An in-depth comparison between remote and workplace bound workers productivity and well-being

Abstract: Working remotely away from the traditional office is a continuously growing trend. Due to advancements in technology, workers can conduct their work remotely through the use of electronic technologies. While there are benefits for both the companies and workers due to this change in working arrangements, some negative effects have also occurred. Previous studies on remote working have found positive effects such as increased productivity or higher levels of job satisfaction. Whereas, other studies have found negative aspects such as overworking, hard time to switch off after work and social isolation. Previous research has focused on examining telecommuters (employees who work from home part-time). Hence there is a research gap for studying employees who work solely from home. Also, most of the previous studies have focused on samples where all the respondents have the same profession/work-role, rather than contrasting between different ones. Moreover, previous studies stress the need for further investigation on the impact that remote work has on well-being. Since previous research is mostly quantitative, there is a need for more in-depth understanding of the effects of remote working. Given the identified research gaps, our purpose in this thesis is to compare remote workers to workplace bound workers in terms of productivity and well-being. In order to help fill the research gaps and reach the purpose of this study we formulated the research question: How do remote workers and workplace bound workers compare in terms of productivity and well-being? In order to answer the research question and achieve the purpose of this thesis, we conducted a qualitative study. The data was gathered through six semi-structured interviews with workers who have previously worked in the traditional office and are currently working solely remotely in the same job position. Mainly, our research found that the remote and office setting were quite balanced in terms of well-being and productivity in our sample. However, the remote setting proved to have more challenges related to it than the office setting in our case, such as higher levels of work intensification, social isolation and management style. No significant difference was identified in terms of how work-role affects remote work in terms of productivity and well-being, however, the personal characteristics of the respondents seemed to play a part in the results. Our study contributes to the growing literature on remote working by offering insights on both the challenges and positive aspects of working solely remotely from home within different work-roles and organizations. Moreover, we offer some managerial implications on how to mitigate the challenges connected to remote working. Lastly, we offer some recommendations for future research in the context of remote working.