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At the end of the day for many people living in the NYC Metro area it comes down to money! There are more McMansions and BMW's in that area than probably any place in the country. Most of it is leveraged up the kazoo, but that's the game in that area.
So, what kind of money are you making? A LOT? Or just "industry standard" for your position? If you are getting paid decently then the commute is just part of the deal.
I went in and out of the city every day from NJ for a LOT of years. Had a permanent parking spot in a garage in midtown After a while the commute just becomes part of your life. But my employer made it worth my while...not marginally, but a whole lot better.
I made tons of phone calls--part of my business requirement. I Listened to music, sports talk radio, and plenty of TED Talks, and everything else you can listen to. You become quite educated about a lot of things, and it just becomes your life after a while. 60-90 minutes in; 60-120 minutes out. Depending, as you said.
I also understand it's a new world. My career was my life. 24/7/365. I did what was necessary. Sometimes i had weekends. Other times i was some place in the world tending to things necessary. Generally, i had GREAT vacations where the money made it better than it might otherwise have been: think Four Seasons instead of Marriot. Others might find this onerous and want more personal time in exchange for fewer $$$.
At the end of the day it becomes personal: what do YOU want and what are you willing to put up with to get there?
Ugh. I had to work on a project for a while that required me to drive to LaGuardia for 8 a.m. meetings three times a week. 66 miles each way. I had to get to the GWB before 7 or I'd be late. The traffic volume increases over about a 10 - 15 minute window.
Parkway to Turnpike, over the GWB, Major Deegan to the Triboro to the GCP.
Plus the disheartening feeling of driving to an airport every day and never actually getting to fly anywhere, lol.
You would most likely tolerate this if you had public transportation options. My commute each way usually takes about 65-80 minutes each way, sometimes more, but sitting in bus gives me time to close my eyes and catch up on sleep.
Unfortunately, for most, enough having time for yourself during the week doesn't apply. You would have to learn to stay up late to enjoy doing things you like.
I’m young, so I’m a bigger proponent of telework than many of my older peers. I proved myself for 6 months when I started here by working my butt off from home. No complaints from my manager (who didn’t make this decision and also disagrees with it) whatsoever. COVID proved that people can have time for themselves and work effectively, but many employers just don’t want to hear it.
I wasn’t even expecting to WFH every single day. I’d be absolutely fine with hybrid.
If I have any mild regrets, one is that I never lived in the city. Even thought I might for a time in retirement, but now it looks like that ship has sunk.
If I have any mild regrets, one is that I never lived in the city. Even thought I might for a time in retirement, but now it looks like that ship has sunk.
Yea, one of the few good decisions I've made in my life.
It was a ton of fun and coincided with a relatively easy job.
Yea, one of the few good decisions I've made in my life.
It was a ton of fun and coincided with a relatively easy job.
City is completely different these days.
So I am hearing. I have a close friend, the former co-worker with whom I ran out of the WTC hand in hand and am bonded with for life. She grew up in Brooklyn, lives on Staten Island in a beautiful home on a street you would not think could be part of NYC. But she has two young kids, and she is considering bailing to Florida, so sick is she over what has happened to her city.
At the end of the day for many people living in the NYC Metro area it comes down to money! There are more McMansions and BMW's in that area than probably any place in the country. Most of it is leveraged up the kazoo, but that's the game in that area.
So, what kind of money are you making? A LOT? Or just "industry standard" for your position? If you are getting paid decently then the commute is just part of the deal.
I went in and out of the city every day from NJ for a LOT of years. Had a permanent parking spot in a garage in midtown After a while the commute just becomes part of your life. But my employer made it worth my while...not marginally, but a whole lot better.
I made tons of phone calls--part of my business requirement. I Listened to music, sports talk radio, and plenty of TED Talks, and everything else you can listen to. You become quite educated about a lot of things, and it just becomes your life after a while. 60-90 minutes in; 60-120 minutes out. Depending, as you said.
I also understand it's a new world. My career was my life. 24/7/365. I did what was necessary. Sometimes i had weekends. Other times i was some place in the world tending to things necessary. Generally, i had GREAT vacations where the money made it better than it might otherwise have been: think Four Seasons instead of Marriot. Others might find this onerous and want more personal time in exchange for fewer $$$.
At the end of the day it becomes personal: what do YOU want and what are you willing to put up with to get there?
I make $60k, a lot for my age but that is the lowest salary offered by the company. My position has different tiers, and those in the highest tiers make over 6 figures.
Why is the commute “just part of the deal”, after what we’ve proven over the past two years? If someone had told me a year ago that I’d be back to commuting 5 days a week, I’d have laughed at them. I am the only person I know of who is back 5 days a week, not including the people who are blue collar workers or in positions where they truly need to be in person. All of my friends and family in white collar positions where they just type on a computer are hybrid or fully remote.
I know this thread leans older, and I know many will disagree with me. But if I were in management, the offices would be open for everyone, and that would be it. I would never personally mandate going in, not even on a hybrid basis. And I’m not even expecting fully remote, hybrid is more common. This commute 3 days a week would have been quite different than 5 days.
You're not being whiny. I would never go back to a full time commute again if I can help it. Currently commuting to the city 2 days a week and I absolutely hate getting up for those days. Especially when I sit alone in my office all day and 99% of my interactions are still by phone and zoom.
One of the very senior managers at my company gave a speech over a Teams meeting yesterday that remote work has been nothing but horrible for the industry, and it’s his goal to have all the remote workers back in the office 5 days a week or let go by the end of the year. So, I don’t think hybrid is ever coming back, and I will eventually have to give up either the job or my apartment. I have a hard time commuting anywhere between 60 and 90 minutes each way, especially when it’s truly unnecessary for my position.
One of the very senior managers at my company gave a speech over a Teams meeting yesterday that remote work has been nothing but horrible for the industry, and it’s his goal to have all the remote workers back in the office 5 days a week or let go by the end of the year. So, I don’t think hybrid is ever coming back, and I will eventually have to give up either the job or my apartment. I have a hard time commuting anywhere between 60 and 90 minutes each way, especially when it’s truly unnecessary for my position.
Be happy you’re in 2 days a week.
I feel with the big banks starting to reel in their workers to the office the rest of the white collar world will follow somehow.
My work has asked us to come in a day or two, if we can, since the early summer. It hasn't really made any impact but I feel it's coming soon where they will ask us to come in more. After all, they are paying all this rent for empty offices.
Just because a job can be done remotely doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best way to get it done. Employers had time to measure outcomes with remote work vs. in person and by now have decided how best to move forward for their business. If employees start leaving their company in large enough numbers then they’ll obviously have to re-evaluate their decision. But if the data shows they get more productivity out of their workforce with in-person than they do with remote, what’s their incentive for offering a remote option? Things we really don’t like acknowledging as employees but if we were all owners we would be looking at it from a different lens.
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