Survey: Workers spend more than $60 daily to work from the office

Going back to the office is costing staff more than just their time. They’re spending $61 on average every day when they come in, paying for parking and gas or transit, coffee and lunch, and even breakfast or dinner on some days, a new survey found.  

That’s up from $51 last year, according to the survey from Owl Labs, which includes responses from over 2,000 U.S. workers. This financial burden is one factor driving ongoing resistance to returning to offices and comes as some major employers like Amazon and Dell have announced plans for employees to return for the five-day week. 

“If you’re being asked to go into the office five days a week, an additional $300 a week in expenses is really, really high,” said Owl Labs CEO Frank Weishaupt in a news release. “I think that the long-term concern is employees are going to look for more hybrid opportunities and more remote opportunities,” he said.  

“If you're being asked to go into the office five days a week, an additional $300 a week in expenses is really, really high,” Weishaupt commented in the release. “You really need to understand the culture and the employee base within your company, to understand how you might be able to incentivize return to the office by potentially subsidizing some of those key things.” 

On average workers are spending $27 a day on commuting costs and parking, $13 on breakfast and coffee, and $21 at lunch, the report found. 

“What’s fascinating about this transition back to work is that I believe employers have forgotten how very expensive it is to go to work,” Joy Taylor, managing director at Alliant Consulting, wrote in response to the survey. “It involves parking for many organizations, which is very costly. It’s childcare, food and gas.” 

Taylor went on to note in her statement that, “Those are dollars that matter to every single employee, regardless of the level, but of course hits harder for those that are at the beginning stages of their careers. And organizations need to be very aware of the impacts that those costs are undertaking to their employees.” 

Workers in the survey said higher compensation would ease the financial burden of returning to the office, with many experiencing years of inflation as the cost of living has risen with no accompanying raises. But wage growth continues slowing, with raises and bonuses this year unlikely to be that generous.  

Workers also cited having shorter commutes, free or subsidized food and beverages, and having their parking and commuting costs covered by their employer, as ways to ease the return.  

According to Taylor, parking should be paid for by an employer. Providing staff with more free food, and a wider variety of healthier and nutritious food (not pizza parties) is another way to help make the return to in-person work easier and cheaper.