I work remotely, so I’m not affected by this personally, but I recognize that other people just aren’t lucky enough to be able to choose a job that’s close and convenient. Some people simply don’t have a choice in the matter and they take the job they can get.
Public servant here, the city I live in isn’t hiring and when they do it’s extremely competitive, think 150+ applications for one position. The city I work for is an hour away and I’ve been doing the drive for two years. I can’t move closer due to lack of rentals and what is available is too expensive (I saw a 2br for 3100 this morning) and they won’t rent to me because of pets (why bother when there is someone without pets who is willing to pay 60% of their salary, less risk for your “investment”). Can’t buy because I can’t afford 600k for a starter home with how crazy interest rates are right now I would be looking at a 3k/month mortgage.
I could try adjacent work closer to home, but there isn’t much and it would be a pay cut even accounting for gas. Also no viable transit option available unless I want to leave my house at 5 and get home at 7.
So far I’ve been able to get 1 wfh day, 2 or 3 would be nice but I need to be in office to deal with the public.
