Survey: Employees Expect Help with Soaring Gas Prices
A special expanded edition of the ORC Ouch Point survey from Opinion Research Corp. revealed that 84 percent of the U.S. workforce expects employers to take measures to help offset the rising cost of gas.
This new era of sky-high gas prices is reshaping employees' expectations for their employer's assistance, which include:
- Instituting or expanding car pooling programs -- 61 percent.
- Providing incentives for the use of mass transit -- 51 percent.
- Permitting working from home -- 51-percent.
- Providing a gasoline allowance to cover additional commuting costs -- 42 percent.
When asked what employers had actually done to defray the cost of commuting, only 35 percent were able to point to an action taken. The most common measures implemented by employers included new or expanded car pooling programs (18 percent), working from home (18 percent) providing incentives for mass transit use (12 percent) and providing a gas allowance (11 percent).
The survey also found that 11 percent of respondents are now considering leaving their jobs as a result of rising gas costs, suggesting that employers should take heed of employees' expectations.
"Soaring gas prices have created a scenario in which employers are now considering implementing actions they otherwise would not have in order to retain their workforce," said Terry Reilly, VP and director of ORC's Employee Engagement Practice in the United States. "Our findings also illustrate the importance of addressing employee concerns, considering the impact they can have on overall business performance. Not many companies could survive having a significant percentage of their workforce leave because they could no longer afford the commute to work."