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THREE grand can buy you a round-trip airfare to most places around the world, however new research shows that Australians are now forking out this same exorbitant amount each year to cover their far less exciting travel plans.
Global workplace provider Regus has found that the cost of commuting to work has skyrocketed by 52% in just five years, now cutting Australian pockets by more than $3,000 each year.
Not only are prices becoming more unaffordable but the average time per year it takes to get to work has risen to 241 hours, just over ten days out of the year.
According to Regus Australian and New Zealand CEO Paul Migliorini, organisations are now adjusting procedure and more frequently turning to remote working solutions such as Skype, WhatsApp and Google Hangouts to help ease this financial burden.
"Work is no longer a matter of where you go but what you do, and it's refreshing to see so many businesses realign their policies to ease the burden on employees," says Migliorini.
"Reducing the commuting burden not only offers workers a better work-life balance, but businesses are increasingly realising the benefits this has on productivity as a whole."
Nearly 80% of senior management personnel surveyed by Regus have confirmed their support for remote working, and 68% of businesses report their need to offer remote working solutions for staff retention and development.
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