Working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic: benefits, challenges and considerations for future ways of working

To understand in the short-term how employees may respond to a policy, such as working from home, this report draws on a rapid review of relevant literature (from 2020-2022) and responses from an open-ended survey with members of the public in Scotland.


Footnotes

1. Over the last 5 years, since 2015, the proportion of people who say they work mainly from home has increased. More information, from the ONS here - Coronavirus and homeworking in the UK labour market - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

2. ONS - Coronavirus and homeworking in the UK labour market - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

3. A key worker is an employee who is considered to provide an essential service. Such as NHS and social care staff, public service staff, public security, education and childcare workers. For example - Childcare provision for key workers - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

4. This book reviews the impact of working from home - Remote Working: A Research Overview - 1st Edition - Alan Felstead - R (routledge.com)

5. For definitions from the World Health Organization (WHO) see - Healthy and safe telework: Technical brief (who.int)

6. Timeline of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland – SPICe Spotlight | Solas air SPICe (spice-spotlight.scot)

7. COVID-19: Google Mobility Trends - Our World in Data

8. Public Health Scotland - COVID-19 Daily Dashboard | Tableau Public

9. Source: Our World in Data - COVID-19: Google Mobility Trends - Our World in Data

10. To note, fieldwork usually extends to the morning on the day after the dates shown. For further details, including the full range of data points please see the following link - Public attitudes to coronavirus: tracker - data tables - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) - March 2020-April 2020

11. Note the change in question format. On 30 March to 1 Apr 2020 working from home options were 'I am working from home and was encouraged to do so by my employer' and 'I am working from home but had to insist on this myself'. From 15-16 June 2020 the second option changed to 'I am working from home but my employer is now trying to get me back to the workplace'. From 2-3 February 2021 this changed to 'I am working from home but my employer is not keen on me doing this'. From 2-3 November 2021, both options for working from home were 'I am working from home all of the time' and 'I am working from home some of the time and going into my workplace some of the time'. Public attitudes to coronavirus: tracker - data tables - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) Feb 2021- Jan 2022

12. For a general overview of the differences between quantitative and qualitative research there is information provided by the Social Research Association

13. Scottish Government - Coronavirus (COVID-19): Scotland's Strategic Framework - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

14. OECD Better Life Index

15. ONS - Is hybrid working here to stay? - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

16. ONS - Is hybrid working here to stay? - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

17. The Experience of low paid workers in Britain today Inside Jobs (demos.co.uk)

18. Working from home during the COVID-19 lockdown (University of Kent)

19. The Experience of low paid workers in Britain today Inside Jobs (demos.co.uk)

20. Royal Society for Public Health (2021) Disparity Begins at Home

21. ONS - Homeworking and spending during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Great Britain - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

22. ONS - Homeworking and spending during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Great Britain - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

23. A rapid review of mental and physical health effects of working at home: how do we optimise health? | BMC Public Health | Full Text (biomedcentral.com)

24. Remote Working: A Research Overview - 1st Edition - Alan Felstead - R (routledge.com)

25. As reported by the World Economic Forum in 2020, based on a survey of over 3500 remote workers from around the world, the top challenge faced by remote workers was "unplugging" from work. Coronavirus: Is working from home working? | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)

26. Work After Lockdown (2022) Work After Lockdown no going back report (squarespace.com)

27. Productivity gains from teleworking in the post COVID-19 era: How can public policies make it happen? (oecd.org)

28. Measuring Productivity - OECD Manual

29. The Impact of Covid-19 on Productivity (nber.org)

30. Work After Lockdown (2022) Work After Lockdown no going back report (squarespace.com)

31. OECD - The role of telework for productivity during and post-COVID-19 : Results from an OECD survey among managers and workers | OECD Productivity Working Papers | OECD iLibrary (oecd-ilibrary.org)

32. Kings College London - how did working from home during the covid pandemic impact productivity (kcl.ac.uk)

33. Co‐workers working from home and individual and team performance - Lippe - 2020 - New Technology, Work and Employment - Wiley Online Library

34. Working from home during the COVID‐19 pandemic, its effects on health, and recommendations: The pandemic and beyond - PMC (nih.gov)

35. In Scotland, people at greater risk to COVID-19 were on the Higher Risk (formerly Shielding) List, though this ended on 31 May 2022 Coronavirus (COVID-19): advice for people on the Highest Risk List - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

36. Royal Society for Public Health (2021) Disparity Begins at Home

37. Transport Scotland - COVID-19: Scotland's transport and travel trends

38. The ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on perceived physical activity, physical function and mood of older adults in the U.K: A follow-up study (March 2020–June 2021) - ScienceDirect

39. BMJ (2020) Is the COVID-19 lockdown nudging people to be more active: a big data analysis

40. Working from home during the COVID-19 outbreak in Sweden: effects on 24-h time-use in office workers | BMC Public Health | Full Text (biomedcentral.com)

41. Royal Society for Public Health (2021) Disparity Begins at Home

42. Telework After COVID: A "Silver Lining" for Workers with Disabilities? | SpringerLink

43. World Health Organization. Disability considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak (who.int)

44. Telework After COVID: A "Silver Lining" for Workers with Disabilities? | SpringerLink

45. Questions relating to health were identified using validated questions from the National Survey for Wales (Welsh Government 2021) including a self-reported general health question and presence of limiting pre-existing conditions. Good work in the COVID-19 recovery: priorities and changes for the future (medrxiv.org)

46. Endometriosis and the workplace: Lessons from Australia's response to COVID‐19 - Armour - 2022 - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology - Wiley Online Library

47. Definitions - A Connected Scotland: our strategy for tackling social isolation and loneliness and building stronger social connections - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

48. Scottish Household Survey (SHS) - 1 Introduction to the Survey - Scottish household survey 2018: annual report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) loneliness data found in Chapter 4 on Neighbourhoods and Communities (chapter link: 1 Introduction to the Survey - Scottish household survey 2018: annual report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot))

49. Scottish Government 4 Harms Dashboard Detailed analysis (data.gov.scot)

50. In Ipsos MORI surveys carried out between May and July 2020, between 53-59% felt lonely some/most/almost all or all of the time. Scottish Government 4 Harms Dashboard : Detailed analysis (data.gov.scot)

51. Workbooks containing survey data on loneliness measures can be found here Public attitudes to coronavirus, cost of living and Ukraine: tracker - data tables - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

52. Evidence for House of Lords COVID-19 Committee submitted by the Working@Home Project- HofL-final_-working-at-home.pdf (workingathome.org.uk)

53. Challenges and opportunities of remotely working from home during Covid-19 pandemic - ScienceDirect

54. Exploring the health impacts and inequalities of the new way of working: findings from a cross-sectional study | medRxiv

55. Felstead A, Reuschke D (2020) Homeworking in the UK: before and during the 2020 lockdown

56. Exploring layers of context-related work-from-home demands during COVID-19 | Emerald Insight

57. Coronavirus (COVID-19): impact on wellbeing - survey findings - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

58. Evidence for House of Lords COVID-19 Committee submitted by the Working@Home Project- HofL-final_-working-at-home.pdf (workingathome.org.uk)

59. See figure 9 - Coronavirus (COVID-19): modelling the epidemic (issue no.90) - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

60. An overview of systematic reviews on the public health consequences of social isolation and loneliness - ScienceDirect

61. Coronavirus (COVID-19): impact on wellbeing - survey findings - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

62. Royal Society for Public Health (2021) Disparity Begins at Home

63. Exploring the health impacts and inequalities of the new way of working: findings from a cross-sectional study | medRxiv

64. See chapter on socialization processes over the life course - Rosenberg, M., & Turner, R. H.(1990) Social psychology: Sociological perspectives

65. Evidence for House of Lords COVID-19 Committee submitted by the Working@Home project, December 2020

66. The Covid-19 crisis as a career shock: Implications for careers and vocational behavior - ScienceDirect

67. A rapid review of mental and physical health effects of working at home: how do we optimise health? | BMC Public Health | Full Text (biomedcentral.com)

68. Sources of conflict between work and family roles. Academy of Management Review. 1985

69. Is there a downside to schedule control for the work-family interface? Journal of Family Issues, 2010

70. Negotiating Time and Space When Working From Home: Experiences During COVID-19 (sagepub.com)

71. Negotiating Time and Space When Working From Home: Experiences During COVID-19 (sagepub.com)

72. As Uncertainty Remains, Anxiety and Stress Reach a Tipping Point at Work (oracle.com)

73. Royal Society for Public Health (2021) Disparity Begins at Home

74. Remote Working: A Research Overview - 1st Edition - Alan Felstead - R (routledge.com)

75. Evidence for House of Lords COVID-19 Committee submitted by the Working@Home project, December 2020

76. Proof the workday is longer since COVID - Work Life by Atlassian

77. As Uncertainty Remains, Anxiety and Stress Reach a Tipping Point at Work (oracle.com)

78. Collaborating During Coronavirus: The Impact of COVID-19 on the Nature of Work

79. Healthy and Happy Working from Home? Effects of Working from Home on Employee Health and Job Satisfaction

80. Remote workers experiences with electronic monitoring (2021)

81. What Do Employees Think about Electronic Surveillance at Work? (igi-global.com)

82. The Impact of COVID-19 on Informal Caregiving and Care Receiving Across Europe During the First Phase of the Pandemic (frontiersin.org)

83. As reported by Carers UK We're here to make life better for carers - Carers UK

84. Colliding worlds: Family carers' experiences of balancing work and care in Ireland during the COVID‐19 pandemic

85. Royal Society for Public Health (2021) Disparity Begins at Home

86. The gendered pandemic: The implications of COVID‐19 for work and family

87. NatCen Social Research - Society Watch Anxious Britain How worried are we in 2022 (natcen.ac.uk)

88. Gender and the pandemic: Associations between caregiving, working from home, personal and career outcomes for women and men | SpringerLink

89. Changes in physical activity and sedentary behaviours from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown: a systematic review

90. Royal Society for Public Health (2021) Disparity Begins at Home

91. The 66 studies included a total of 86,981 participants and the age ranged from 13 to 86 years old. Most (45) studies were conducted with healthy adults but some were with children and populations with medical conditions. Changes in physical activity and sedentary behaviours from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown: a systematic review (bmj.com)

92. PsyArXiv Preprints | Influence of the COVID-19 lockdown on remote workers' physical and psychosocial wellbeing and work productivity

93. Impact of Working from Home on Cardiovascular Health: An Emerging Issue with the COVID-19 Pandemic - PMC (nih.gov)

94. Institute of Fiscal Studies The dietary impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

95. Royal Society for Public Health (2021) Disparity Begins at Home

96. Trajectories of eating behavior during COVID-19 lockdown: Longitudinal analyses of 22,374 adults - Clinical Nutrition ESPEN

97. Royal Society for Public Health (2021) Disparity Begins at Home

98. Muscle, bone and joint injuries / problems | NHS inform and Working from Home in the Context of COVID-19: A systematic Review

99. Investigating The Impacts of Working at Home Among Offıce Workers With Neck Pain on Health Status, Depression and Sleep Quality During COVID-19 Pandemic: International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics: Vol 0, No ja (tandfonline.com)

100. Work from Home and Musculoskeletal Pain in Telecommunications Workers During COVID-19 Pandemic: a Pilot Study - PMC (nih.gov)

101. Working From Home During a Pandemic

102. Working from Home in Australia during the pandemic

103. Royal Society for Public Health (2021) Disparity Begins at Home

104. Alan Felstead. Remote Working : A Research Overview. Routledge, 2022

105. Working from home during the pandemic: Impact on office worker productivity and work experience (2020)

106. Exploring the UK's digital divide - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

107. GROS - Census - General Report Template.dot (scotlandscensus.gov.uk)

108. National Bureau of Economic Research - Internet-Access-and-its-Implications-for-Productivity-Inequality-and-Resilience-published.pdf (wfhresearch.com)

109. Six Key Advantages and Disadvantages of Working from Home in Europe during COVID-19 | HTML (mdpi.com)

110. Remote Working: A Research Overview - 1st Edition - Alan Felstead - R (routledge.com)

111. Working from Home (ingentaconnect.com)

112. ONS - Is hybrid working here to stay? - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

113. As Uncertainty Remains, Anxiety and Stress Reach a Tipping Point at Work (oracle.com)

114. Evidence presented by ONS - Is hybrid working here to stay? - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

115. Analysis conducted by ONS 4-17 April 2022. Information and communications businesses are the most likely to be planning to adopt homeworking permanently (54%) followed by professional scientific and technical (43%) and then education (37%). Full details here - Is hybrid working here to stay? - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk). The latest publication (August 2022) containing weighted estimates for Scotland can be found in the 'Homeworking' section: BICS weighted Scotland estimates: data to wave 63 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

116. ONS - Is hybrid working here to stay? - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

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