Remote work
Remote work (also called telecommuting, telework, work from home—or WFH as an initialism, hybrid work, and other terms) is the practice of working from one's home or another space rather than from an office.
"Work from home" and "WFH" redirect here. For other uses, see Work from Home (disambiguation) and WFH (disambiguation).
The practice began on a small scale in the 1970s, when technology was developed that linked satellite offices to downtown mainframes through dumb terminals using telephone lines as a network bridge. It became more common in the 1990s and 2000s, facilitated by internet technologies such as collaborative software on cloud computing and conference calling via videotelephony. In 2020, workplace hazard controls for COVID-19 catalyzed a rapid transition to remote work for white-collar workers around the world, which largely persisted even after restrictions were lifted.
Proponents of remote work argue that it reduces costs associated with maintaining an office, grants employees autonomy and flexibility that improves their motivation and job satisfaction, eliminates environmental harms from commuting, allows employers to draw from a more geographically diverse pool of applicants, and allows employees to relocate to a place they would prefer to live.
Opponents of remote work argue that remote telecommunications technology has been unable to replicate the advantages of face-to-face interaction, that employees may be more easily distracted and may struggle to maintain separation between work and non-work spheres without the physical separation, and that the reduced social interaction may lead to feelings of isolation.
Potential benefits[edit]
Cost reduction[edit]
Remote work can reduce costs for organizations, including the cost of office space and related expenses such as parking, computer equipment, furniture, office supplies, lighting and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning.[42] Certain employee expenses, such as office expenses, can be shifted to the remote worker, although this is the subject of lawsuits.[43]
Remote work also reduces costs for the worker such as costs of travel/commuting[44][45] and clothing.[46] It also allows for the possibility of living in a cheaper area than that of the office.[47]
Higher employee motivation and job satisfaction due to autonomy and flexibility[edit]
Consistent with job characteristic theory (1976), an increase in autonomy and feedback for employees leads to higher work motivation, satisfaction with personal growth opportunities, general job satisfaction, higher job performance, and lower absenteeism and turnover. Autonomy increased remote workers' satisfaction by reducing work-family conflicts, especially when workers were allowed to work outside traditional work hours and be more flexible for family purposes. Autonomy was the reason for an increase in employee engagement when the amount of time spent remote working increased. Remote workers have more flexibility and can shift work to different times of day and different locations to maximize their performance. The autonomy of remote work allows for arrangement of work to reduce work-family conflict and conflicts with recreational activities. However, studies also show that autonomy must be balanced with high levels of discipline if a healthy work/leisure balance is to be maintained.[48][49]
Remote work may make it easier for workers to balance their work responsibilities with their personal life and family roles such as caring for children or elderly parents. Remote work improves efficiency by reducing travel time, and reduces commuting time and time stuck in traffic congestion, improving quality of life.[45][50]
Providing the option to work remotely or adopting a hybrid work schedule has been an incentivizing benefit companies used in new hiring.[51]
Hybrid is a flexible work model that allows employees to split their time between working in the office and working from home.
A 2007 meta-analysis of 46 studies of remote work involving 12,833 employees conducted by Ravi Gajendran and David A. Harrison in the Journal of Applied Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association (APA), found that remote work has largely positive effects on employees' job satisfaction, perceived autonomy, stress levels, manager-rated job performance, and (lower) work-family conflict, and lower turnover intention.[52][53]
Potential drawbacks and concerns[edit]
Drawbacks due to reduced face-to-face interactions[edit]
The technology to communicate is not advanced enough to replicate face-to-face office interactions. Room for mistakes and miscommunication can increase. According to media richness theory (1986), face-to-face interactions provide the capacity to process rich information: ambiguous issues can be clarified, immediate feedback can be provided, and there is personalized communication (e.g. body language, tone of voice).[73]
Remote work requires the use of various types of media to communicate, such as videotelephony, telephone, and email, which have drawbacks such as time lags, or ease of deciphering emotions and can reduce the speed and ease at which decisions are made.[47] Asynchronous communication tends to be more difficult to manage and requires much greater coordination than synchronous communication.[74] A phenomenon of "Zoom fatigue" has set in with amount of video meetings popularized by remote working. There have been four causes identified: The size of the faces on the screen and amount of eye contact required, looking at yourself during the video call is tiring, remaining still during the video call to stay in the screen, and communicating without gestures and non-verbal cues.[75]
Face-to-face interactions increase interpersonal contact, connectedness, and trust.[66]
In a 2012 study, 54% of remote workers thought they lost out on social interaction and 52.5% felt they lost out on professional interaction.[76]
Remote working can hurt working relationships between remote workers and their coworkers, especially if their coworkers do not work remotely. Coworkers who do not work remotely can feel resentful and envious because they may consider it unfair if they are not allowed to work remotely as well. Remote workers miss out on in person companionship and do not benefit from on-site perks.[77][53][78]
Adaptive structuration theory studies variations in organizations as new technologies are introduced[79] Adaptive structural theory proposes that structures (general rules and resources offered by the technology) can differ from structuration (how people actually use these rules and resources).[63] There is an interplay between the intended use of technology and the way that people use the technology. Remote work provides a social structure that enables and constrains certain interactions.[80] For instance, in office settings, the norm may be to interact with others face-to-face. To accomplish interpersonal exchange in remote work, other forms of interaction need to be used. AST suggests that when technologies are used over time, the rules and resources for social interactions will change.[79] Remote work may alter traditional work practices,[63] such as switching from primarily face-to-face communication to electronic communication.
Sharing information within an organization and teams can become more challenging when working remotely. While in the office, teams naturally share information and knowledge when they meet each other, for example, during coffee breaks. Sharing information requires more effort and proactive action when random-encounters do not happen.[81] The sharing of tacit information also often takes place in unplanned situations where employees follow the activities of more experienced team members.[82]
With remote work, it may also be difficult to obtain timely information, unless the regular sharing of information is taken care of separately. The situation where team members don't know enough about what others are doing can lead them to make worse decisions or slow down decision-making.
From an anthropological perspective, remote work can interfere with the process of sensemaking, the forging of consensus or of a common worldview, which involves absorbing a wide range of signals.[83]
Feedback increases employees' knowledge of results. Feedback refers to the degree that an individual receives direct and clear information about his or her performance related to work activities.[84] Feedback is particularly important so that the employees continuously learn about how they are performing.[85] Electronic communication provides fewer cues for remote workers and thus, they may have more difficulties interpreting and gaining information, and subsequently, receiving feedback.[86] When a worker is not in the office, there is limited information and greater ambiguity, such as in assignments and expectations.[87] Role ambiguity, when situations have unclear expectations as to what the worker is to do,[88] may result in greater conflict, frustration, and exhaustion.[86] In other studies regarding Job Characteristics Theory, job feedback seemed to have the strongest relationship with overall job satisfaction compared to other job characteristics.[89] While remote working, communication is not as immediate or rich as face-to-face interactions.[73] Less feedback when remote working is associated with lower job engagement.[86] Thus, when perceived supervisor support and relationship quality between leaders and remote workers decreases, job satisfaction of the remote worker decreases.[90][91] The importance of manager communication with remote workers is made clear in a study that found that individuals have lower job satisfaction when their managers remote work.[87] The clarity, speed of response, richness of the communication, frequency, and quality of the feedback are often reduced when managers remote work.[87] Although the level of communication may decrease for remote workers, satisfaction with this level of communication can be higher for those who are more tenured and have functional instead of social relationships or those that have certain personalities and temperaments.[92][93][94]
Social information processing suggests that individuals give meaning to job characteristics.[95] Individuals have the ability to construct their own perception of the environment by interpreting social cues.[96] This social information comes from overt statements from coworkers, cognitive evaluations of the job or task dimensions, and previous behaviors. This social context can affect individuals' beliefs about the nature of the job, the expectations for individual behavior, and the potential consequences of behavior, especially in uncertain situations.[96] In remote work, there are fewer social cues because social exchange and personalized communication takes longer to process in computer-mediated communication than face-to-face interactions.[97]
Lessened work motivation[edit]
Skill variety has the strongest relationship with internal work motivation.[89] Jobs that allow workers to use a variety of skills increase workers' internal work motivation. If remote workers are limited in teamwork opportunities and have fewer opportunities to use a variety of skills,[98] they may have lower internal motivation towards their work. Also, perceived social isolation can lead to less motivation.[76]
Motivator-hygiene theory[99] differentiates between motivating factors (motivators) and dissatisfying factors (hygienes). Factors that are motivators such as recognition and career advancement may be lessened with remote work. When remote workers are not physically present, they may be "out of sight, out of mind" to other workers in the office.[78]
Not being in the office face-to-face can lead to workers not being able to do their work to the fullest potential because of lack of encouragement.[100]
Distractions[edit]
Though working in an office has its distractions, it is often argued that remote work involves even greater distractions.[47] According to one study, children are ranked as the number one distractions, followed by spouses, pets, neighbors, and solicitors. The lack of proper tools and facilities also serves as a major distraction,[101] though this can be mitigated by using short-term coworking rental facilities. Also, some countries such as Romania have tasked the national labour inspectorate the burden of carrying out checks at remote workers' residences to see if the work environment meets the requirements.[102] Workers may be more distracted due to a lack of monitoring, therefore lowering productivity.[71]
