High fuel prices affect commuting habits: survey
Some employers are offering perks such as increasing mileage compensation for work-related travel, organizing ride-share programs, and subsidizing transportation costs to help employees deal with higher fuel costs.
Derek Abma, Canwest News Service · May 30, 2008 | Last Updated: May 30, 2008 10:00 AM ET
OTTAWA -- Rising fuel prices are increasingly becoming a factor in how people get to their place of employment and arrange other aspects of their work life, according to a report released Thursday.
A poll of U.S. workers by staffing firm Robert Half International showed 44% of respondents have made changes to their commuting habits or work arrangements to ease the financial burden of higher gasoline costs. That was up from 34% when a similar poll was taken two years ago.
According to petroleum research firm MJ Ervin and Associates, the average price of gasoline in Canada has risen 25% in the last two years. Its latest weekly survey put it at $1.326 a litre, up from $1.062 at about the same time May 2006. Fuel prices in the U.S. have gone up on a similar scale.
"I would think that the trends (of the survey) would apply in Canada, based on the similar issues," Mike Gooley, branch manager for Robert Half in Toronto, said in an interview.
The most popular change — according to this survey of 539 workers — among those whose work habits have been affected by fuel prices, was doing more carpooling, cited by 46% of that subcategory of respondents.
Other common changes included driving more fuel-efficient vehicles and telecommuting, each getting chosen by 33% of those who've opted for changes.
Telecommuting, or working from home, is something Gooley said he can foresee becoming increasingly popular in the coming years.
"From a technology standpoint, people can set up home offices and — depending on their role, depending on what the company wants them to do — they may be able to work from home," Gooley said.
He said when it comes to his firm's associates choosing whether or not to take on temporary assignments, the commuting distance from their home is a factor, and more so in recent years due to higher fuel costs.
Many in the survey said they were looking for jobs closer to home (30%), working at an office locations closer to their residence (29%), working fewer days (26%), or looking for higher pay (25%) as ways to deal with higher pump prices.
Some of the less frequent responses in the survey from those who were taking steps to deal with higher fuel costs were taking public transit more (23%) and walking or cycling to work (18%).
The survey showed that some employers are offering perks such as increasing mileage compensation for work-related travel, organizing ride-share programs, and subsidizing transportation costs to help employees deal with higher fuel costs. However, most respondents — 59% — said their employers were doing nothing in this regard.
"Employers may be missing an opportunity to improve morale and reduce turnover by helping their staff cope with the burden of rising gas prices," Max Messmer, CEO of Menlo Park, Calif.-based Robert Half, said in a statement. "Often, it can be as simple as communicating to employees what programs are already in place."
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