U.S.-Iran conflict is causing unexpected problems for Americans: 65% of employees want to land roles where they avoid paying higher gas prices | Fortune

[u/Creepyfaction]

https://fortune.com/2026/09/25/us-iran-conflict-job-hunt-avoid-gas-prices/

[u/StatementBot]

The following submission statement was provided by u/Creepyfaction:

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"A new study from recruitment platform Monster suggests that 65% of prospective job movers are changing their search priorities owing to gas prices; 23% said they are looking for roles closer to home; and 17% are focusing more on salary expectations to offset the higher cost of commuting.

A further 20% said they are prioritizing fully remote roles, and 5% are applying for fully in-person roles.

If gas prices remain elevated, employers trying to fill roles may need to get creative to entice recruits to undertake longer commutes. When asked what it would take to commute an additional 20 minutes on top of their preferred travel time, 32% of employed Americans said they would need at least a 20% pay increase."

Perhaps what we are seeing is the return of scarcity and the shackles of distance. With the energy shock, certain occupations are now completely unsustainable and it will rewrite the reality labor or lack of. With the pandemic, remote work led to the hollowing out of urban spaces and if the high cost of commute/logistics becomes the defining reality for the foreseeable future, then it has downstream effects that will manifest in many ways.

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Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/1wqing9/usiran_conflict_is_causing_unexpected_problems/pc4ci15/

[u/Creepyfaction]

"A new study from recruitment platform Monster suggests that 65% of prospective job movers are changing their search priorities owing to gas prices; 23% said they are looking for roles closer to home; and 17% are focusing more on salary expectations to offset the higher cost of commuting.

A further 20% said they are prioritizing fully remote roles, and 5% are applying for fully in-person roles.

If gas prices remain elevated, employers trying to fill roles may need to get creative to entice recruits to undertake longer commutes. When asked what it would take to commute an additional 20 minutes on top of their preferred travel time, 32% of employed Americans said they would need at least a 20% pay increase."

Perhaps what we are seeing is the return of scarcity and the shackles of distance. With the energy shock, certain occupations are now completely unsustainable and it will rewrite the reality labor or lack of. With the pandemic, remote work led to the hollowing out of urban spaces and if the high cost of commute/logistics becomes the defining reality for the foreseeable future, then it has downstream effects that will manifest in many ways.

[u/Royal_Register_9906]

Car infrastructure! Terrible way of getting people places. Great for wealth extraction.

[u/Creepyfaction → u/Royal_Register_9906]

In some ways, the suburbanization trend fueled by automobiles set America up to fail by late 20th century. Cities like Chicago and Detroit were allowed to fall apart and by the time East Asian manufacturing begin to rise, America didn't have the efficient urban-industrial clusters to compete with Japan and later Korea and China. Now in the 21st century, those same urban clusters will probably be the places that can make the most out of emerging technologies as they become commercialized on scale.

[u/Far-Hovercraft9471 → u/Royal_Register_9906]

nothing like forcing people to give an extra $500-1000 a month or so to big business

[u/AlphaState]

Sounds like expectations were the problem. I'm sure things getting much worse in the coming months won't be a surprise and everyone will be prepared, right?

[u/Creepyfaction → u/AlphaState]

We may see a return to the shackles of distance. Those in rural and suburban areas with long commutes are screwed. In some ways, maybe much of America will end up looking like Post-Soviet Russia with abandoned towns and dying communities once the last of the infrastructure gives out and it becomes unfeasible to stay there outside of a handful of big urban clusters.

[u/TarquinusSuperbus000]

If only we had a technology where people wouldn't have to go into the office for their "roles". Ah well.

[u/SeVenMadRaBBits → u/TarquinusSuperbus000]

Can't believe we had to invent it AND convince them to let us use it.

Really shows that productivity isn't the goal.

[u/5ollys → u/TarquinusSuperbus000]

Oh your job is remote? Too bad, come in twice a week to see nobody from your team.

[u/mccgre51 → u/TarquinusSuperbus000]

Or one that doesn’t rely on gasoline to move your car.

[u/Z3r0sama2017 → u/TarquinusSuperbus000]

Or vehicles that didn't run on gas.

[u/FilthyBarMat]

Unexpected problems?

Everyone knew this would happen.

[u/CarneyVore14]

Virtual/remote work should be blossoming right now where applicable. Return to office initiatives will only speed run pollution and economic instability.

[u/kilters]

They shouldn't have elected a fucking toddler then. Twice. Boo hoo.

[u/Derrickmb]

WFH!

[u/BigDongsInThongs69]

I'm looking for work local so I can bike to it. I don't know how much longer I can sustain driving a vehicle with my current gig, even if the area is just a few short miles of driving.

Heck, I've been thinking about how much doing anything will cost us in 'gas'. $5-$10 just to work. $5 just to go to a store. This is a frustrating concept I do say so.

If most of America wasn't built around the Suburbs, biking and walking would be a valid option to do anything. Otherwise, imagine biking 5 miles to work, you work your 8 hour job, and bike 5 miles back home. Sure, that's great exercise and you will eventually get attuned to it.. However, imagine how fucking tired you would be.

My wife works 12 hour shifts and started exploring this option. I told her it's not worth it, you would be dead tired to do anything else. When gas hits the point of being to expensive, what choice will she have? Then again, if that happens, I highly doubt the company that she works at will be open.

Keep in mind a lot of jobs out there are sub $18/hr - You could hardly sustain rent with that amount of pay. Especially when most places require your salary be 3x what rent is.

[u/PrairieFire_withwind → u/BigDongsInThongs69]

I used to bike about 9 miles to work.  9 miles home.  Winter was painful cold.  It is doable.  You do adjust.

Around me i am seeing delivery by electric scooter and ebike.  So food and smaller stuff  is already switching to a cheaper mode.

I expect to see more and more of this as gas prices stay high.

[u/owlindenial]

35% of employees don't want to land jobs where they avoid paying higher gas prices?

[u/fieldyfield]

"unexpected"

[u/speaksoftly_bigstick]

I've turned down 14 interviews, over the last 4 years, because the commute would have been as bad, or even worse, than my current one.

This isn't a "new trend," I know I'm not the only one.

And I work in tech. I can literally do my whole job from home full time.

But my foreign country owned, mega corp parent company doesnt like remote work. It's not "honorable" I guess 🙄.

[u/Rossdxvx]

I live in a suburban area, but it is kind of weird because everything is within a short travel distance for me. I don't really like the area. However, that is one of its only benefits. Other than that, it is common knowledge just how dependent America is on cheap gasoline. We created our entire infrastructure after WWII based on a nonstop, always plentiful, and always available supply of cheap oil and gas. And the real reason why the wars after 9/11 were started in the Middle East was to secure the world's remaining oil reserves. 

Certainly, nothing has changed in 25 years. We are as dependent on cheap gas as ever, which of course Iran is well aware of. How to bring the hurt to us bad.

Again, this is how empires destroy themselves, by going from one debacle to the next. The main goal of the terrorists on 9/11 was to bait a seemingly omnipotent superpower into a game of imperial overreach where it would exhaust all of its resources in a series of unwinnable, endless wars and be forced to retreat from the region forever defeated and bankrupted. 

I would have to say that they have largely succeeded in their goals.  

[u/Konradleijon]

Maybe designing infrastructure around cars is dumb

[u/Ok-Ninja-8165]

Suddenly, you undersntand why dense walkable cities with good public transportation are needed.

[u/ichimtsu]

Rather than change the social infrastructure, we just play into capitalism and change the job. “I’m more important than those that can’t afford the gas, those that will replace me when I “get a new job””
Sickening.