There are few things more discussed in the office than the daily commute and the nightmare journey that colleagues have faced to navigate their way successfully into the office.
In March 2017, Cape Town was reported to be the, “fastest growing and most congested city in South Africa.” Businesses were urged by The City of Cape Town to implement flexi-hours to aid in alleviating this congestion. But by April 2018 traffic had worsened with reports of 260 000 cars entering the city daily, causing people to sit in traffic for two to three hours a day.
Long commutes are stressful, which itself is rarely conducive to productivity. In fact, a 2015 study conducted by the University of Montreal concluded that the more time spent commuting, the more susceptible workers are to chronic stress. Further research shows it takes only 20 minutes of being in the car, or on a bus, bike or train for workers to be susceptible to chronic stress and physical and emotional exhaustion, which in turn can seriously hamper productivity and workplace engagement.
And businesses cannot turn a blind eye. Findings from a 2019 IWG Global Workspace survey show more than half of respondents think that businesses should subsidise the cost of commuting for their employees as it is not ‘free’ time.