Traveling to work

swanseajack91

Hi all,

Recently found out my current employer wont be extending or making my contract permanent anyways my contract is up at the end of July, I cant find many jobs locally (Swansea) that match or suit what I am looking for I currently work in IT first/second line support. All the jobs are in either Bridgend or Cardiff which is about an hours commute there and back, also most of the jobs are either the same money I am on now or only a little more, however they are larger company's with more opportunity's. I spouse my main question is does anyone travel over an hour to get to work ? I am worried how it will affect my family life seeing my daughter and partner. the hours for the current job I would be working are anywhere from 7am till 8pm.

Sncjw

It used to take me an hour to get to uni that's including walking to metro station and getting bus from metro to uni. Takes about 50 mins in my old job which included walkig to metro and be about the same for new job.

Does your commute time include walking to train station or bus stop. It can be done I think an hour is reasonable but also leave bit earlier in case of traffic problems.

swanseajack91

It would be only driving a few street roads then onto the M4 so I would need to factor in fuel costs too, my car isn't the most economical! its Around 38 miles each way for the Job I have recently applied for.

Generali

swanseajack91 wrote: »

Hi all,

Recently found out my current employer wont be extending or making my contract permanent anyways my contract is up at the end of July, I cant find many jobs locally (Swansea) that match or suit what I am looking for I currently work in IT first/second line support. All the jobs are in either Bridgend or Cardiff which is about an hours commute there and back, also most of the jobs are either the same money I am on now or only a little more, however they are larger company's with more opportunity's. I spouse my main question is does anyone travel over an hour to get to work ? I am worried how it will affect my family life seeing my daughter and partner. the hours for the current job I would be working are anywhere from 7am till 8pm.

I currently commute ~75 mins each way. It's a PITA but manageable, especially as I enjoy my job. If I didn't enjoy what I do I don't think I could cope with it TBH.

tripled

After a firm I went for went bust, I turned down another job locally to commute to one over two hours away with better prospects. It involved a half-hour drive, just over an hour on the train, a five minute walk, a few minutes waiting for a bus, twenty minutes on the bus, then another five minute walk.

I did try driving the whole trip instead, which would generally take just over an hour and a half. However, I found that quite tiring. In general people don't seem to mind if you nod off on the way home on a public train, but for some reason they don't like it if you do the same in your own car.

Anything up to an hour is ok imo, anything over is stretching it for me (although plenty do it).

InsideInsurance

Working in London, I dont know anyone who commutes under an hour.

Personally mine is almost 2 hours each way, a bit less in the mornings as can time the trains and I'm on an early small line so no problems with seats and a bit longer in the evenings as cannot judge my time to the station as accurately and need to get to the train early if you dont want to be standing for 30-40 minutes.

getmore4less

Any contract jobs, pay should be lot higher and more expenses claimable, even if further away overnights might make them more cost effective.

Paully232000

When I go into the office, my travel time is just under an hour depending on traffic, possibly 45 minutes if I leave the house after 9am. 2 or 3 times a week which also helps.
Really enjoy my job so I think it is worth it, but as someone else has said, if I hated, or wasn't so fussed about my job I may resent the travel time.

swanseajack91

Thanks for the reply, I am lucky with my current job only takes 15 mins to drive to! I think that this company are offering something other cant. Its put my mind to rest a little knowing so many people do it!

duchy

Why does it matter what other people do ?
If it works for you do it. You'll always meet people who would do it- and others who'd consider anything more than 10 minutes from home unacceptable. If the benefits of a longer commute outweigh the benefits of a job closer to home -which this seems to with better prospects then you do what benefits you regardless of what someone else (who isn't you) would do

To put it perspective -if you were claiming JSA and turned a job down on the basis it was too far away at an hour's travelling -a sanction would be applied in most circumstances.

flutterbyuk25

Another Jack here!

I live in Swansea and work in Bridgend. It's a 22mile trip to work for me, I live just off M4 J44 and work just off Sarn junction (36?) so almost all motorway driving for me. It takes 25mins generally to do the journey, I start at 8am and finish at 5pm. I find this really easy and not a bad drive, the traffic builds up at the new 50mph cameras at Port Talbot both ways, and then on the return journey it sometimes builds up around J43.

I used to live in Llanelli, and the journey was so much longer, around 50mins on a good day. Traffic is worse around J45 and then queuing off at J48. I hated this!

I use the journey to process the day ahead and what has happened in work on the way home. Once you get used to it, the commute isn't a chore. In my old job, which I left in July, I had a 5min commute in a works vehicle so it was a shock to the system to drive in my car for so far at first!

You may find someone to car share with in a new job, I did this for 3mths when living in Llanelli but grew to hate it as I had to wait 20mins for them to finish after I finished! But it did save me a fortune at a time I needed it.

Pob lwc.