Post-pandemic travel patterns of remote tech workers
Almost half of all jobs in the San Francisco Bay Area are “remote-eligible” – more than any other metropolitan area in the United States, due to the high concentration of employees in the technology sector who were early to embrace teleworking at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Any...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2023-05-01
|
| Series: | Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198223000519 |
| _version_ | 1797822062722547712 |
|---|---|
| author | Simon Tan Kevin Fang T. William Lester |
| author_facet | Simon Tan Kevin Fang T. William Lester |
| author_sort | Simon Tan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Almost half of all jobs in the San Francisco Bay Area are “remote-eligible” – more than any other metropolitan area in the United States, due to the high concentration of employees in the technology sector who were early to embrace teleworking at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Any significant share of these tech workers staying remote may have profound long-term impacts on aggregate travel patterns in the region. This research seeks to predict the magnitude of these impacts and derive insights about the newly learned behaviors of tech workers, as indicative of remote-eligible workers in general.A survey of over 660 tech workers ran from November 2021 to March 2022, asking about participants’ employers and remote work policies, commute details and mode preferences, non-work trips, and interest in relocation.Respondents expected employer-driven hybrid arrangements of 2–3 days per week in the office after the pandemic, which in turn dictated the number of predicted future commuting trips and suppressed interest in relocation. Though almost half of respondents expressed interest in moving, they only planned to move a median of 20.93 miles – staying within the region but shifting away from their offices and towards less dense and more automobile-oriented suburban neighborhoods.Additionally, those moving more than ten miles from their office are likely to switch to less sustainable travel modes. On the other hand, robust observed retention of online shopping habits for groceries and food delivery may mitigate the added vehicle trips caused by rebound effects. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T10:03:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8236fbcff7954e6c9fb44adf693ae9df |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2590-1982 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T10:03:15Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives |
| spelling | doaj.art-8236fbcff7954e6c9fb44adf693ae9df2023-05-23T04:22:00ZengElsevierTransportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives2590-19822023-05-0119100804Post-pandemic travel patterns of remote tech workersSimon Tan0Kevin Fang1T. William Lester2San José State University, One Washington Square, San José, CA 95192, United States; Corresponding author.Sonoma State University, 1801 East Cotati Ave, Rohnert Park, CA 94928, United StatesSan José State University, One Washington Square, San José, CA 95192, United StatesAlmost half of all jobs in the San Francisco Bay Area are “remote-eligible” – more than any other metropolitan area in the United States, due to the high concentration of employees in the technology sector who were early to embrace teleworking at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Any significant share of these tech workers staying remote may have profound long-term impacts on aggregate travel patterns in the region. This research seeks to predict the magnitude of these impacts and derive insights about the newly learned behaviors of tech workers, as indicative of remote-eligible workers in general.A survey of over 660 tech workers ran from November 2021 to March 2022, asking about participants’ employers and remote work policies, commute details and mode preferences, non-work trips, and interest in relocation.Respondents expected employer-driven hybrid arrangements of 2–3 days per week in the office after the pandemic, which in turn dictated the number of predicted future commuting trips and suppressed interest in relocation. Though almost half of respondents expressed interest in moving, they only planned to move a median of 20.93 miles – staying within the region but shifting away from their offices and towards less dense and more automobile-oriented suburban neighborhoods.Additionally, those moving more than ten miles from their office are likely to switch to less sustainable travel modes. On the other hand, robust observed retention of online shopping habits for groceries and food delivery may mitigate the added vehicle trips caused by rebound effects.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198223000519TeleworkTelecommutingRemote workICTTech industryRelocation |
| spellingShingle | Simon Tan Kevin Fang T. William Lester Post-pandemic travel patterns of remote tech workers Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives Telework Telecommuting Remote work ICT Tech industry Relocation |
| title | Post-pandemic travel patterns of remote tech workers |
| title_full | Post-pandemic travel patterns of remote tech workers |
| title_fullStr | Post-pandemic travel patterns of remote tech workers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Post-pandemic travel patterns of remote tech workers |
| title_short | Post-pandemic travel patterns of remote tech workers |
| title_sort | post pandemic travel patterns of remote tech workers |
| topic | Telework Telecommuting Remote work ICT Tech industry Relocation |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198223000519 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT simontan postpandemictravelpatternsofremotetechworkers AT kevinfang postpandemictravelpatternsofremotetechworkers AT twilliamlester postpandemictravelpatternsofremotetechworkers |