The Physical Environment in Remote Working: Development and Validation of Perceived Remote Workplace Environment Quality Indicators (PRWEQIs)

Abstract

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more organizations have implemented remote working, resulting in a partial overlap between home and work environments. This study aimed to develop a tool named Perceived Remote Workplace Environment Quality Indicators (PRWEQIs) to study the impact of the remote work environment on worker well-being. A preliminary 20-item version was developed. In Study 1, an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted on a sample of remote students (N = 521); the results were confirmed in Study 2 through a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) on a sample of remote workers (N = 463). The final 15-item PRWEQIs include five indicators, Acoustic comfort, Visual comfort, Quality of the furnishings, Safety, and Space usability, and a second-order factor referring to General perceived comfort. The scale constitutes an initial instrument for assessing the perception of the physical-spatial qualities of the remote working environment.

Are we working from home or office? Insights from Australia

“…Where once office-based working arrangements were considered essential to sustainable organisational operations, new light has been shed on the immediate and potential long-term benefits of remote working to support organisational sustainability. Indicators of social, environmental and economic sustainability are being explored to determine the benefits and barriers of various workplace arrangements across several industries globally (Alsulami et al , 2023; Mura et al , 2023; Odat et al , 2023; Slavković et al , 2022; Urbaniec et al , 2022).…”

Relationship between indoor noise perception and remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…The pandemic has led to a significant increase in remote work, resulting in a growing interest in the indoor environmental quality of remote workplaces. A recent study in Italy developed a tool to measure the impact of remote work environments on workers' well-being, including 15 items categorized into five indicators, such as acoustic comfort [30]. A case study conducted in Canada examined how noise conditions affected people's ability to work from home.…”

Consideration on open plan office acoustics assessment – classification based on activity and occupants’ perception

“…A search in Web of Science (All fields: OF-FICE and PANDEMIC and ACOUSTICS, and Year published: 2020-2023; search April 2023) shows only fifteen results for this topic. Even just four of them are dealing with acoustics in detail, although not always with office acoustics: [5][6][7][8]. Thus, an extensive description on office acoustics and occupants' perception in post-pandemic offices is needed.…”