Back to Work
It’s been a full five years since the onset of the global pandemic. Some of us never missed a day in the office—that’s especially true for those of you whose office is made up of a shop, acres, and the ability to feed the world. But for those in offices, the return has been slow…but growing.
New research shows a vast majority of employed adults are once again commuting to jobs outside the home.
Katz Radio Group research using YouGov data shows that the post-pandemic workforce has largely returned to commuting with more than 70 percent of employed adults now working outside the home as of last month…a 29 percent increase in commuting levels in five years.
The return to the office transcends age groups, but those age 30-44 are among the most likely to be back in a physical workplace…74 percent of those folks say they do commute.
As a radio advertising company, Katz tracks such things to show its clients that more time commuting means more time in a vehicle…and over-the-air radio continues to be the dominant medium. For all the talk about in-car audio streaming and the like, AM/FM radio captures 90 percent of ad-supported audio listening in cars.
A similar survey showed that 89 percent of marketers and ad agency folks commute at least part of the week, with 57 percent of them in the office most days. That 57 percent is a big jump from just 22 percent in April 2022, a full two years after we first learned the word COVID.
