discovered during the pandemic. Bosses, especially those struggling to fill vacancies, will need to weigh in if they plan to force employees back into the office and back to day-to-day work.
“Our results show important relationships in the substitutability of time use. The results show confidence in different reports of employee preferences for scheduling. flexible work arrangements, as cutting commutes allows people to spend time on other activities, such as childcare or recreation This added benefit of working from home – for to those who want it – will be an important consideration for the future of flexible work arrangements,” writes Dam.
