Phenomenon of Remote Work

Work is often a central part of our lives. Despite the fact that the working hours may differ all over the world as a result of countries’ internal work regulations, people spend many hours a day at work. Social trends and changes associated with the development of technology and digitalisation have a profound impact on various aspects of our lives, including work. The phenomenon of remote work (also known as work from home) has been gaining popularity in recent years. The outbreak of COVID-19 and its designation as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2020) contributed to implementing new policies aimed at preventing the spread of the virus. Office-based companies that wanted to maintain operations had to face a challenge of converting their traditional work systems into hybrid or remote ones. This situation contributed to an increase in the number of people working from home all over the world. Statistics have shown that in the United States of America, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the percentage of employers working from home doubled to 42% in 2020 (BLS, 2021). The same pattern was observed in Europe. As stated by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions in their report on COVID-19, about 40% of workers within the European Union changed to full-time remote work as a result of the pandemic (Ahrendt et al. 2020). The pandemic not only had a sudden, enormous and global impact on the labour market, but also irreversibly transformed it. Research on the post-pandemic economy shows that the number of remote workers rose four to five times in comparison to the pre-pandemic years (McKinsey Global Institute, 2021). Many businesses recognised the remote working system as advantageous due to a variety of aspects. Some of them are associated with economic savings on equipment costs, office rentals or staff absences. However, others may be related to deep relations between the employer and employees, the overall management, or the quality of working space. They can include a healthier workforce, access to wider talent pools or international workforce, as well as a reduction in employee turnover or improvement in productivity (ViewSonic, 2021). 

The last one, improvement in productivity, evokes mixed opinions. According to a survey on productivity conducted by Jose Maria Barrero of the Mexico Autonomous Institute of Technology, Nicholas Bloom from Stanford University and Steven J. Davis from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, 40% of respondents stated to be more productive while working from home, but 15% said the opposite (Barrero et al., 2021). Even though the majority of respondents confirmed the popular opinion on the rise of perceived productivity while working from home compared to working from the office, there are still people that not only do not agree with the statement but say that their productivity decreased.