hig.sePublications
Planned maintenance
A system upgrade is planned for 10/12-2024, at 12:00-13:00. During this time DiVA will be unavailable.
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • harvard-cite-them-right
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • sv-SE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • de-DE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Productivity, Well-Being and Work-Family Conflict in Mandatory Telework during the COVID-19 Pandemic
University of Gävle, Faculty of Health and Occupational Studies, Department of Occupational Health Science and Psychology, Occupational Health Science. University of Gävle, Centre for Musculoskeletal Research.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5055-0698
University of Gävle, Faculty of Health and Occupational Studies, Department of Occupational Health Science and Psychology, Occupational Health Science. University of Gävle, Centre for Musculoskeletal Research.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-2741-1868
University of Gävle, Faculty of Health and Occupational Studies, Department of Occupational Health Science and Psychology, Occupational Health Science. University of Gävle, Centre for Musculoskeletal Research.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-7798-1981
University of Gävle, Faculty of Health and Occupational Studies, Department of Occupational Health Science and Psychology, Occupational Health Science. University of Gävle, Centre for Musculoskeletal Research.ORCID iD: 0000-0003-1443-6211
Show others and affiliations
2021 (English)In: Proceedings of the International Ergonomics Association Conference 2021, 2021Conference paper, Oral presentation with published abstract (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

SUMMATIVE STATEMENT  

Results from an ongoing questionnaire study on telework during the COVID-19 pandemic show that mandatory telework (as opposed to voluntary), but not the extent of telework, is associated with poor well-being and more family-to-work conflict.

KEYWORDS: Corona, survey, telecommuting

PROBLEM STATEMENT  

Most of what is known today about attitudes and preferences regarding telework is based on studies where telework is an available option in certain occupational groups (Allen, et al., 2015). During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, many organizations have implemented telework to an unprecedented extent, with employees being required or strongly recommended to work from home, in order to reduce the spread of the virus and protect people at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19. This means that more employees are now teleworking, and for long periods of time, not by choice, but by necessity. Some of these employees have previous experience of telework, and some have not.

When telework is not voluntary, recommendations for how to arrange telework based on previous findings may not apply. Studies of consequences of telework, and whether they differ between voluntary and mandatory telework, may contribute to a better understanding of how recommendations should look, and how they should be implemented.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE/QUESTION 

The aim of this study is to determine the association between telework practice (i.e., extent of telework, previous experience of telework, and whether telework is mandatory or voluntary) and self-reported productivity, well-being and work-family conflict.

METHODOLOGY 

In an ongoing survey among employees in private and public organizations, an electronic questionnaire was distributed between June and December 2020 to 2859 employees, of which 1157 responded. The questionnaire addressed the extent of telework performed now, whether it was mandatory or voluntary, previous experience of telework, productivity (Haapakangas, et al., 2018), well-being (Winther Topp, et al., 2015), and work-family conflict (Carlson, et al., 2000). It also included questions about satisfaction with IT tools/support and number of work hours per week (actual hours as well as hours according to the employment contract).

The questionnaire data have been analyzed using linear regression to determine the association between the extent of telework (in hours/week) and the outcomes productivity, well-being and work-family conflict (i.e., work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict). In the regression models, previous experience of telework (≥ 1 year) and whether telework was mandatory were also included as predictors. The analyses were performed with and without adjustment for satisfaction with IT tools/support and actual working hours relative to working hours according to the employment contract.

RESULTS

The results showed that the extent of telework had a marginal effect on all outcomes. Employees who had teleworked for less than 1 year reported less work-to-family and family-to-work conflict than employees who had more than 1 year of telework experience. Whether telework was mandatory appeared to have no association with productivity ratings, but mandatory telework was associated with poorer well-being and more family-to-work conflict.

When the regression models were adjusted for satisfaction with IT tools/support and actual working hours relative to working hours according to the employment contract, associations between telework practice and outcomes remained largely the same. Satisfaction with IT tools/support had a large effect on productivity, well-being and work-to-family conflict. Working longer hours (i.e., working more hours than according to the employment contract) was associated with increased productivity but also more work-to-family conflict. 

DISCUSSION

The association between mandatory telework, poor well-being and more family-to-work conflict could possibly be explained by reduced autonomy at work. When it is not possible to decide when to telework and which work tasks to perform during telework, telework may not offer the opportunities to achieve better work-life balance that voluntary telework does. Reasonably, this effect would be stronger among more experienced teleworkers.

CONCLUSIONS  

Our findings suggest that the extent of telework performed during the COVID-19 pandemic does not affect self-rated productivity, well-being and work-family conflict. Mandatory telework, however, was associated with poor well-being and more family-to-work conflict, compared to voluntary telework.

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The study was conducted within the research program Flexible Work: Opportunity and Challenge funded by the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (reg. no. 2019-01257) and AFA Insurance (reg. no. 200244).

 

REFERENCES

Allen, T.D., Golden, T.D., & Shockley, K.M. (2015). How effective is telecommuting? Assessing the status of our scientific findings. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 16(2), 40–68.

Carlson, D.S., Kacmar, K.M., & Williams, L.J. (2000). Construction and initial validation of a multidimensional measure of work–family conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 56, 249-276.

Haapakangas, A., Hallman, D.M., Mathiassen, S.E., & Jahncke, H. (2018). Self-rated productivity and employee well-being in activity-based offices: The role of environmental perceptions and workspace use. Building and Environment, 145, 115-124.

Winther Topp, C., Dinesen Østergaard, S., Søndergaard, S., & Bech, P. (2015). The WHO-5 Well-Being Index: a systematic review of the literature. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 84(3), 167-176.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2021.
Keywords [en]
Corona, survey, telecommuting
National Category
Occupational Health and Environmental Health
Research subject
Health-Promoting Work
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-36719OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hig-36719DiVA, id: diva2:1577526
Conference
IEA 2021, 14-18 June, Vancouver, Canada
Funder
Forte, Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, 2019-01257AFA Insurance, 200244Available from: 2021-07-02 Created: 2021-07-02 Last updated: 2023-02-27Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Authority records

Heiden, MarinaHallman, DavidSvensson, SvenMathiassen, Svend ErikBergström, Gunnar

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Heiden, MarinaHallman, DavidSvensson, SvenMathiassen, Svend ErikBergström, Gunnar
By organisation
Occupational Health ScienceCentre for Musculoskeletal Research
Occupational Health and Environmental Health

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

urn-nbn

Altmetric score

urn-nbn
Total: 518 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • harvard-cite-them-right
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • sv-SE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • de-DE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf