Abstract

Previous research has explored the impact of telework on homes and offices separately, but it is necessary to examine these domains together, as energy savings in one may be offset by increased consumption in the other. Therefore, the present study aims to fill this gap by quantifying the impact of telework on the energy use of homes and offices simultaneously. Using a medium office building reference model and four home models, the present study simulates telework scenarios from 0 % teleworking to 100 % teleworking in 20 % increments in six different Canadian climate zones in EnergyPlus. The results show homes and offices with technologies that adapt to occupancy levels (adaptable) consume less energy and produce less emissions compared to inadaptable ones. However, energy use associated with homes increases slightly due to longer hours of occupancy. Emissions associated with telework depend on the impact of telework on internal heat gains, climate zones, and sources of energy (emission factors). The results demonstrate that the increase in energy consumption associated with various teleworking scenarios ranges from approximately 0.6 %–6.1 %. Similarly, the increase in emissions varies, ranging from nearly 0.5 % to 7.6 %. The present study is the first comprehensive study that considers the home type and size and other statistical data for different Canadian climate zones. The results have major implications for employers and policymakers aiming to adopt telework as a sustainable practice. The results of this study create the foundation for future comprehensive studies on teleworker behavior, transportation, and the internet use associated with telework.

Introduction

1.1. Teleworking and occupancy
Partial occupancy in offices has become a more common global phenomenon after the COVID-19 pandemic, as many employers started offering flexible schedules with telework options [[1], [2], [3], [4]]. Teleworking has different definitions but it can be generally defined as an umbrella term referring to working outside of a traditional office by using the internet [5]. Telework is often considered a sustainable alternative to traditional work arrangements as it can potentially reduce commute or the need for office space [4]. However, recent studies have shown that the potential sustainable benefits of teleworking significantly rely on teleworkers’ behaviors and decisions for four domains of homes, offices, transportation, and the internet [4,6,7]. Among all the four domains, the relationship between homes and offices has been less studied – especially quantitatively. Thus, the literature is inconclusive about the impact of telework on homes and offices concurrently.

Offices and homes are not typically designed to adapt to partial occupancy, meaning building systems such as HVAC systems are designed for full capacity. For instance, actual occupancy pre-COVID was usually between 50 % and 70 % in office buildings while office buildings are assumed to be operating under near-full occupancy [8,9]. Consequently, studies have shown building systems normally operate at their full capacity without considering occupancy [10,11]. The disproportionate decreases in the energy use of office buildings compared to occupancy during the COVID-19 pandemic are evidence of this phenomenon [[12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17]]. Meanwhile, home energy use may increase significantly as a result of the use of more comfortable temperature setpoints or even the purchase of new HVAC equipment, like air conditioning. In part-time teleworking scenarios, such equipment may be operated every day, regardless of occupancy [6,18,19]. Therefore, it is important to have buildings that can adapt to partial occupancy [20]. As a result, there is an urgent need to quantify the impact of telework and partial occupancy on two main building types, homes and offices, under different teleworking scenarios.

Results

In this section, energy use and emissions associated with offices, homes, and their integrated net are described in Sections 3.1 Offices, 3.2 Homes, 3.3 Combined emissions of homes and offices. The results presented in the Offices and Homes sections are applicable to their respective domains.

3.1. Offices
3.1.1. Internal gains and inadaptable and adaptable offices
Fig. 12 shows the internal heat gain in W for adaptable and inadaptable offices in six different climate zones. While previous studies pointed to the impact of internal gains [22], the present study quantifies the impact. Fig. 12 shows reduced heat gains from people, equipment, lights, hot water equipment, gas equipment, and other equipment. The reduction in heat gains causes more demand for heating in buildings.

Abstract

     In Japan, telework is attracting renewed attention due to the government-led “work style reform”. The advent of COVID-19 in 2020 has led to the rapid spread of telework, and the current state of widespread use may be attributed to transient factors as a counter to the spread of COVID-19 infection. A current problem is that dealing with the emergence of risks has been postponed or overlooked because telework was hastily promoted and introduced even though sufficient preparations had not been made. In this work, we conducted a risk assessment from the viewpoints of both companies and employees to identify 28 risk factors and proposed countermeasures for these factors in order to make teleworking permanently safe and secure in the new normal era. The results revealed that the introduction of Mobile Device Management (MDM) to teleworking terminals is effective as the main countermeasure on the corporate side. The study also clarified that the establishment of various systems related to the telework environment and the use of cloud computing are effective as measures for both companies and employees. We also evaluated the effectiveness of the proposed risk measures in terms of risk values and found that these could be reduced by approximately 61%. Our findings will contribute to the safe and secure use of telework in the new normal era.

Abstract

     Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, several countries have recommended or imposed teleworking. This study examines the arrangements made by companies in French-speaking Switzerland to prevent or reduce the negative aspects of teleworking in order to improve the experience for their employees. To do so, semistructured interviews were conducted with human resources or team managers in companies from various industries. The literature review enabled these risks to be classified into six categories and was used to guide the interviews. The results offer interesting insights for academic researchers and practitioners. For the first, they can use these findings to investigate this issue in other geographical regions or expand by doing a quantitative study. For the second, they can use the insights to tailor their management practices when crises materialize.

Introduction

     The COVID-19 pandemic hit the world in 2019 with the World Health Organization declaring a global health emergency (Velavan & Meyer, 2020). The virus caused tremendous harm, affecting many people and their lives, but also impacting businesses around the world. To fight against the spread of the virus, many countries restrained their populations’ movements, thus greatly increasing the number of people teleworking (Mori, 2021). Dubey and Tripathi (2020) noted that this decision was accompanied with many people showing resentment and having negative feelings toward the notion of working from home.

     Research has been conducted on teleworking’s negative effects from an employee’s point of view, but little literature can be found that interrogates companies’ views. This skews the perspective, as it is unclear how companies are viewing the situation and what actions they are taking to resolve or prevent these issues. To better understand the company side of the matter, a review of the literature was conducted and the negative effects were categorized.

Findings

     Only two participants noted that family conflicts were brought to their attention. However, Participant E noted that their company has a social service, so it is possible that managers are not aware of these issues. Societal issues (gender inequalities and promotions) were not deemed to be an issue, as no participant had received any complaints or remarks.

     Two participants noted that some employees were struggling with back pain. These issues were present before COVID-19 but were made worse by the change of setting and lack of equipment. Participant A stated, “[A]s it is at home, it is the employee’s issue, not the employer’s duty” [my translation from French]. The bank also held a similar stance. While it let employees take their work equipment (like screens) or their work chairs home, it did not finance any ergonomic equipment the employee would require.

     Employees from four out of five companies in the sample reported suffering from sentiments of isolation and loneliness due, in part, to a lack of social interactions and informal calls. Indeed, these two issues are the most prevalent as nearly all participants are unanimous on the negative sentiments their collaborators were facing. No other issue, even when considering all six categories, was highlighted as much.

Abstract

     This qualitative research contributes to the telework research literature by identifying and categorizing employee motives for teleworking. Motives for telework contextualize teleworking behavior, represent proximal telework outcomes, and serve as potential boundary conditions for telework-outcome relationships. Role identity theory (Burke & Tully Social Forces, 55(4), 881-897, 1977) and the uncertainty-reduction hypothesis (Hogg & Terry Academy of Management Review, 25, 121-140, 2000) suggest that motives may be driven by role salience and the ability to meet work and nonwork demands. In this research, we sought to identify a comprehensive list of motives as well as reconcile the wide range of categories and labels given to telework motives in the literature. We asked two independent samples of workers comprised of two subsamples of teleworkers (n1 = 195; n2 = 97) and a subsample of nonteleworkers (n3 = 947) why they telework or would like to telework. A total of 2504 reasons were gathered across the three subsamples. Most respondents reported multiple reasons, especially when encouraged to list all of their reasons. After distinguishing preconditions from motives to telework, ten categories emerged from the qualitative data with “avoid commute” emerging as the most frequently reported motive. Other frequently reported motives included “tend to family demands” and “productivity.” Additional motives are discussed along with implications for telework research and policy development and implementation.

Why Are Employees Motivated to Telework?

     Generally speaking, employees are motivated to fulfill their needs and to avoid aversive states (e.g., discomfort). In fact, researchers have noted that employees are inclined to proactively change aspects of their job in order to maximize motivation, reduce stressors, and mitigate strain (Parker & Ohly, 2008). Theoretically, role identity theory (Burke & Tully, 1977) and the uncertainty-reduction hypothesis (Hogg & Terry, 2000) suggest that employees are likely to have motives to fulfill goals that align with their most salient role and seek strategies that help reduce uncertainties that interfere with that role. Despite theories indirectly supporting the desire to telework, studies of telework motives have been largely atheoretical.

     According to role identity theory, individuals form identities based on the salience of the various roles that they occupy (Burke & Reitzes, 1991; Kossek et al., 2012; Thoits, 1991). Work and family roles are some of the most salient. Additionally, physical work environments contribute to the formation of identities (Ashkanasy et al., 2014). The most salient role (e.g., work-related or family-related) will determine the centrality of the individual’s identity (i.e., work-centered or family-centered, respectively). Alternatively, a dual-centered identity may emerge if both work and family roles are equally salient. Generally, individuals are motivated to fulfill goals aligned with their role identity and to seek out circumstances that help them to meet work and family demands. This has implications for where individuals prefer to work, thus telework motives. Ironically, the environment that is most conductive to getting work done is not necessarily the traditional work environment because of interruptions and distractions. In fact, the environment that helps employees meet work and family demands may be a location facilitates the fastest role transitions.

Results

     Sample 1 responses ranged from 1 to 60 words with a mean of 25.20 words (SD = 16.94 words, N = 195). In total, respondents provided 342 total motives to the question “Why do you telework?” On average, each employee reported slightly more than one motive (M = 1.14, SD = 1.16, median = 1.00, mode = 1, range = 1–5).

     Sample 2a responses ranged from 1 to 76 words with a mean of 24.74 words (SD = 15.39 words, N = 97). They provided 171 total motives to the prompt asking participants to list all the reasons why they telework. As the prompt for Sample 2a encouraged employees to list multiple reasons, it is not surprising that the employees in this sample reported more motives per person than Sample 1 (M = 1.98; SD = 1.10; median = 2.00; mode = 2; range 1–6). In fact, many respondents numbered their reasons, indicating that employees possess (and are aware of) multiple motives for teleworking (RQ4).

     Sample 2b responses ranged from 1 to 76 words with a mean of 24.74 words (SD = 15.39, N = 947) words. Similar to Sample 2a, nonteleworkers (Sample 2b) were encouraged to list multiple reasons. Correspondingly, they provided 1991 total motives. On average, nonteleworkers reported slightly more than two motives (M = 2.10, SD = 1.55, median = 2.00, mode = 2, range 1–8).

Abstract

     In the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), people have been requested to work from home with information and communication technology (ICT) tools, i.e. telework. This paper investigates which factors (infection of COVID-19, individual characteristics, task characteristics, and working environments) are associated with telework use in Japan. Using the unique panel survey on telework, our estimation finds that although telework use remains low in Japan, educated, high ICT-skilled, younger, and female workers who engage in less teamwork and less routine tasks tend to use telework. Working environments such as the richness of IT communication tools, digitalized offices, and flexible-hour working systems are all positively correlated with telework use.

Introduction

     The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) virus commenced its worldwide spread in February 2020. In the COVID-19 pandemic, people have been requested to work from home and refrain from commuting. Telework, i.e., working at home with information and communication technology (ICT) tools, has attracted considerable attention as an effective countermeasure against infection. However, some impediments hamper the use of telework for some workers. Telework is unsuitable for some workers (e.g., old uneducated workers) (Adams-Prassl et al., 2020) as well as some occupations (e.g., manual laborers and medical service workers) (Dingel and Neiman, 2021). Telework tends to reduce workers’ performance due to less face-to-face communication (Bartik et al., 2020). For a variety of reasons, some countries such as Japan have observed a low percentage of telework utilization.

     A further reason for lower telework use is the government’s infection controls. Unlike many other developed countries, Japan has seen a lower percentage of infections in the total population (on a cumulative basis, 6.1% in Japan, 24.6% in the US, 29.1% in Germany, 32.6% in the UK, and 43.8% in France, as of April 28, 2022).1 Japan has taken a unique approach to infection controls. In particular, lockdown was request-based and did not involve any legal restrictions, sanctions, and punishments, which originates from the Constitution of Japan.2 The Prime Minister, the government’s COVID-19 subcommittee, and local governments just asked for the cooperation of all people. Such a request-based lockdown might not greatly boost telework use. Therefore, it seems that many factors result in a low percentage of telework use in Japan.

Results and analyses

     This paper investigates the association of COVID-19 infection, individual characteristics, task characteristics, and working environments. Using the unique panel survey on telework, we find that educated, highly ICT-skilled, younger, and female workers who engage in fewer teamwork tasks and whose workplace municipalities see a larger number of infections tend to use telework. Working environments are much more crucial. The richness of IT communication tools, digitalized office management, and flexible hours working systems could promote telework use and its continuation.

     Our estimation results suggest that an individual’s socioeconomic factors are not the sole factors for telework use. The working environment and digitalized offices are also crucial factors for telework, although we cannot determine the causal impact of these factors on telework use due to identification problems. Furthermore, digitalized office and working environments are particularly important for workers to keep teleworking for long hours and frequent use in the spread of COVID-19.

Abstract

1. Introduction

2. Methodology

3. Teleworker characteristics

4. Classification of teleworker types

5. Discussion

6. Conclusions and recommendations

Acknowledgements

Author contributions

References

Abstract

     With the arrival of COVID-19 in the Netherlands in Spring 2020 and the start of the “intelligent lockdown”, daily life changed drastically. The working population was urged to telework as much as possible. However, not everyone had a suitable job for teleworking or liked teleworking. From a mobility perspective, teleworking was considered a suitable means to alleviate travel. Even after the pandemic it can (continue to) reduce pressure on the mobility system during peak hours, thereby improving efficiency and level of service of transport services. Additionally, this could reduce transport externalities, such as emissions and unsafety. The structural impact from teleworking offers opportunities, but also challenges for the planning and operations of public transport. The aim of this study is to better understand teleworking during and after COVID-19 among train travellers, to support operators and authorities in their policy making and design. We study the telework behaviour, attitude towards teleworking, and future intentions through a longitudinal data collection. By applying a latent class cluster analysis, we identified six types of teleworkers, varying in their frequency of teleworking, attitude towards teleworking, intentions to the future, socio-demographics and employer policy. In terms of willingness-to-telework in the future, we distinguish three groups: the high willingness-to-telework group (71%), the low willingness-to-telework group (16%), and the least-impacted self-employed (12%). Those with high willingness are expected to have lasting changes in their travel patterns, where especially public transport is impacted.

Introduction

     COVID-19 first appeared in the Netherlands on the 27th of February 2020. On March 12th, the government drastically intervened and imposed an “intelligent lockdown” (Antonides and van Leeuwen, 2020). In this lockdown people were urged to stay at home as much as possible. This meant that among others schools were closed, people had to telework as much as possible (i.e. working from home), public transport operations were reduced (people were advised not to use public transport), and restaurants and bars were closed (de Haas et al., 2020). The large difference with lockdowns like imposed in e.g. France and Germany, is that people were still allowed to be outside and move around. All in all, these measures resulted in large changes in people’s daily life.

     For the working population, the intelligent lockdown resulted in a large adjustment: from working in office to teleworking as much as possible. Before the COVID-19 pandemic one in three employed people teleworked occasionally, with only 6% doing this almost full-time (Hamersma et al., 2020). With this, the Netherlands ranks second (after Sweden) in the European Union in terms of the share of employees that telework (Sostero et al., 2020). During the intelligent lockdown approximately 45–56% of the working population teleworked, where many did this full-time (Hamersma et al., 2020). Not every job is equally suitable for teleworking, as some professions require interaction with people (e.g. cashiers in supermarket, nurses in hospitals, and plumbers in customer’s houses) (Sostero et al., 2020). In the Netherlands, the largest switch towards teleworking was found among the working population that is highly educated and/or commuted by public transport (Hamersma et al., 2020). Due to this switch towards teleworking and the advice of the government against using public transport, public transport use decreased significantly (Antonides and van Leeuwen, 2020).

Conclusions and recommendations

     This paper presents the findings of an investigation into teleworking during COVID-19. The sudden changes and adaptations that were required of the working population to telework as much as possible, resulted in a suboptimal situation for several people. In this study, longitudinal data of train travelling teleworkers in times of COVID-19 is used to investigate differences and similarities among the population in terms of attitude towards teleworking, frequency of teleworking and intentions related to teleworking after the pandemic has ended. We apply a latent class cluster analysis to identify six different types of teleworkers: ‘enthusiastic and always’, ‘positive and partially’, ‘neutral, new, and frequently’, ‘forced and done with’, and ‘indifferent and occasional’. These six classes differ largely from one another. We can classify these based on their willingness-to-telework: the high willingness-to-telework group (71% of the teleworking train passenger population), the low willingness-to-telework group (16%) and the self-employed (12%). The first group largely work for organisations that are prepared for teleworking and have a job, personality, and home situation that fits teleworking. This group also experienced the biggest impact on their travel patterns, and due to their intentions to telework more often after the pandemic, it will also affect their future travel patterns most.

Abstract

     Digital and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and, consequently, remote working have increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, workers’ economic–financial perception of remote working conditions, such as digital technology and its implementation, has scarcely been researched. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the economic–financial impacts of remote working on labourers. Using a mixed-methods sequential exploratory design, a sample of 976 workers is investigated. This study highlights that the majority of workers experience a negative economic–financial impact due to the additional costs incurred for digital technology and platforms and for utilities as well as the non-payment of overtime and meal vouchers, which are higher than the savings in commuting costs and out-of-pocket expenses. Furthermore, this research emphasizes that psychological–behavioural variables, specifically job satisfaction and technostress, are essential in the choice to continue working remotely after the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, our results have important theoretical implications related to the existing literature both on the managerial issues connected to digital transformation, with interdisciplinary elements linked to psychological aspects, and on corporate finance topics associated to the economic–financial impacts of remote working.

Introduction

     Digital and information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been increasingly used as a consequence of the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which caused the COVID-19 pandemic. This pandemic caught the world by surprise, posing a serious threat to people’s life (e.g., Donthu and Gustafsson, 2020, Ghobadian et al., 2022, Khanra et al., 2021, Laato et al., 2020, Talwar et al., 2021). To mitigate the spread of COVID-19, most countries have implemented many measures (Anderson, Heesterbeek, Klinkenberg, & Hollingsworth, 2020) that have also had significant impacts on how and where employees work. In particular, businesses around the world, which have been badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, have taken various actions, many imposed by governments, to try to reduce contact between people (Hadjielias, Christofi, & Tarba, 2022). Among these actions, including governments’ encouragement to work from home, remote working (also termed teleworking and home working) has grown as a new mode of work (Wang, Liu, Qian, & Parker, 2021).

Conclusions

     The research focused on Italy as an interesting case study to understand the potential impact on the labour market of the financial implications for workers and the need to upgrade their technological skills to meet the challenge of digital transformation arising from such a structural change. Italy was one of the countries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and at least 3 million workers (i.e., about 13% of the total workforce) started working remotely (Barbieri et al., 2022, Bonacini et al., 2021, Bonacini et al., 2021). Before the COVID-19 crisis, Italy was the European country with the lowest share of telework (Eurofound, 2017), and it faced a massive increase in this new form of work over a very short period of time, without precise legislation and adequate policies. Our findings, although based on Italian data, can be useful for policy makers in other industrialized countries to rethink production processes with a more intensive and stable use of remote work.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many individuals to shift from an atmosphere of face-to-face work to the digital work environment known as telework. Telework is an effective mitigation tool that ensures the continuity of operations. However, maximized telework may not be effective for all individuals. Many individual, organizational, and group level factors influence one’s telework performance and this study examines four of the most influential antecedents. Using linear regression analysis, conscientiousness, overload, communication, and non-distractibility were found to be significant predictors that account for over half the variance explained in telework performance. Supported by self-regulation theories, both conscientiousness and non-distractibility contained the strongest beta coefficients, signifying the greatest impact on telework performance. These findings contribute to the telework body of literature by focusing on personal aspects that contribute to telework performance. Leaders and supervisors can use this research to revise telework policies and to train, educate, and develop their subordinates on aspects of effective self-regulation. In cases of degraded performance, employers are encouraged to counsel and withhold the option to telework from those with self-regulation issues.

Abstract

1. Introduction

2. Related literature and hypotheses

3. Data and descriptive statistics

4. Empirical strategy

5. Estimation results

6. Conclusions

References

Abstract

Purpose – It is analyzed whether working from home improves or impairs the job satisfaction and the work–life balance and under which conditions.
Design/methodology/approach – Blocks of influences on job satisfaction and work–life balance – personal traits, job characteristics, skills and employment properties – are estimated separately and in combination. To select the variables, the least angle regression is applied. The entropy balancing approach is used to determine causal effects. The study investigates whether imbalances are determined by private or job influences, whether firm-specific regulations and the selected control group affect the results and whether it only takes place during leisure time.
Findings – No clear effects of remote work on job satisfaction are revealed, but the impact on work–life balance is generally negative. If the imbalance is conditioned by private interests, this is not corroborated in contrast to job conditioned features. Employees working from home are happier than those who want to work at home, job satisfaction is higher and work–life balance is not worse under a strict contractual agreement than under a nonbinding commitment.
Originality/value – A wide range of personality traits, skills, employment properties and job characteristics are incorporated as determinants. The problem of causality is investigated. It is analyzed whether the use of alternative control and treatment groups leads to different results. The empirical investigation is based on new German data with three waves.

1. Introduction

Working from home, also called remote work (RW), telecommuting, teleworking, homework, home office, mobile work, outwork and the flexible workplace, is a work arrangement, in which employees do not commute to their workplace in the company. Despite advances in technology during the last decade, working from home has grown only modestly. Interestingly only 12% of all employees in Germany work primarily or occasionally from home, although this practice would theoretically be possible for 30–40% of the jobs (Brenke, 2016). The Bureau of Labor Statistics (2019) reported that in 2018 almost 25% of wage and salary workers at least occasionally worked from a home office.

The increasing acceptance of working from home may be led by management, because reduced labor costs and increasing productivity and profitability are expected. This development Working from home office. The increasing acceptance of working from home may be led by management, because reduced labor costs and increasing productivity and profitability are expected. This development also relates to concerns over deteriorating work–life balance (WLB) and the potential of RW to help address this, but thus there is a lack of systematic evidence or consensus. Even within a single industry, practices vary considerably. Many employers still insist on compulsory presence at the workplace. Unions were reluctant to support RW in the past. For their part fearing that establishments would use an extension of RW to save costs and that the employees would have to work under precarious conditions. This attitude has partially changed. For example, on Labor Day 2018, the German Confederation of Trade Unions (DGB) insisted on a legal claim on working from home in case it is not an impediment to the operation of the business. Since 2016, employers in the Netherlands have been obligated to check whether it is possible to allow RW if an employee expresses a preference for such work.