Goddamn economy.
We found out yesterday that due to cost cuts, our office is closing in less than three months and we’ll all be consolidated into a different office 13 miles away. Thirteen miles doesn’t sound like very much, but this is northern New Jersey, where car traffic and mass transit warp the laws of space and time. Many of us in the office live in NYC and commute by train into Newark every day. It currently takes me about an hour to get to work; my new commute will be an hour and 40 minutes. Each way.
Even the people who live in New Jersey and drive to work will have a longer commute, because, again, commuter traffic in New Jersey sucks.
It’s possible I’ll be able to telecommute a few days a week. Otherwise I don’t know how I’m going to do this.
Nobody is happy about it. At least we’re not being laid off, but sometimes being zen and looking on the bright side only gets you so far.
So I need some time to be angry.
More time to read the news. And not being laid off is a tremendous plus.
Ditto. An inconvenient commute is vastly better than unemployment!
aw man, you’ll love telecommuting! you’ll get a ton done those days, plus those extra 2 hours you’ll be saving on those days will make up for the extra 1.3333 hours you’ll be adding the other 2 days.
the only downside will be that you have to do your important office socializing in less time. :)
I’ll echo those who say a longer commute beats unemployment, particularly in this economy. And you’re commuting by train and not driving, which means you can use the time productively to read, listen to whatever electronic entertainment you prefer, or sleep. When life gives you synthetic lemon flavoring, make artificially-flavored lemon drink!
Nah, it sucks. Be angry. 85% of Americans still have full-time jobs, it’s not like everyone is unemployed. And some of that 15% is stupid. (Had to be un-PC somewhere in here.)
My firm moved 25 miles north of its old location because 2 senior partners threatened to leave if we didn’t move, and they had the biggest revenue line. So my commute went from a 25-minute drive on essentially one road, with lots of flexibility as to when I arrived (so I could avoid the heaviest traffic), to a 70-minute (each way) car/train combo with about a train an hour to choose from.
I’m still bitter. But I spend less time in the office each day than I used to, because since they chose to lengthen my commute, that was their choice, not mine. I am still working a longer day, in my mind, because I get to the train station in the morning before I used to get to the office, and I get back to the train station at night at about the same time I used to leave the office.
So I would trim your time in the office by a few minutes if you can to make up for the inconvenience.
Will your new office atleast be near public transportation? Is your company offering any kind of incentive or perk to make it worth while. You touched on telecommuting. Perhaps they pay for lunch or a free train pass for the month?
Be angry – it’s okay. My office is a 10-minute drive. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever had a long commute. Sometimes I think it would be nice, especially if I could sit on a train and read. OTOH, I’d have to get up earlier and get home later, which would not be good. I hope the telecommuting works out.
nyc10021: I think the incentives or perks are, “You get to keep your job.” Plus more flexibility on telecommuting, hopefully. As for financial perks, zero.
It’s a very short walk to the nearest train station, although it looks like the train arrives from the city just once an hour in the morning, and leaves once every 75 minutes in the evening. There’s another train station about a mile away that comes a little more often.
I telecommute occasionally, and it can be nice. It can also be isolating, and I don’t have a very big desk at home, but it does mean not having to commute on those days.
You have every right to be angry that the economy is so fucked up that things like this are happening.