Today we’re launching Tyto’s inaugural ‘Cost of a London PR Commute’ study.
We love London, but we don’t love commuting or the financial and time costs that come with it. And wow, are those costs staggering! PR professionals that have opted for a commuter’s life – be it for affordable housing, a better lifestyle or improved schooling – are paying a very high cost.
To be specific, London commuters are on average paying £5,622 or 16% of the average net post tax London PR industry salary.
They’re also paying in time with the average time cost of a London PR nearly two and a half hours per day. That’s 24 full 24-hour days of a person’s life per year. Equate this to average London PR salaries and you’re looking at £12,760 in unpaid overtime.
Then consider the parents that are paying for additional wrap around childcare. To cover those extra commuting hours, they must pay £18.86 per day or £4,450.57 per year. This equates to an average of 12.57% of an employee’s net post tax PR industry salary.
Combine the cost of travel with the cost of wrap around child care and the average London commuter is paying out £10,115 of their net post tax salary per year. That’s 28% of the average London net post tax PR salary. And that doesn’t even factor in the cost of the unpaid time for all the travel they do to get to that all so important London office!
We launched Tyto with a location agnostic employment model so that we could allow our employers to join a fast-paced dynamic agency environment without having to make these financial and lifestyle sacrifices. I think of it as enabling our team to have their cake and eat it. Or to have their cake and not commute 20 days of their life away each year, or spend 28% of their hard earned salary just for the privilege of having a great job.
When we travel, we travel with a purpose. To meet with clients, colleagues and contacts. For us travel is a business enabler, it is about traveling to the action, not travelling to the same postcode just because it has the most affordable office space. We’re looking to invest the savings we make in office space into hiring the best talent for our clients, having the most compelling incentives to reward our team, and to invest in outstanding training and development.
All around us, in client organisations and in like-minded agencies, we are seeing a shifting and more enlightened attitude towards remote working. I’m sure most PR commuters would agree that change cannot happen fast enough.
Read the full study, including the research breakdown and methodology, here.