Not quite remote: why people spend five hours commuting to the office

In January 2021, Donell Riley thought it was a good idea to get a job at the Department of Defense office in Philadelphia. Yes, Riley lived in Poconos City, more than 100 miles (161 km) away from work, but that didn't matter for many months while the pandemic lasted and work from home was possible.

However, starting in September, Riley spends up to five and a half hours a day traveling from home to the office two or three times a week, listening to music and immersed in her thoughts. “What else can I do? says a 48-year-old man. “I won’t lie, sometimes I hate it all.”

And only one thing makes him worry more than the 4:30 a.m. alarm clock - the management's decision to reconsider options for remote work, which may be announced next year. “We all know around January or February we will be told that everyone needs to be present in person,” Riley says.

He became one of many employees who, by choice or coincidence, became "super passengers" during the covid-19 pandemic . At the beginning of the introduction of quarantine measures, these people took jobs in offices that were located in very remote areas or even other cities, counting on the fact that they could always work from home.