Benefits and Challenges of Telework During The Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the term work from home (WFH) has been introduced to refer to a work arrangement in which individual can complete their duties while they are at home. While most flexible work arrangements are a preference, work from home is mandatory. Therefore, the impact of WFH during the Covid-19 pandemic needs to be studied. The total respondent of this study is 337 employees, who are works at home during the pandemic. The results showed that the three main benefits employees might gain during WFH are flexibility, more time with family, and less travel time. On the other side, employees struggle to balance their personal and work life, access to websites or software, and limited devices and workspace. Most of the companies are not ready for the WFH scheme though some of them gave support to employees (e.g., quota subsidy). This research gave some essential suggestions for HR managers in designing remote work for the future.

Consequences of COVID-19 on Employees in Remote Working: Challenges, Risks and Opportunities An Evidence-Based Literature Review

“…At the same time, several organizational factors affected employees’ well-being, generating depression, anxiety, and stress among employees [ 19 ]. These factors include: working extra hours, having a heavier workload, feeling socially isolated, worsening feelings of job security, experiencing difficulties in accessing the necessary work tools from home [ 67 ], and feeling a strong demand for new ICT-related skills to cope with the new ways of working. However, it is important to first acknowledge the role of the pandemic itself and the fear of contracting the virus.…”

“…This factor is often combined with another work stressor: role overload. Role overload refers to the extension of the duties and tasks required when the employees work from home, and it was reported to be especially frequent during the pandemic [ 41 , 52 , 67 ].…”

Inductive open data study on teleworking dissatisfaction in Spain during the Covid-19 pandemic

“…The subjects who rate this variable positively are satisfied and represent 84%. Also, studies done by Ipsen et al (2021) and Saragih et al (2021) confirm that teleworkers appreciate time-saving/time management. On the other hand, those who say "No", but indicate that they consider the avoidance of commuting as an advantage, also are satisfied with teleworking and represent 13% of studied subjects.…”

“…In contrast, subjects who do not consider the convenience of WFH as an advantage but do consider the reconciliation with family/personal life as an advantage are satisfied and represent 2% of the subjects. Also,Saragih et al's (2021) and Kar acsony's (2021) investigations confirm that one of the benefits of teleworking is conciliation of family life. Those who do not consider work-life balance an advantage are dissatisfied and represent 2% of the subjects.…”

Work from Home: Lessons Learned and Implications for Post-pandemic Workspaces

“…This included physical equipment, data, and documents necessary to perform work, as well as experiencing the inability to do certain work-related tasks at home due to this lack of resources (Ipsen et al, 2021). Equipment and resource issues, such as limited access to software or adequate devices, have also been identified in another research (Saragih et al, 2021).…”