Abstract
The COVID-19 crisis has changed working conditions quickly and profoundly. To comply with social distancing and hygiene protocols, many organizations had to rapidly adopt teleworking if they wanted to keep up operations. This unexpected transfer to remote work poses great challenges to organizations and their employees alike. In this study, Cluster researchers aim to provide a foundation in empirical data for discussing remote work during and after the COVID-19 crisis, and inhowfar it may lead to a sustained transformation of working conditions.
Module Description
The objective of our research is to better understand the opportunities and challenges posed by working from home. Our guiding questions are therefore how well employees are satisfied with their situation while working remotely, and what the consequences are for professional engagement, working performance and individual stress levels. The investigation of the conditions that influence employees' well-being and performance is therefore central to our survey. These include prior experience with working remotely, how well the home is suited to it (e.g. availability of a quiet workspace, computer equipment, internet), communication with colleagues, and leadership.
Moreover, our study aims to provide information on our subjects' expections of their employers, unions, and political actors, where enabling them to work from home is concerned, now and in the future. To this end, we have asked questions such as how many days of remote work a week would be seen as optimal, and what factors would need improvement to make remote work more efficient.
To provide valid answers to our guiding questions, we have asked our subjects to answer questionnaires multiple times, even daily. During the first phase of the social and economic 'lockdown' at the end of March, we performed a detailed initial survey. In early April, this was followed up with daily questioning (diary studies) for eight consecutive working days. Finally, we conducted another one-time survey in mid-May, six weeks after the initial one. This research design allows us to investigate changes in individuals' answers as well as comparisons between individuals over time.
Results
The results of the survey have entered into a Policy Paper, which the Cluster has published in collaboration with the independent Berlin think-tank Das Progressive Zentrum:
Florian Kunze, Kilian Hampel, Sophia Zimmermann (2020): Homeoffice in der Corona-Krise – eine nachhaltige Transformation der Arbeitswelt?. Policy Paper 02: COVID 19 und soziale Ungleichheit – Thesen und Befunde. 16. Juli 2020.
-> Download the Policy Paper