Nearly half (47%) of Brits have a commute to the office lasting up to thirty minutes. A further 25% take up to an hour to arrive at work, while eight per cent have a gruelling 1-2 hour journey ahead of them each morning. That leaves us with a mysterious faction totalling 20% of British workers, according to Statista. These are the home workers, or those who have a commute so short it could be a rounding error.
Plenty of effort has gone into justifying a long, often unpaid, trip to and from work. Recruitment company JMF Associates suggests a commute lets people socialise, relax, or prepare for the day. However, the same source adds that commuting too far eats into time for “other things”. The added expense and the potential ruination of enthusiasm land in the ‘cons’ bracket.
Harvard Business Review claims commuting is good for your health. The Atlantic complained that people who enjoy travelling to work are “a mystery of our time”. Put another way, there’s really no point where pro and anti-commuters find common ground.
Behind the Curve
The tide did turn against commuting at the turn of the decade, when remote or ‘tele’ working became vogue. This coincided with a slow shift away from brick-and-mortar locations for finance, entertainment, and retail outlets.
Banks have almost ceased to exist as physical locations, for example. The BBC called Yorkshire a banking “desert” in October, noting that the nearest bank to the town of Stocksbridge is ten miles away. Independent finance company LINK now operates 188 banking ‘hubs’ as an alternative.
Similarly, fans of gaming have had digital options available for a while. Excluding the video game arcades of the 80s and 90s, casinos have begun growing their online presence as an alternative to playing in person. Operators introduced ‘live’ lobbies to this end, where tables are hosted remotely but feature a human croupier. Hippodrome Casino offers blackjack online in the form of Live Hippodrome Blackjack. This is streamed from the physical location in London.
With all that in mind, it could be said that employment is way behind the curve as far as forcing people to exist ‘in the flesh’ when it’s not always necessary.
Holdouts
The Office for National Statistics reports that 28% of Brits were hybrid workers in 2025. Interestingly, that figure has risen in the last two years, despite resistance from businesses themselves.
Demand from workers for remote positions remains high. An example from the US quoted by Business Insider claimed that just 8% of job adverts offer remote work, but they attract 35% of the available applicants. Software firms Dropbox and Atlassian are reportedly taking advantage of the need for WFH availability by offering exactly that – the opportunity to skip the commute.
Holdouts against remote working, a list that includes Amazon, Google, and Starbucks, claim that productivity, innovation, and office camaraderie suffer when people don’t present themselves in person.
WFH vs. in-office seems like a debate that doesn’t have an end, especially when Silicon Valley is now pushing a ‘996’ culture – 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week. Managers want a traditional working life, up to something quite Victorian. Workers simply don’t.
