#PandaPounds: Sentiments toward the commute - Part 1

#PandaPounds 2016 has been officially unveiled! Over 550 ecommerce professionals took some time to complete our salary survey and the results are in! Have you got your paws on a copy yet?

We had so much information from you wonderful ecommerce superstars that we couldn’t fit it all into our report. But don’t fear, we’re not keeping it to ourselves. Just to prove we mean it, here is the first of many insights into the world of ecommerce and careers. We will be looking at the commute and deciding just how big a part it plays in our daily work lives.

The average daily commute

We asked: On average, how long do you spend travelling to work each way? Here’s a quick overview of the responses… 

It’s interesting to see the breakdown of how long the daily commute takes each way. With 52% of our respondents travelling up to 45 minutes and 3% travelling over 2 hours, we thought we’d share some interesting insights into what some of these journeys entail…

• One of our respondents told us the commute took them a huge four hours each way!
• Just behind with a three hour commute each way were two other respondents.
• 20 seconds… this lucky respondent works from home!

These responses got us wondering…what could it be about a role that would have people commuting for up to two hours or more?

The road to the perfect ecommerce job

Looking beyond sentiments towards the commute, we can determine what it is about a rolethat would justify a lengthy commute.

• The brand – 250 of our respondents listed the brand they work for as important or essential in a role. If a serious career goal is to work for a particular brand, then it’s unlikely a commute will be what stands in the way, for a willing candidate at least. In fact, of our respondents who commute over 1.5 hours each way, 69.8% list the brand as important or essential in a role. 20.7% list who the brand is as a neutral part of a role, or deciding on a new role. Perhaps people really do commit to a longer commute if they’re committed to a brand.

• Location – Of all our respondents, 75% of roles are based in London/Greater London. Is London the biggest attraction location wise for our ecommerce superstars? Not necessarily, as only 9% commute from outside London to their role in the capital. Ecommerce team sizes have grown from 2015, and 47.9% of respondents see their companies growing throughout this year, while a further 12.5% see that growth occurring in the ecommerce team only. It seems our respondents are confident in the growth of the industry, which in turn doesn’t affect their decisions when it comes to commuting further afield.

• Team – Considering the expectations of team growth above, does having a solid team and company culture have more sway in considering a role than the commute? Our respondents certainly value both, as they are part of the top 5 essentials for a role. If an employee had a great affinity with the people they work with and the company culture, would the blow of a lengthy commute be softened? 

Time for a breather…

So there you have it, a general overview of our respondents and the commute. In our second delve into travelling to work, we are digging deeper than ever before! Does the commute affect the work life balance? Are more people spending their commute squeezing in some overtime and are they happy about this? How would our respondents want their commute to change for their next role? All will be revealed… watch this space!

If you have yet to get your hands on the full 2016 report, you can download it right here! Stay tuned for the follow up of our commute, and all exclusive #PandaPounds insights...