- July 9, 2008
- 1 Comment
When workers feel financial pinch, employers get bruised, too
Today, CareerBuilder.com released its survey on the effect of rising gas prices on American commuter behavior. The survey of 8,700 workers nationwide reveals that 47 percent of commuters have cut back in other areas of their spending to accommodate for the rising gas costs.
What does this mean for employers? Well, besides that you should put away any hopes for extravagant Boss Appreciation Day presents, you also might want to consider ways to ease the financial burden of commuting for your employees; otherwise, they might start looking elsewhere for shorter commutes, and/or better benefits (if they haven’t started already).
Show your employees you are aware of their woes and want to help them: Encourage your workers to consider some of the alternatives that Rosemary Haefner, CareerBuilder.com’s Vice President of Human Resources, suggests, like making use of company perks, carpooling, taking mass transit, telecommuting and walking or biking to work. Or, even better, invite your employees to brainstorm with you on more wallet-friendly ways to get to work.
If you’re in the process of hiring, consider the following survey results: 60 percent of the commuters surveyed According to the survey, 29 percent of commuters are only willing to drive up to 10 miles to get to work, and 10 percent are only willing to drive five. One in 10 workers indicated they would take a pay cut for a job that was closer to home.
While workers have always factored in distance when considering jobs, never has it been such a prevalent factor as it is now. Employers who are losing qualified candidates because they don’t want to drive the 20, 15 or even 10 miles to and from work each day need to consider this when recruiting.
Several businesses now offer employees the option to telecommute, or let them work a four-day, 10-hour work week instead of the more traditional five-day, eight-hour one.
If you can’t offer your employees a flex schedule, consider offering them some reimbursement for gas or public transit, or implementing a shuttle system to get employees to and from work.
More financially-viable options include encouraging workers to carpool, take public transportation, or even walk or bike to work. (In last week’s post, I mentioned the New Belgium Brewing Company’s strategy of giving employees free bikes to cut back on gas AND promote health.)
One other thing to think about: in addition to saving money, this article from the San Francisco Gate points out, the alternatives to driving to work can also help workers feel better about the good they’re doing for the environment and – for those who traded in their cars for bikes or walking shoes – their own health.
…on a lighter note, I recently came across this oldie-but-a-goodie slideshow from FastCompany.com: “What you can learn from The Office.”
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- Categories: Employee Attraction, Employee Retention, Survey Results
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