The first lockdown due to COVID-19 in the year 2020 created a particular scenario that forced a change to telework among diverse professions and social groups. This article presents the results of research carried out among samples of Polish, Lithuanian and Spanish remote workers concerning working conditions in organizations and at home, and the potential impact of some professional hazards from home-based telework. On the contrary to earlier published papers on pandemic-induced telework that focused on how the limitations at home of first-time remote workers impacted on their well-being and work–family balance, our research contributes to a more recent endeavor that focuses the analysis on the work design perspective. The results of the survey indicate that employees felt more stressed and in conflict at their remote workstations when they had to telework during the lockdown, and that this negative output was significantly related to the deterioration of some working dimensions like space, quality and design but not to the perception of professional hazards from home-based telework. According to our research, the forced situation seemed not to be a favorable factor for implementing changes in light of the insufficient technical and organizational preparation of employers as well as the employees’ mental preparation. It should be necessary to update sequentially the results of the epidemic-induced telework and conduct research for various stages of the pandemic and the subsequent economic recovery. This could help popularize remote work as one of the tools of the labor market in the future and as a tool for treating labor resources as an element of sustainable development.

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This article aims to present opinions on problems and consequences of changes in psychophysical strain sustained by employees as a result of the anticipated work automation. Next, theoretical development trends were described, and it was surveyed whether the specific nature of the job, i.e. focusing on the object (production operative) and focusing on the customer (salesperson) is relevant in the context of automation, nowadays and in the short-term horizon of 3-5 years. The analysis applied the criteria for studying strains and risks (occupational risk) as well as work automation parameters, according to the criteria of Frey's and Osborne's concept. The survey of the opinions on the present and future occupational risk in production and sales positions has shown a decrease in occupational risk. In the respondents' opinion, the most desired outcome of the anticipated work automation is decreased mental strain. The last part of the article contains conclusions derived from the analysis. WORK AUTOMATION AND ITS EFFECTS ON OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY Contemporary trends in job automationBased on the results of the pilot studies on employee opinions, this article presents answers to the following research questions:-What is the current status of automation like, and what are the automation development prospects like in the short-term horizon (3-5 years)?-Does the specific nature of the job, focused on the object (production operator) and on the customer (salesperson), have an impact on their views regarding automation (digitization) of their work?Based on the academic literature research, it is possible to specify the main trends in job automation. Technical progress connected with the intensively growing technical possibilities of information gathering and processing, as well as development of tools used in information processing and application (software), result in new forms of work and its organization. New forms of work pertain to the use of computer programs to perform, in whole or in part, tasks at a given workstation, such as for example the processes of controlling the operation of machines and equipment,