Remote Work - Transitioning to Remote Work in Times of Crisis

Abstract: During times of crisis, such as when the world is going through a pandemic. Many companies get affected and need to change their way of working. Our purpose is to study how the abrupt transition to remote work effects different aspects of work and to see whether, and in what ways, the involuntary nature of the current remote work situation changes how remote work is perceived by employees and managers. We choose to do a qualitative study, in order to get a deeper understanding from both employees’ perspective and managers perspective. The managers and employees participating in our interview are from banking, insurance, and staffing agencies. These interviews will be supplemented with secondary sources from news and statistical surveys. By comparing the results from our study with earlier research and recommendations from industry experts, we concluded that organizational members are handling the transition to remote work well despite the ongoing situation. Similar pros and cons of remote work that are present in previous research are also present in our interviews. However, there are some distinct differences as well. Our thesis is intended to help other organizations learn and gain knowledge about how different organizations are managing remote work in a crisis and the challenges that it brings.