Xymax Real Estate Institute

RESEARCH REPORT

Effect of commuting stress on the working
people’s satisfaction
Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019

June 4, 2019

The Japanese companies are accelerating their effort to workstyle reforms, and promoting many different
workstyles that are not bound by time and/or place. These new workstyles have become the major topics not
only for the management strategy of the companies but also for enhancement of productivity and work-lifebalance of the office workers.
For the purpose of getting grip on the changes of workstyles and workplace from the viewpoints of bothcompanies and office workers, Xymax Real Estate Institute (“Xymax REI”) have conducted questionnaire surveys
among the companies (6 times in total since autumn 2016) and among the office workers (2 times in total since
the end of 2016). In this 3rd Office Worker Survey, we focused on the commuting reality of those who work in
the Greater Tokyo Area, and analyzed the data to investigate the effects of commuting stress on the office
workers. This is a periodic report that summerizes the results.
Related survey:-“Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2018” published on June 6, 2018https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20180606.pdf<Summary of Survey Results>
1. Reality of commuting timeThe mean of the commuting time to the workplace was 49 minutes.
The longer his/her commuting time was, the greater commuting stress he/she experienced.
In general, the average commuting time was longer in men than in women. In analysis by age andsex, men in their 60's experienced the longest commuting time (60.3 min), whereas women in
their 60’s experienced the shortest (36.7 min). When analyzed by the employment status(executives, managers, regular workers, or non-regular workers), managers experienced the longest
commuting time (56.8 min).
In analysis by workplace, those who needed longer commuting time tended to commute to theoffice located in the center of Tokyo and to experience higher level of commuting stress, while
those who needed shorter commuting time tended to travel to their suburban workplace and to
experience lower level of commuting stress.

2. Effect of commuting stress on the respondent’s satisfactionThe lower the group’s commuting stress level was, the higher their job satisfaction level was(the mean job satisfaction, 5.9).
The lower the group’s commuting stress level was, the higher their private life satisfactionlevel was (the mean private life satisfaction, 6.3).
“Feel acknowledged and valued” and “Can have a sense of achievement at work” were highly
correlated with job satisfaction. “Having a good work-life balance” and “Can have a time for myhobby” were highly correlated with private life satisfaction.

3. Effect of commuting stress on the respondents’ productivity and engagementIn the lower commuting-stress group, the ratings on the factors associated with productivity
and engagement tended to be higher.
In particular, the percentage of answering “Enjoying my work every day” was higher in the lower
commuting-stress group (68.1%) than in the higher commuting-stress group (35.3%) by morethan 30 percentage points.

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report
may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

1．Reality of commuting timeThe mean of the commuting time to the workplace was 49 minutes.

The longer his/her commuting time was, the greater commuting stress he/she experienced.

In general, the average commuting time was longer in men than in women. In analysis by age andsex, men in their 60's experienced the longest commuting time (60.3 min), whereas women in their60’s experienced the shortest (36.7 min). When analyzed by the employment status (executives,
managers, regular workers, or non-regular workers), managers experienced the longest commuting
time (56.8 min).



Those who needed longer commuting time tended to commute to the office located in the centerof Tokyo and to experience higher level commuting stress, while those who needed shorter
commuting time tended to travel to their suburban workplace and to experience lower level ofcommuting stress.

In this survey, 2,009 valid responses were received from men and women aged 20 to 69 years who answeredthat his/her “employment status is a company or organization executive, company or organization worker, or
self-employed individual (excluding restaurant owner, retailer, and interpersonal service provider ), and the chief
workplace (office) is located in the Greater Tokyo area (Tokyo and the 3 neighboring prefectures).“
First, we asked the average commuting time (*) to the office the respondent belonged to. The result indicatedthat the majority took 40 minutes or longer but shorter than 60 minutes. The mean of the commuting time was
49 minutes (Figure 1).
* The time required from the respondent’s home to his/her workplace (one way) by his/her usual commuting
method (e.g. train, bus, automobile, bicycle, or walk).

Figure 1: Distribution of the average commuting time（n=2,009）

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report
may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
Figure 2 shows the relationship of commuting time and commuting stress (11-level scale from 0 (minimum)
to 10 (maximum)). It revealed that those who needed longer commuting time tended to experience higher
commuting stress.
Figure 2: The mean of commuting stress level by commuting time

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report
may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate InstituteAlso, we analyzed commuting time and commuting stress by the characteristics of the respondents.
Figure 3 is a result of comparing the average commuting time by sex and age group. When compared
between men and women, men tended to take longer commuting time than women in general. It also showsthat older men tended to take longer commuting time; the mean of the average commuting time was longest
in men in their 60’s (60.3 min). To the contrary, older women tended to take shorter commuting time; the meanof the average commuting time was shortest in women in their 60’s (36.7 min).
Figure 3: The average commuting time by age and sex

Next, we compared the mean of commuting stress level by sex and age group (Figure 4). As seen for thecommuting time, older women tended to experience lower commuting stress; women in their 60’s needed theshortest commuting time and their commuting stress level was lower by 1 point than the mean of the total. As
for men, their commuting time was longer in older people, but their commuting stress tended to be lower.
Figure 4: The mean commuting stress by sex and age group

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report
may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
When we analyzed the average commuting time by employment status, “managers” took longest time (56.8
min) and “non-regular workers” took shortest time (43.8 min) (Figure 5).

Figure 5: The average commuting time by employment status*1 Company or organization executives*2 Company or organization managers*3 Company or organization workers of regular employment excluding managers*4 Company or organization workers of non-regular employment (e.g. part-timers, temporary workers)

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report
may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
Figure 6 (left) is a map plotting the train stations nearest to the respondents’ workplace whose commuting
time was shorter than 50 minutes. The size of each dot represents the number of respondents, and the color
indicates the mean commuting stress; the warmer the color is, the higher their commuting stress is. Similarly,
the map of the respondents whose commuting time was 50 minutes or longer is presented in（Figure 6 (right)）.
Comparison of the left and the right figures shows that the workplaces of the respondents whose commuting
time was shorter than 50 minutes did not concentrate in the center of Tokyo but dispersed into the suburban
area, and that their commuting stress levels were relatively low (the colors are cooler). To the contrary, theworkplaces of the respondents whose commuting time was 50 minutes or longer concentrated in the center ofTokyo and their commuting stress levels were higher.

Figure 6: Distribution of workplaces by commuting time and the mean commuting stress(Left) Commuting time = < 50 min(Right) Commuting time ≥ 50 min

Workplaces disperse into the suburbs

Workplaces concentrate in the center of Tokyoand the stress level is lower.

and the stress level is higher.

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report
may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute2．Effect of commuting stress on the respondent’s satisfaction
2-1. Commuting stress and job satisfaction

 The lower the group’s commuting stress level was, the higher their job satisfaction level was.
 “Feel acknowledged and valued” and “Can have a sense of achievement at work” were highly
correlated with job satisfaction. (see PICK UP)

In the previous section, we analyzed the relationship of commuting time and commuting stress. But how the
working people are affected by the high level of commuting stress? Thus, we investigated the relationship ofcommuting stress and the respondents’ satisfaction.
First, we focused on the relationship between commuting stress and job satisfaction. In this survey, we asked
about the respondents’ job satisfaction by 11-level scale from 0 (minimum) to 10 (maximum), as we did forcommuting stress. Figure 7 shows the mean job satisfaction calculated for each of the 3 respondent groups
classified by the commuting stress level (0-3, 4-7, and 8-10). It indicates that the lower their commuting stresslevel was, the higher their job satisfaction level was; the mean job satisfaction level (5.9) of the lowest
commuting-stress-level (0-3) group is higher than that (4.8) of the highest commuting-stress-level (8-10) groupby 1.1 points (approximately 23%).

Figure 7: The mean job satisfaction by commuting stressGreater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report
may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute2-2. Commuting stress and private life satisfaction
The lower the group’s commuting stress level was, the higher their private life satisfaction level was.

 “Having a good work-life balance” and “Can have a time for my hobby” were highly correlated withprivate life satisfaction (see PICK UP).

Next, we analyzed the relationship between commuting stress and private life satisfaction. Like job satisfaction,
we asked the respondents to assess their private life satisfaction by 11-level scale from 0 (minimum) to 10(maximum) and compared the results among the 3 groups classified by the commuting stress level (Figure 8).
It shows that the group of lower commuting stress tended to indicate higher mean private life satisfaction,although the difference is smaller than that for job satisfaction.
Figure 8: The mean private life satisfaction by commuting stress

PICK UPJob satisfaction, private life satisfaction, and the highly correlated factors
Our result demonstrated that commuting stress was correlated with job satisfaction and private life
satisfaction of working people. How should the companies/organizations translate it into their strategy?
Here, we delve into job satisfaction and private life satisfaction.
First, we look at job satisfaction and the highly correlated factors. In this survey, we presented 12 factors
associated with job satisfaction and asked the subjects to answer at which level each factor was true forhim/her (*) in addition to assessment of job satisfaction level. When the correlations of these 12 factors andjob satisfaction were analyzed, the top 4 factors having high correlations were “Feel acknowledged andvalued” (correlation index, 0.60), “Can have a sense of achievement at work” (0.58), “My workplace have apositive air to drive challenging and learning” (0.58), and “Working in a comfortable office” (0.57) (Figure 9).
The result suggests that, for the companies/organizations, creating a relaxing air and preparing comfortableoffice for their working people are the effective ways to enhance job satisfaction of their people.
* 4 levels: “True,” “Partly true,” “Not so much true,” “Not true.”

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report
may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

Next, we focus on private life satisfaction and the highly correlated factors. For private life satisfaction as
well, we presented 8 factors associated with private life satisfaction, and asked the subjects to answer atwhich level each factor was true for him/her. When the correlations of these 8 factors and private life
satisfaction were analyzed, the top 4 factors having high correlations were “Having a good work-life balance”(correlation index, 0.44), “Can have a time for my hobby” (0.40), “Can have a time to spend with my family”(0.40), and “Can have a time to spend with my friends” (0.37). The result indicates that the factors on the
respondents’ time have higher correlations (Figure 10).
For the companies, there are limited measures to enhance their people’s private life satisfaction comparedwith job satisfaction; however, it may be possible to promote enhancement of private life satisfaction by, forexample, adopting telework, to offer time-efficient workstyles and create leisure time.

Figure 9: Correlation of job satisfaction

Figure 10: Correlation of private life

and the associated factors

satisfaction and the associated factors

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report
may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

3．Effect of commuting stress on the respondents’productivity and engagement
In the lower commuting-stress group, the percentages of answering “True” for the factors associatedwith productivity and engagement were higher.



In particular, the percentage of answering “Enjoying my work every day” was higher in the lower
commuting-stress group than in the higher commuting-stress group by more than 30 percentage
points.

In the previous sections, we focused on how commuting affected the working individuals. Then how should
the companies translate it into their future measures? In this section, we analyze how commuting stress madeimpact on productivity and engagement of the working people, and discuss commuting of working people fromthe viewpoint of companies/organizations.
In this survey, we asked the subjects about the 9 factors associated with working people’s productivity andengagement to their companies/organizations, to answer how true each factor was for themselves.
Figure 11 shows the results compared between the higher commuting-stress-level (8-10) group and the lower
commuting-stress-level (0-3) group. For all the factors, the totals of “True” and “Partly true” in the lower
commuting-stress group exceeded those in the higher commuting-stress group. The greatest difference is foundin the factor “Enjoying my work every day” for which the total is 32.8 percentage points higher in the lower
commuting-stress group (68.1%) than that in the higher commuting-stress group (35.3%), which is followed by“Working time-efficiently without waste of time” for which the total is 28.8 percentage points higher in the lower
commuting-stress group (71.9%) than that in the higher commuting-stress group (43.1%).
Figure 11: Associations of commuting stress with productivity and engagement

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report
may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

PICK UPThe factors having strong associations with “Sense of belonging”
and “Enjoying my work every day”
Above, we looked at the associations of commuting stress with job satisfaction, productivity andengagement. However, there are limitations for the companies to relieve their people’s commuting stress.
Then, what are the other factors that have impacts on the working people’s engagement and enjoyment
other than commuting stress? Here, we picked up 5 factors the companies/organizations can tackle for
improving 2 objective variables – “Having a sense of belonging to my company/organization” and “Enjoying
my work every day,” and analyzed the strength of each association statistically.
The 5 factors we chose here were “Commute to multiple workplaces,” “Having a good work-life balance,”“Working flexibly with flexible work hours and/or telework,” “Working in a comfortable office,” plus “annual
salary” that may affect the 2 objective variables (*1).
Figure 12 shows the results of our analyses. The larger numbers of asterisk(s) *mean more statisticallysignificant effect. The value in each cell indicates odds ratio: the greater the ratio (more than 1) of the factor
is with asterisk(s), the stronger its association with “Having a sense of belonging” or “Enjoying my work everyday.” Conversely, the smaller the ratio (less than 1) is, the weaker the association is. For example, when thelevel of commuting stress was higher (*2), its associations with “Having a sense of belonging” and “Enjoying
my work every day” were weaker, which was statistically significant. In these results, the other factors’
associations have been eliminated. Thus, the individual results indicate the association of each factor only,
which means that the odds ratio of “Commute to multiple workplaces,” “Having a good work-life balance,”“Working flexibly with flexible work hours and/or telework,” or “Working in a comfortable office” is excluded
from an association of “annual salary.”*1 By the question “Commute to multiple workplaces,” the respondents who commute to multiple workplaces
and those who commute to only one workplace were separated. ” For the questions “Having a good worklife balance,” “Working flexibly with flexible work hours and/or telework,” and “Working in a comfortableoffice,” each subject was asked to answer if the factor was true for his/her current situation by 4 levels (“True,”“Partly true,” “Not so much true,” ”Not true”). The results were calculated separately in the group of “True”
and “Partly true” and in the group of “Not so much true” and ”Not true.” For “annual salary,” the subjects
were asked to choose their answer from “less than 2 million yen,” “2 million yen or more but less than 4
million yen,” “4 million yen or more but less than 6 million yen,” “6 million yen or more but less than 8 million
yen,” “8 million yen or more but less than 10 million yen,” “10 million yen or more but less than 12 million
yen,” “12 million yen or more but less than 15 million yen,” “15 million yen or more but less than 20 million
yen,” “20 million yen or more,” or “Have no idea.”*2 For commuting stress, the answers by 11-level scale (0 (minimum) to 10 (maximum)) were divided into 2
groups (0-7 and 8-11).

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
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may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

Figure 12: Associations with “sense of belonging” and “Enjoying my work every day” (odds ratio)

As the result, the factor having the most statistically significant association with “Having a sense of
belonging” is “Working in a comfortable office.” Those who “can work in comfortable office” have a greater
association with “having a sense of belonging” than those who cannot. The second factor was “Working
flexibly.” These results suggest that preparing good work environment and the system for flexible
workstyles may be effective to enhance working people’s sense of belonging to theircompanies/organizations.
Also, for “Enjoying my work every day,” the association of “Working in a comfortable office” was strongest,
followed by “Having a good work-life balance.”
In terms of “Having a sense of belonging” and “Enjoying my work every day” – the objective variables wechose this time, “Working in a comfortable office” had its strongest associations with both. It suggests that
preparing an office environment that allows the working people feel comfortable should be an effective
measure that may help them enjoying their work every day and lead to enhancement of their sense of
belonging to their companies/organizations. It should be the prioritized area to address from now.

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report
may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute4．SummaryIn this report, we analyzed the effects of commuting stress on office workers through our survey among
the commuters to the Greater Tokyo Area, and discuss how the companies/organizations should translate
the results and take future measures.
First, the result indicated that the longer their commuting time was, the greater their commuting stresswas. Among those taking shorter commuting time, their workplaces did not concentrate in the center ofTokyo but dispersed into the suburban area, and their commuting stress levels tended to be lower. We canimagine that they should travel to their suburban workplace near their home or should commute by train
to a suburban area that is relatively uncrowded. On the other hand, for those taking longer commuting time,
their workplaces concentrated in the center of Tokyo, and their commuting stress levels tended to be higher.
However, even though their workplaces located in the suburbs, their commuting stress levels tended to behigher if they needed longer commuting time.
Second, we demonstrated that the greater the working people’s commuting stress was, the lower theirjob satisfaction and private life satisfaction were. Since “job satisfaction” was highly correlated with thefactors associated with work environment, the measures such as creating a relaxing air and preparing
comfortable office should be effective to enhance job satisfaction of the working people. As for “private life
satisfaction,” it was highly correlated with the factors on the respondents’ time, which suggests that thecompanies/organizations should be able to promote enhancement of their people’s private life satisfaction
by offering time-efficient workstyles.
Third, this survey revealed that working people’s commuting stress had impacts not only on theirsatisfaction but also on their productivity and engagement to their companies/organizations. For all the 9
factors we chose, the percentages of those who answered “True” or “Partly true” were higher in the higher
commuting-stress group than in the lower commuting-stress group. In particular, the difference of thepercentages of those who answered that “Enjoying my work every day” was 32.8 percentage points between
the 2 groups. The results suggest that commuting stress is a problem to be addressed not only for theworking individuals but also for the companies/organizations.
Finally, in addition to commuting stress, we demonstrated that the factors including “Commute to multiple
workplaces,” “Having a good work-life balance,” “Working flexibly,” and “Working in a comfortable office”
hadstrongassociations

withworking

people’s

productivity

andengagement

to

their

companies/organizations. Thus, the companies/organizations should be able to improve their working
people’s productivity and engagement by preparing the flexible workstyles such as telework, flexible work
hours, and rental office and by offering an office environment that helps their people to feel that they are“Working in a comfortable office.”Through this survey, we found that relieving commuting stress of working people brings benefits to bothof themselves and their companies/organizations. It should provide a clue to consider what to do with theirpeople’s commuting stress as the companies/organizations. Xymax REI will continue to capture the trendsof workstyles and workplaces through our constant researches focused on the working people’s reality andvalues.

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report
may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute<Outline of Survey>
Time of Survey, February 2019; Target Area, the Greater Tokyo Area (Tokyo and Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba prefectures);
Survey Method, Internet survey
Study Sample: 1) the Screening Survey was conducted in 20,000 men and women aged 15 to 69 years; 2) the Main Survey
was conducted in 2,144 men and women aged 20 to 69 years who answered in the Screening Survey that his/her“employment status is a company or organization executive, company or organization manager, company or organization
worker, or self-employed individual (excluding restaurant owner, retailer, and interpersonal service provider), and the chief
workplace (office) is located in the Greater Tokyo Area (Tokyo and the 3 neighboring prefectures).“ 2,009 valid responses
were received.

<Characteristics of the respondents>- In the charts of this report, the total of the percentages (%) may not be 100%, since the numbers were rounded
to one decimal place.

For further inquiry please contact:
Xymax Real Estate Institutehttps://soken.xymax.co.jp| E-MAIL: info-rei@xymax.co.jp

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report
may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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