Home Office, Health Behavior and Workplace Health Promotion of Employees in the Telecommunications Sector during the Pandemic

Abstract

Our study aims to present the perception and experiences of employees at a large multinational telecommunications company in Hungary working in home offices, as well as their health behavior and the workplace health promotion during the SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 outbreak. The sample consisted of the full sample of highly skilled employees at a large telecommunication multinational company (N = 46). Throughout the analysis, tests for homogeneity of variance were followed by a MANOVA test to compare the groups’ means by gender, age, and job classification. The results clearly show that in the short term, workers’ mental health did not deteriorate, they do not argue or fight more with their partners and are no more depressed or irritable than before. Workers are less likely to think of ways to be more effective at work than in a home office. Similarly, they do not think that employers have more expectations than before the pandemic. Our research shows the assumption about home workers being less efficient or less diligent in their daily work to be false. A supportive and flexible employer approach to health-conscious employees will be an essential aspect in the future.

Impact of Remote Working on Recreational Physical Activity (RPA) Behaviours – a Case Study of the Covid-19 Lockdown in Poland

“…In Hungary, the majority of those working in home offices did not suffer from deterioration in mental health or relationships with family members. This study also did not support the assumption of home workers being less efficient or less diligent in their daily work (Tánczos et al, 2022). In contrast, a study conducted by Italian researchers found that, among remote workers, family-work conflicts and social isolation had had a negative impact on productivity, while leadership and autonomy alone had had a positive impact on the productivity and work engagement of these workers (Galanti et al, 2021).…”