Understanding home-to-work distances of teleworkers. Residential mobilities and work relocation dynamics in Switzerland
摘要
This article examines the link between teleworking and commuting distance, using data from a 2022 survey of 5,100 Swiss workers. Teleworkers usually have longer home-to-work distances than non-teleworkers, and these distances tend to increase the longer a person has been teleworking. The study tests three hypotheses to explain these differences: whether teleworkers relocate more often and further away, whether they accept distant jobs without moving, or whether teleworking attracts individuals who already live far from their workplace. Based on a structural equation model (SEM), the findings reveal no statistically significant link between teleworking and residential or job mobility. Teleworkers in Switzerland do not systematically move further away or expand their job search area. Instead, telework is more common among those who already live far from their workplace. Since it is typically limited to one or two days per week, telework frequency does not significantly affect residential or job mobility, as it remains insufficient to fundamentally reshape location decisions. However, recent teleworkers (those who have teleworked for less than two years) are more likely to consider relocating. The results suggest that teleworking primarily maintains pre-existing long-distance commuting rather than driving new mobility trends. Yet, job and residential relocations are long-term dynamics, and the cross-sectional nature of the 2022 data limits our ability to capture significant effects, especially for recent teleworkers.