Research project Implications of telework during the COVID-19 pandemic for work-life balance, job quality and health
In March 2020, everyday life changed dramatically for many Swedish workers as a result of the Public Health Agency’s recommendations on telework (work from home using ICT) to reduce the spread of COVID-19; within some weeks telework increased by 400%. Many of those who began teleworking did so without or with only limited experience of telework.
Earlier research associated voluntary teleworking with improved work-life balance, but also longer work hours, blurring of work- and personal life, increased stress and sleeping problems. It remains unknown, especially in the Swedish context, if these findings apply to the current exceptional conditions of mandatory and full-time teleworking. This project aims to investigate who does/does not benefit from mandatory teleworking in terms of work-life balance, job quality and health from quantitative and qualitative perspectives; factors that exacerbate or mitigate the effects of teleworking and underlying causal mechanisms.
Project description
Before the pandemic, scholars have examined the impact of teleworking on various domains of work- and personal life, revealing a number of implications and advantages of teleworking for individuals, organizations and society. However, the conditions of teleworking during and after COVID-19 are not comparable to those seen under previous circumstances. Among others, the move from office work to telework was incredibly fast, covered a wide spectrum of workers and was neither well prepared nor voluntary.
Consequently, previous knowledge cannot be easily applied to the exceptional and challenging teleworking conditions during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. So far, very limited research has examined the impact of mandatory teleworking on different domains of work and personal life. The scarce evidence mainly comes from outside Sweden.
The purpose of this project is to gain a broader understanding of the impact of mandatory teleworking, as seen under the COVID-19 pandemic, on various domains of employees’ work- and personal life with a special focus on work-life balance, job quality and health. The project, using both a quantitative and qualitative perspective, will provide new knowledge on: i) who does and who does not benefit from increased teleworking, ii) moderating factors that exacerbate or mitigate the effects of teleworking on work-life balance, job quality and health, and iii) underlying causal mechanisms between teleworking and work-life balance, job quality and health.
Specific research questions are:
- Which employees’ benefit/do not benefit from teleworking?
- Is teleworking positively or negatively associated with work quality? Which factors mediates and / or moderates these associations?
- How does teleworking affect physical and mental health? Which factors mediates and / or moderates these associations?
- What personal experiences, strategies and preferences about how teleworking affects work and personal life describe individuals who have worked remotely during the pandemic?
This project will provide new and important information on the advantages and limitations of permanent teleworking; shed light on factors that affect work- and personal life as well as health; and provide information for individuals, organizations and policy makers on how to optimize the organization of permanent telework in the future.
Project members
Project managers
Paraskevi Peristera
Associate Professor
Members
Christine Bergljottsdotter
Associate Professor
Constanze Leineweber
Associate Professor
