How commuting affects employees’ Wellbeing and Work-Life Balance: The perspective of full-time employees commuting within the greater Dublin area

A recent poll stated that Ireland’s transport infrastructure competitiveness ranking has improved although per the World Economic Forum (WEF) competitiveness report, it remains poor compared to well-developed economies with whom the State competes for investment. As cities become more lucrative, urban mobility occurs, therefore, if the State’s lack of capital investment in land transport continues, the resulting congestion and bottlenecks begin to impact on the daily lives of people. Commuting distances are becoming shorter but the journey duration is lasting on average 24.8 minutes considering the average distance travelled around the capital is at 9.8km Considering this public information, this paper explores current research in relation to commuting, the variables of commuting stress and the relationship they have upon those employees’ wellbeing and work-life balance when travelling within the greater Dublin area. The method of analysis used was that of qualitative research in the form of focus group settings. The aim was to explore the daily commuting experiences of three focus groups varying by distance to which they travelled from home to the workplace. Although, the norm of qualitative research is not to compare, it was important to understand by varying the distance would the variables differ or relate across all three focus groups The findings from each of the focus groups were coded using thematic analysis, allowing interesting themes to emerged from the analysis. Findings such that commuting and its effects have an impact on employee wellbeing. Different modes of transport show to have an impact when considering feelings of employees. Finally, the relationship of commuting and work-life balance of the employee show the need for further investigation upon work-time flexibility