Expensive commutes and $14 lunches: how inflation hampers back-to-work push
As US business leaders work to lure employees back into offices this autumn, they have hit an unexpected roadblock: inflation.
The costs of transport, food and childcare have risen faster than salaries, and some employees are saying it is not just more convenient but also cheaper to continue working from home.
When the Covid-19 crisis sparked a widespread shift to remote work in early 2020, many companies provided stipends to employees who complained of the cost of setting up home offices and bigger electric bills.
Managers are not the only ones desperate for white-collar workers to return to offices. Municipal leaders such as New York City mayor Eric Adams have urged companies to bring them back to support local economies. Industries that rely on regular visits from office workers, such as cafés, dry cleaners, nail salons, and parking garages, still employ 347,000 fewer people nationwide than before the pandemic, according to an analysis by ZipRecruiter.
Those are the kinds of expenses that deter workers such as Tumanyan, the real estate broker. Between her subway fare, coffee, a lunchtime salad and things she is tempted to buy while in Manhattan, she said she can spend $75 on days she goes to the office.
“Unless you want to pay for our lunches and our transportation, no, I will not be coming into the office every single day,” she said.
This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Taylor Nicole Rogers
