I recently conducted a Poll to try and ascertain how far people are willing to travel to work. This was because on that day I met with a contractor who said that even one day’s travel every other week to an office that was 80 miles away was too much. The other nine days of those two weeks would have been at an office only a few miles from their home. Perhaps I am naïve to this level of inflexibility as I assume (probably wrongly) that contractors are willing to travel (even one day every two weeks). After all, contactors do generally get paid a higher rate than their counterpart permanant employees and in return I thought contractors offered flexibility to earn this rate.
The poll indicated that a majority of people (40%) would stay near to the location of the role. Therefore they may have a long journey at the start and end of the week but there is minimal travel in between. 32% said they would travel up to 50 miles to work which seems a reasonable distance to travel as part of a daily routine. I was completely surprised that not one person voted for working from home with some travel. Is this not the ideal? Or do we like being in the office and interacting with our fellow counterparts in person?
There are other factors that come in to play here too – length of journey can be split in time versus distance. In Yorkshire it may take an hour to travel 50 miles but in central London it may take an hour to travel just two!
What are your thoughts on this? Do you feel that travel within a role is the norm or would you only look for options that provide you with 100% of your time closer to home? I completely understand that everyone is different and has different priorities – whether they are contractors or permanent employees - but I am keen to hear your opinion.
How far are you willing to go?
Natalie Fennell is the Financial Services Account Manager at BrightPool.
I enjoy working on a contract basis because of the variety and range of assignments I undertake and organisations I work with. This means that I need to be prepared to travel because the best assignments are not always going to be ‘on my doorstep’. Last year I spent 10 months commuting backwards and forwards to Germany from the UK. Every Monday morning and Friday night I met a group of guys all doing the same. Even when I changed departure airports I met another group of regulars at the start and end of each week. Ironically the return airfare each week was cheaper than a return rail ticket into London!
Alan – I think you make a great point about the price of travel in the UK.
Sometimes it is better to get a rate closer to home that may be lower, rather than a role that pays more and is further away, the higher rate doesn’t cover the cost of the travel.
It sounds like working abroad could be a good option too, although this is even further away it is cheaper!
I think distance to travel is heavily dependent upon a number of factors, namely interest of role, regularity of commute (weekly as opposed to daily), daily rate and flexibility of client as regards: working from home, flexible hours and even accommodation expenses. Personally for the right role, I would a weekly commute to another country, as referred to by Alan, and within the UK a weekly commute of any distance actually..for the right role that floats my boat.
In your example you do not quote the day rate on offer. A contractor is prepared to go to greater lengths for say £400 per day than £200 per day. I have worked on a number of different contracts. I have been home based but travelling on a daily basis to most parts of England and Wales, careful to negotiate my rate and travelling expenses. I have worked on a contract where I have worked in an office 3 days a week 150 miles away and the other 2 from home. And I have of course worked on contracts where I have been away from home all week. In these instances I try to stay close to where I work as more often than not I work long hours sometimes until 9 to 10 in the evening after a 7.00 a.m. start to get the job done.
i don’t find from the large number of contractors I have worked with an inflexibility to travel, (I’m sure most of us would like more of a home life)its more to do with commitment to ensure the project is completed to the satisfaction of the client.
Finally I find your comments, ‘After all, contactors do generally get paid a higher rate than their counterpart permanant employees and in return I thought contractors offered flexibility to earn this rate.’to be a typical response from an employee. Employees generally have a number of benefits such as paid holidays, sickness benefits, contributions to a pension, none of which are enjoyed by a contractor. When these benefits are pointed out in addition to the risk of not being in work for periods of time, being a contractor is suddenly not so appealing. Remember we are running a business as much as your clients and therefore have to build in all of our expendiyure including some of the benefits mentioned above that some employees take for granted, so any sensible contracter will only accept contracts that are viable.
I spent 3 months on a contract in Cameroon. Most challenging contract I have ever been on. I was away from home for 2 months initially. The experience was amazing I could write a book. The insight it has given me is second to none. The travel experience and contrast between the uk and third world was amazing. I identified major problems in the country, the regulation, corruption and general worlde regulation in place but not actioned.
I saw starving people in a country that could feed its poupulation. I wish I had had the experience 20 years earlier. Conclusion problem will not be solved ever. Negative but after 38 years in compliance banking etc my conclusion I beleive is valid.