Last Updated on June 22, 2016
As social care professionals are forced further out into the suburbs, and commutes grow longer, the two million people who work in social care are cumulatively missing out on £10bn a year in the unpaid time it takes to get to work.
Social care professionals take an average of 55 minutes to commute to work, travelling 36 miles each way. If people in care jobs valued the time they spend getting to work as highly as they value the time they spend at work, then the average commute would be worth £5,194, according to research from Randstad Care. This lost value represents 25% of their average annual salary.
The research was carried out as part of a Randstad partnership with the Williams Martini Racing. Victoria Short, Managing Director of Randstad Care, commented, ‘People working in care and social worker jobs are embracing longer commutes to work, particularly as the housing crisis nudges them further out into the suburbs. But there is a lost value to the time they spend snarled up in traffic. The value of time is significant – it adds up to more than £5,000 a year per person – and totals more than £10bn across the whole sector.
‘Some social care workers will choose a longer commute while, increasingly, others are valuing their time more highly and looking for a job closer to home. For those looking for a new job, it’s becoming more important than ever to consider the value of the time it will take them to get to work, as well as the actual cost of the transport, and the new salary. Employers also need to consider the impact of location, as a lengthy daily commute can be enough to persuade workers to look elsewhere – particularly more senior members of staff.’
The latest Randstad Award research found that poor work-life balance is one of the top five reasons behind workers choosing to change employer – contributing to just under a quarter (22%) of job moves.
Furthermore, when looking for a new employer, a good work-life balance was cited as a top five factor for 45% of workers in 2015 – compared to 39% in 2012. And 9% of people working in social care said their new job being conveniently located was their top priority when choosing a new role.
The Award research also discovered that having a lengthy commuting time is more likely to adversely affect senior, more experienced members of staff. In total, 21% of workers in the 45-65 age group said a too-long commute time was one of the top five factors contributing to their decision to move jobs, compared to just 16% across the UK workforce as a whole.