Is working from home the new workplace panacea? Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic for the future world of work [Scholarly Article - SAJIP, June 2021]

Title:

Is working from home the new workplace panacea? Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic for the future world of work

 

Authors:

Jeremias J. de Klerk, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, University of Stellenbosch Business School, Bellville, South Africa 

Mandi Joubert, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, University of Stellenbosch Business School, Bellville, South Africa 

&

Hendrikjan F. Mosca, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, University of Stellenbosch Business School, Bellville, South Africa

 

Published:

SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, Volume 47, a1883, 21 June 2021

https://sajip.co.za/index.php/sajip/article/view/1883

 

Abstract:

Orientation: The COVID-19 pandemic has forced millions of employees to work from home as governments implemented lockdowns.  

 

Research purpose: This study examined the impact of working exclusively from home on employee engagement and experience, and determined beneficial and distracting factors.  

 

Motivation for the study: Remote working trends have risen steeply since the onset of COVID-19 and are unlikely to taper off soon. Organisations need to understand the impact of remote work when reconsidering working arrangements.  

 

Research approach/design and method: A dual-approach qualitative design was followed. The sample comprised 25 employees (N = 25) who were forced to work exclusively from home during COVID-19. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews.  

 

Main findings: Working from home for protracted periods rendered paradoxical outcomes. Employees could work effectively with improved employee engagement and experience, but there were challenges rendering adverse effects. The experienced benefits of working from home created expectations that this practice would continue in future, along with some office work.  

 

Practical/managerial implications: Organisations need to continue, though not exclusively, with work-from-home arrangements. The ideal ratio of remote work to office work was seen as two to three days per week. However, support and cultural practices would have to be put in place.  

 

Contribution/value-add: The COVID-19 lockdown provided a unique environment to study remote work. For the first time, employees and organisations were placed in a situation where they could experience working from home in a stark and compulsory form, devoid of idealistic fantasies or romanticism. 

BBC Click video [05:53]: Working from home? Your boss may be spying on you

Title of video:
Working from home? Your boss may be spying on you

From the description of the video:
Since the coronavirus pandemic began, millions of people have left their offices and started working from home.

But in the United States there has also been a surge in demand for software that monitors employee activity.

Companies that use the software might argue that this is about maintaining productivity but others could feel the software is open to misuse.

BBC Click's Lara Lewington finds out how the software works and speaks to the New York Times journalist Adam Satariano who tested monitoring software to see how it affected how he worked when others were watching.

To watch this video:
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-52833547/is-your-boss-spying-on-you-as-you-work-from-home
[Video 05:53]

Remote working: How cities might change if we worked from home more [BBC News, 1 June 2020]

Title:
Remote working: How cities might change if we worked from home more
 
Author:
Roland Hughes
 
Published:
BBC News, 1 June 2020
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-52767773
 
From the article:
"Major tech companies say they are open to their staff working from home permanently. Employees are coming to realise remote working is not only possible but, in some cases, preferable. A shift to a new way of working might already be under way.

Such a shift could have profound implications on our home life, and by extension on the life of our towns and cities: almost a quarter of all office space in England and Wales is in central London alone

To understand those implications, we brought together four experts on city life, all of whom were working from home."