Telework during the COVID-19 epidemic in Portugal and determinants of job satisfaction: a cross-sectional study

Remote working and experiential wellbeing: A latent lifestyle perspective using UK time use survey before and during COVID-19

Mental health in the UK had deteriorated compared with pre-pandemic trends. Existing studies on heterogenous wellbeing changes associated COVID-19 tend to segment population based on isolated socio-economic and demographic indicators, notably gender, income and ethnicity, while a more holistic and contextual understanding of such heterogeneity among the workforce seems lacking. This study addresses this gap by 1) combining UK time use surveys collected before and during COVID-19, 2) identifying latent lifestyles within three working mode groups (commuter, homeworker and hybrid worker) using latent class model, and 3) quantifying nuanced experiential wellbeing (ExWB) changes across workers of distinct lifestyles. The direction and magnitude of ExWB changes were not uniform across activity types, time of day, and lifestyles. The direction of ExWB change during the daytime activities window varied in accordance with lifestyle classifications. Specifically, ExWB decreased for all homeworkers but increased significantly for certain hybrid workers. Magnitude of ExWB change correlated strongly with lifestyle. To understand the significant heterogeneity in ExWB outcomes, a spatial-temporal conceptualisation of working flexibility is developed to explicate the strong yet complex correlations between wellbeing and lifestyles. The implications to post-pandemic "back-to-work" policies are 1) continued expansion of hybrid working optionality, 2) provide wider support for lifestyle adaptation and transitions.

Teleworking: does it make workers healthier and productive? A cross-sectional study on a Southern European population

BACKGROUND

Teleworking (TW) has recently shifted from a marginal into a common practice. Yet, concerns have been raised regarding potential work-health negative effects, related to the reduced socialization, and extended working hours with computers at home, possibly offset by reduced commuting time or better individual work-life balance. This paper aims at describing the influence of TW on health, well-being, and productivity perceptions, and how this is shaped by TW conditions.

METHODS

We collected data from workers of 25 companies that exert their activity in Portugal. Data were completed with a representative sample of workers who regularly participate in surveys (total N = 1,069). We applied an on-line questionnaire from September the 1st 2022 to December the 1st 2022. We performed a simple descriptive analysis of each variable. Then, we analyzed the relationship between TW conditions and self-reported health, and between TW conditions at home and productivity, using logistic regression models.

RESULTS

We observed a high prevalence of self-perceived health worsening (15.9%), mostly among those with poor TW conditions. Most teleworkers enjoyed favorable TW conditions, despite limited company support. Relevant changes were observed in lifestyle factors, towards more smoking (5.5%), alcohol drinking (4.5%), and worse diet (10.1%). Two thirds reported enhanced productivity. A statistically significant relationship was observed between inadequate TW conditions, health deterioration, and lower productivity. A 6.0% point (pp) increased risk of productivity worsening was observed when employees faced at least one inadequate condition at home (no private working place at home, inadequate heating, artificial light, or absence of well-being at home). The risk of health deterioration increased by 12.9 pp when facing at least one of these inadequate conditions, and by 6.3 under hybrid TW, compared to one or two days of TW.

CONCLUSIONS

Most teleworkers highlighted a positive perspective about teleworking. Yet, TW conditions are not favorable for all workers, with consequences on health, well-being, and productivity, suggesting that further support is needed for teleworkers to protect their health at home, and reach its maximum benefit.

Perceived advantages and drawbacks of teleworking during the economic crisis and COVID-19: A cross-sectional study among university degree holders

This study aimed to identify the perceived advantages and drawbacks of teleworking and their correlates, including health problems, among Lebanese workers holding a university degree. A web-based cross-sectional self-report questionnaire created on Google Forms was used to survey 230 participants through snowball sampling between October 2022 and March 2023. The majority of respondents recognized both the advantages (67.03%) and drawbacks (66.34%) associated with teleworking, suggesting mixed feelings toward this format. Despite the limited satisfaction with teleworking, respondents acknowledged the advantages associated with remote working; in particular, younger, less physically active, and more educated participants valued teleworking more than their counterparts. The mean perception of advantages and drawbacks of telework did not significantly change with participants' work status (hybrid, online, and in-person). The study revealed a high prevalence of consistent sleeping difficulty (35.7%), limited regular physical activity (60.4%), work-related musculoskeletal disorders (48.7%), back pain (5.7%), and visual disorders (48%) among Lebanese workers. Despite the limited satisfaction with teleworking, respondents acknowledged advantages such as cost and time savings. Older workers showed a preference against teleworking, potentially due to its impact on well-being. Factors such as education, career satisfaction, and prior teleworking experience influenced individuals' perceptions of telework benefits.

Beyond Work: The Role of "Family-Friendly" Practices in the Subjective Well-Being of Teleworkers and On-Site Workers in the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, telework emerged as a pivotal strategy to mitigate the spread of the virus. However, telework's feasibility was contingent on job roles. This gave rise to two distinct groups: teleworkers and on-site workers. However, the impacts of social support and well-being extended to both groups. This study investigated the link between organisational and supervisory family support and subjective well-being, examining work engagement as a mediator. Conducted in Portugal, this cross-sectional study surveyed 515 individuals via web-based questionnaires. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and multiple-group analysis. The findings revealed a positive correlation between perceived organisational family support (POFS) and work engagement for both groups. Additionally, perceived supervisory family support (PSFS) positively correlated with work engagement for telecommuters but not on-site workers. Furthermore, work engagement was positively associated with subjective well-being for both groups. Moreover, work engagement mediated the relationship between POFS and subjective well-being. This study enriches the literature by analysing POFS, PSFS, work engagement, and subjective well-being dynamics among teleworkers and on-site employees.

Teleworking Effects on Mental Health-A Systematic Review and a Research Agenda

Teleworking has become an increasingly adopted modality in organizations. However, changes in working conditions have led to several challenges regarding its impacts on professionals' health. The aim of this study is to provide a systematic review of the literature about the impact of teleworking on workers' mental health. The PRISMA protocol and VOSviewer were used to identify the main trends from the set of 64 articles. The co-occurrence analyzes showed combined relationships between this new type of work and its effects on workers' health, which resulted in four different clusters and a robust knowledge structure. Furthermore, the findings indicate that working from home has a dualistic nature. This study offers a prominent and promising framework regarding the teleworking impact on workers' health research agenda.

Work, telework, and mental health during COVID-19

This review addresses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on workers' mental health, in particular, teleworking conditions. Our analysis is based on documents from several international organizations and specialized scientific publications. The retrieved information reveals that the pandemic has had a significant effect on the mental health of frontline workers and employees who had to migrate to a virtual environment without prior warning. However, a positive aspect is reflected in the development of several remote mental health care devices implemented to protect vulnerable population, frontline workers, and the general population. Finally, this paper underscores the importance of developing public policies for protecting workers' mental health.

Longitudinal Association of Working From Home on Work Functioning Impairment in Desk Workers During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Nationwide Cohort Study

OBJECTIVE

This study clarifies the longitudinal association between working from home and work functioning impairment among desk workers.

METHODS

Nationwide surveys were conducted from 2020 to 2022, analyzing 3532 desk workers who never worked from home before the COVID-19 pandemic.

RESULTS

The adjusted hazard ratio (95% confidence intervals) of working from home at least once a month or more with the composite result (incidence of work functioning or reduced work participation) was 1.22 (1.04-1.43). The cause-specific hazard ratios of work functioning impairment and reduced work participation were 1.30 (1.04-1.61) and 1.13 (0.86-1.47).

CONCLUSIONS

Working from home could be longitudinally associated with work functioning impairment, especially for workers who are in higher positions. Workers and policy makers should be aware of the potential risk of working from home regarding presenteeism.

Relationship between mental fatigue and burnout syndrome in remote workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: an integrative review

This study aimed to analyze the scientific evidence available in the literature addressing the relationship between mental fatigue and burnout associated with teleworking during the COVID-19 pandemic through an integrative review. This review searched the following databases: PubMed, Scopus, Taylor & Francis, Embase, ScienceDirect, and SciELO using the DeCS and MeSH health sciences descriptors. The included articles were published between March and December 2021, during the pandemic. Of a total of 224 results, 215 articles were excluded and 9 were considered for the preparation of this integrative review. Mental fatigue was related to technostress, somatic symptoms such as anxiety and insomnia (p < 0.05), and loss of motivation (p < 0.05). Burnout was positively associated with work overload, high interdependence, and lower role clarity. The presence of a stressful factor and a protective factor was evidenced in burnout: intrusive leadership and workaholism, respectively. Greater exhaustion was observed in workers belonging to generation X (41 to 55 years old). Mental fatigue is related to exhaustion in the productive, physical, and psychological dimensions of individuals. Addiction to work has moderated this phenomenon, however, it is urgent to limit and optimize work hours as well as promote disconnection and rest among workers within the framework of a healthy work policy.

The medium-term perceived impact of work from home on life and work domains of knowledge workers during COVID-19 pandemic: A survey at the National Research Council of Italy

Objective

The study aimed to investigate perceptions and determinants of the overall impact on life and work domains among a community of knowledge workers after 18 months of forced work from home due to the pandemic.

Methods

A cross-sectional study with a retrospective assessment was conducted early in 2022 at the National Research Council of Italy. Five single-item questions explored the perceived impact on life domain while a 7-item scale the impact on the work domain. Bivariate analyses and multivariate regressions were used to evaluate the associations between impacts and some key factors defined by 29 ad hoc closed questions.

Results

More than 95% of the 748 respondents reported a perceived change in at least one item of the life domain. For each of these items, although a large group of subjects has reported that working from home had no impact (from 27 to 55%), in the rest of the sample the positive evaluation (from 30 to 60%) clearly prevailed over the negative one. Overall, most of the subjects (64%) rated the impact on the work experience positively. Relationship with colleagues and participation in the work context were the items where the greatest number of negative rates was concentrated (27 and 25%, respectively). On the other hand, positive perceptions prevailed over both negative perceptions and lack of impact perceptions on the subjects of organizational flexibility and quality of work. The frequency of work-room sharing, home-work commute time and changes in sedentary lifestyle, have been identified as common explanatory factors of perceived impacts on both domains.

Conclusion

Overall, respondents reported positive rather than negative perceived impacts of forced work from home in both their lives and work. The obtained results suggest that policies to promote the physical and mental health of employees, strengthen inclusion and maintain a sense of community are necessary to improve workers' health and prevent the effects of perceived isolation on research activities.

Telework: A Social and Emotional Perspective of the Impact on Employees' Wellbeing in the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic gives us the largest telework experiment ever conducted globally, that will most likely leave visible and lasting marks on the organization of the labor market in the future. The purpose of this approach is to investigate the wellbeing from the social and emotional perspective of the individual, considering relevant relational communication, emotional dimension, work intensity, organization, autonomy and work-life balance, customized in the context of teleworking. The information was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. The wellbeing assessment was performed based on the correlation analysis and the regression analysis. The results of the studies reveal that the existence of adequate communication and work-life balance ensure the wellbeing of telework employees, while the increase in work intensity degrades it. Furthermore, good communication moderates the relationship between organizational skills and wellbeing. The comparative analysis of wellbeing in relation to the explanatory variables considered by including the gender and age perspective reveals the existence of different configurations, with specific signs and statistical meanings.

The effects of telecommuting and family cohabiting situation on psychological distress in Japanese workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to determine whether telecommuting's impact on psychological distress differed depending on the status of workers' cohabiting family members during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

We collected data from 33 302 workers in Japan through an Internet survey, and included 27 036 valid responses in the analysis. The survey included items on family cohabitation and telecommuting status during the COVID-19 pandemic. We assessed workers' psychological distress using the Kessler 6.

RESULTS

The psychological distress odds ratios (ORs) were higher for participants who lived with family members requiring care (OR = 1.38, P < .001), and lower for participants living with preschool children (OR = 0.77, P < .001) or a spouse (OR = 0.80, P < .001). Furthermore, odds ratios were higher for participants who worked from home and lived with family members requiring care or preschool children (OR = 1.52, P = .002; OR = 1.28, P = .028). Stratified by the presence or absence of family members living with them, psychological distress was higher for telecommuters with family members requiring care, preschool children, or elementary school children.

CONCLUSION

The association between telecommuting and psychological distress varies, depending on workers' living situation with family members.

"Who Knows Me Understands My Needs": The Effect of Home-Based Telework on Work Engagement

Purpose

Based on the affective event theory and the theoretical framework of "work environment features-work events-emotional responses-work attitude", this study aims to explore how and when home-based telework negatively affects work engagement by focusing on the dual chain mediating paths of "workplace isolation-negative emotion" and "telepressure-negative emotion", and the moderating role of family-supportive leadership.

Methods

A questionnaire survey was used to collect 276 self-reported responses from employees with home-based telework experience in China.

Findings

(a) Home-based telework indirectly and negatively affects work engagement through the mediating chain of "workplace isolation-negative emotion"; (b) Home-based telework indirectly and negatively affects work engagement through the mediating chain of "telepressure-negative emotion"; (c) Family-supportive leadership negatively moderates the chain mediating effect of "workplace isolation-negative emotion" and "telepressure-negative emotion" between home-based telework and work engagement. In other words, the higher the level of family-supportive leadership, the weaker the negative effect of home-based telework on work engagement.

Originality/Value

This study sheds additional light on the relationship between home-based telework and work engagement by constructing the influence mechanism model of home-based telework on work engagement, in which "workplace isolation-negative emotion" and "telepressure-negative emotion" act as chain mediators, and family supportive leadership as moderator. This study enriches the literature on home-based telework.

Practical Implications

The findings indicates that home-based work has indirectly and negatively effects on work engagement through dual chain mediating paths of "workplace isolation-negative emotion" and "telepressure-negative emotion". However, family-supportive leadership can weaken this negative influence. Therefore, organizations need to cultivate family supportive leadership.

Teleworking in times of a pandemic: An applied study of industrial companies

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of teleworking on self-reported job satisfaction and workers’ productivity in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey was administered to 331 teleworkers belonging to industrial companies, whose data were analyzed with a PLS-SEM structural equation model. The results indicate that communication with coworkers, time spent teleworking, and workplace suitability positively affect self-reported productivity, while trust on the part of supervisors and workplace suitability positively affect job satisfaction. On the other hand, work-family conflict negatively affects job satisfaction and self-reported productivity, whereas communication with coworkers, support from supervisor and time spent teleworking have no significant effect on job satisfaction. This study provides relevant information for industrial organizations to improve the job-satisfaction and productivity in large scaled teleworking contexts, as should have been implemented during the mandatory preventive isolation due to the health crisis related to the transmission of SARs-CoV-2.

Development and Validation of a New Measure of Work Annoyance Using a Psychometric Network Approach

Existing measures of the impact of job characteristics on workers' well-being do not directly assess the extent to which such characteristics (e.g., opportunity to learn new skills) are perceived as positive or negative. We developed a measure, the Work Annoyance Scale (WAS), of the level of annoyance that workers feel about certain aspects of the job and evaluated its psychometric properties. Using archival data from two cohorts (n = 2226 and 655) of workers that had undergone an annual medical examination for occupational hazard, we show the usefulness of the network psychometric approach to scale validation and its similarities and differences from a traditional factor analytic approach. The results revealed a two-dimensional structure (working conditions and cognitive demands) that was replicable across cohorts and bootstrapped samples. The two dimensions had adequate structural consistency and discriminant validity with respect to other questionnaires commonly used in organizational assessment, and showed a consistent pattern of association with relevant background variables. Despite the need for more extensive tests of its content and construct validity in light of the organizational changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic and of an evaluation of the generalizability of the results to cultural contexts different from the Italian one, the WAS appears as a psychometrically sound tool for assessment and research in organizational contexts.

Remote Working and Home Learning: How the Italian Academic Population Dealt with Changes Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown

The COVID-19 pandemic introduced changes in people’s lives that affected their mental health. Our study aimed to explore the level of psychological distress in the academic population during the lockdown period and investigate its association with the new working or studying conditions. The study sample included 9364 students and 2159 employees from five Italian universities from the study IO CONTO 2020. We applied linear regression models to investigate the association between home learning or remote working conditions and psychological distress, separately for students and employees. Psychological distress was assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). In both students and employees, higher levels of distress were significantly associated with study/work–family conflicts, concerns about their future careers, and inadequacy of equipment; in employees, higher levels of distress were significantly associated with a lack of clarity on work objectives. Our results are in line with previous research on the impact of spaces and equipment in remote working/studying from home. Moreover, the study contributes to deepening the association between well-being and telework–family conflict, which in the literature is still equivocal. Practical implications require academic governance to promote sustainable environments both in remote and hybrid work conditions, by referring to a specific management by objectives approach.

Association of Preference and Frequency of Teleworking with Work Functioning Impairment: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study of Japanese Full-Time Employees

OBJECTIVE

We examined whether teleworking preference and frequency were associated with work functioning impairment.

METHODS

This online cross-sectional study was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire among 27,036 full-time Japanese workers. The Work Functioning Impairment Scale was used to measure work functioning impairment, and we performed multilevel logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

Higher odds ratios for work functioning impairment were observed among employees who preferred to telework compared with those who preferred working in the workplace. A similar trend was observed among employees who teleworked four or more days a week compared with those who almost never teleworked. When teleworking preference and frequency were adjusted, only teleworking preference was associated with work functioning impairment.

CONCLUSIONS

A preference for teleworking was associated with work functioning impairment and one factor that increased the teleworking frequency.