混合工作的終結和超級通勤的興起

儘管有大量證據證明混合工作對員工和雇主都有利，而且以混合身份工作的員工與全職在辦公室工作的員工一樣高效，但混合工作的太平日子似乎很快就會到來。

Despite evidence suggesting hybrid work benefits both employees and employers, with employees working in a hybrid capacity being just as productive as those working in-office full time, it seems the halcyon days of hybrid work could soon be over.

儘管有證據表明混合工作對員工和雇主都有好處，而且以混合身份工作的員工與全職在辦公室工作的員工一樣高效，但混合工作的太平日子似乎很快就會結束。

And the opportunities remote work afforded during the pandemic years—no commuting, more time to juggle childcare and caregiving responsibilities and the freedom to move out of expensive big cities—are diminishing at a rapid rate.

在疫情期間提供的遠距工作機會——無需通勤、有更多時間兼顧育兒和看護責任以及搬出昂貴的大城市的自由——正在迅速減少。

From Dell’s decree that workers who choose to work remotely will not be eligible for promotions going forward, to Amazon rowing back its remote working policy with a strict RTO (return to office) mandate, more workers are being pushed back to the office five days per week.

從戴爾規定選擇遠距工作的員工將沒有資格獲得晉升，到亞馬遜透過嚴格的 RTO（返回辦公室）強制要求取消其遠距工作政策，更多的員工每五天就被推遲到辦公室星期。

In fact, a recent study conducted by Stanford has found that post-pandemic there has been a surge in long-distance commuting, with the amount of people traveling 75 miles or more per day rising by 32 percent.

事實上，史丹佛大學最近進行的一項研究發現，疫情後長途通勤激增，每天出行 75 英里或以上的人數增加了 32%。

Super commuting isn’t a new phenomenon—the United States Census Bureau has found that extreme commuting has been on the rise since 1990.

超級通勤並不是一個新現象——美國人口普查局發現，自 1990 年以來，極端通勤一直呈上升趨勢。

However, this study looked at the top 10 urban commuting routes in the U.S. and compared the last four months pre-pandemic (November 2019 – February 2020) to the same four months post-pandemic (November 2023 – February 2024).

然而，這項研究著眼於美國十大城市通勤路線，並將大流行前的最後四個月（2019年11月至2020年2月）與大流行後的四個月（2023年11月至2024年2月）進行了比較。

The study found that this increased figure of super commuters are typically spending over two hours driving to their destination and over two hours driving home again.

研究發現，越來越多的超級通勤者通常會花兩個多小時開車前往目的地，然後開車兩個多小時回家。

This means the average super commuter spends five hours of their day commuting from home to the office, and commuters start the return leg of their journeys from 3pm up until 10pm, with 5pm to 6pm being the busiest hours.

這意味著超級通勤者平均每天要花 5 個小時從家裡通勤到辦公室，而通勤者從下午 3 點到晚上 10 點開始回程，其中下午 5 點到下午 6 點是最繁忙的時間。

The study also established that Washington D.C. had the largest increase in super commuters at 100%, with New York coming in second with 89% of commuters falling into the super commuter category.

該研究還確定，華盛頓特區的超級通勤者增幅最大，達到 100%，紐約排名第二，89% 的通勤者屬於超級通勤者類別。

In Phoenix this figure was 57%, in LA, this figure was 20 percent, in Dallas it was 29 percent, and Philadelphia saw a 28 percent increase.

在鳳凰城，這一數字為 57%，在洛杉磯，這一數字為 20%，在達拉斯，這一數字為 29%，在費城，這一數字增加了 28%。

However, Chicago was the one outlier in the study as it has experienced a four percent reduction in super commuters.

然而，芝加哥是這項研究中的一個異常值，因為它的超級通勤者減少了 4%。

While spending more money on gas and wasting hours of your life sitting in traffic are the two most obvious downsides to super commuting, it’s arguably achievable if you only have to do it two or three days per week instead of five.

雖然花更多的錢在汽油上和在交通上浪費時間是超級通勤的兩個最明顯的缺點，但如果你每週只需要花兩到三天而不是五天，那麼它可以說是可以實現的。

Similarly, juggling school drop offs and collections isn’t feasible if you’re leaving the house at 6am to get to the office on time.

同樣，如果您要在早上 6 點出門準時到達辦公室，那麼兼顧接送學校和收集行李也是不可行的。

The other side of the coin is that forcing workers who have vast distances to travel back to the office full time is likely to lead to increased attrition rates, and not facilitating remote workers could result in companies losing out on the best talent because of location limitations.

硬幣的另一面是，迫使距離很遠的員工全職返回辦公室可能會導致員工流失率增加，而不為遠端員工提供便利可能會導致公司因位置限製而失去最優秀的人才。

Just look at Starbucks’ new CEO, Brian Niccol as the perfect—albeit extreme—example of this.

只要看看星巴克的新任執行長布萊恩·尼科爾（Brian Niccol），他就是一個完美的（儘管是極端的）例子。

Prior to accepting his new role, Niccol secured special permission to live at his current home in Newport Beach and commute 995 miles to Starbucks’ headquarters in Seattle (using the company’s jet), in line with the company’s three-day return to office policy.

在接受新職位之前，Niccol 獲得了特別許可，可以住在他目前位於紐波特海灘的家中，並根據公司三天返回辦公室的政策，乘坐995 英里通勤到星巴克位於西雅圖的總部（使用公司的噴氣式飛機）。

“You need to figure out where you need to be to get your job done, then do that. We’re all adults here,” he said. “This is not a game of tracking. This is a game of winning. I care about seeing everybody succeed, and if success requires us being together more often than not, let’s be together more often.”

「你需要弄清楚你需要在哪裡完成你的工作，然後去做。我們這裡都是成年人，」他說。 「這不是一場追蹤遊戲。這是一場必勝的遊戲。我關心看到每個人都成功，如果成功需要我們經常在一起，那就讓我們更經常地在一起。