Fernarbeit bedeutet weniger Pendeln, aber mehr Zeit zum Arbeiten

Laut einer neuen Studie verbringen Menschen, die von zu Hause aus arbeiten, einen großen Teil der Zeit, die früher für das Pendeln aufgewendet wurde, damit, mehr Arbeit zu erledigen.  

Forscher hinter dem Arbeitspapier des National Bureau of Economic Research, Zeitersparnis bei der Arbeit von zu Hause aus, estimate that people who WFH use 40% of their commute-time savings on working on primary and secondary jobs. A further 34% goes to leisure, and 11% goes to caregiving. 

„Diese Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass ein Großteil der Zeitersparnis an die Arbeitgeber zurückfließt und dass auch Kinder und andere Pflegebedürftige davon profitieren“, schreiben die Forscher. 

The researchers used data collected from 18,995 workers surveyed in 27 countries between 2021 and 2022. The average time savings across countries amounted to 72 minutes per day, which used to go towards unpaid hours commuting. In the US, time savings when WFH amounted to 55 minutes, compared to 99-102 minutes across India, Japan, and China. The US was at the low end of scale of time saved by WFH. 

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The US was fairly close to the average in each of the metrics. Those in the US who WFH spent 42% of their former commute time on work, 35% on leisure, and 8% on caregiving. 

Nations that spent the most of the extra time from WFH on work included Taiwan (53%), Singapore (53%), Malaysia (53%), India (47%), and China (46%). Respondents in Austria, Spain, and Germany allocated more than 40% of their time savings to leisure. 

However, the study noted the benefits of remote work can go further. The full private value of working from home is greater for several reasons, it notes, pointing out that avoiding the commute brings financial savings as well as time savings. Workers spend less time grooming and getting ready for work when they WFH, while working from home also offers more flexibility in time used over the day, and greater personal autonomy. 

„Das Ergebnis ist, dass der direkte private Wert der Arbeit von zu Hause aus, sagen wir, zwei oder drei Tage pro Woche, größer ist als die Bewertungen der Reisezeit, die auf die Einsparung von Pendelzeit angewendet werden, vermuten lassen“, heißt es in der Studie.

A similar study by researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York last year found that Americans were allocating their saved commute time toward work, leisure activities, and sleeping, but they had reduced overall paid work hours because they were doing other activities, such as sport and leisure. 

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