Research into how much a job costs has found that working in the UK could cost staff an average of £1,623 in work-related expenses.
Calculated by GiffGaff Priceplan, the figure was reached by surveying 2,000 office workers about their workplace expenditure. This created the following breakdown:
Commuting – £833.63
Lunch – £417.42
Snacks and drinks – £217.14
Clothing/uniform – £108.61
Presents (birthday, leaving, etc) – £28.55
Charitable donations/sponsoring colleagues – £18.06
When projected over a 40-year working life, this equates to £64,936.40 – or more than twice the current average UK annual salary.
Respondents were also polled about which expenses they were most unhappy about paying for. Commuting easily topped essential expenses, with 30% of the vote. When asked about non-essential costs, charitable causes were the biggest sticking point, with over a quarter of people unhappy about opening their wallet.
Over half (54%) of people felt overly pressured into contributing towards workplace gifts, with women (62%) feeling notably more pressured than men (46%).
There was a strong opinion that work-related social events should be subsidised, as 55% of people believe it is their employers responsibility to cover these costs.
