Benefits and disadvantages of remote work in the context of socio-demographic variables

Abstract

The current work environment provides many ways of working, which, especially with the help of information and technological means, can be performed from places other than the workplace, office, or headquarters of the organization. Many companies already use remote work extensively, but the COVID-19 pandemic brought a new situation to our society for a larger number of workers by necessitating a switch to remote work in a relatively short time. In this paper, we present the perceived benefits and disadvantages of remote work as reported by working adults and analyse the differences between various groups. The participants in the study consist of 2,019 working adults from Slovakia (43,5 % of whom are men) with an average age of 36.6 years. Data were collected in the period from October 2023 to January 2024 via a web-based survey using the snowball method. We used the Remote Work Benefits and Disadvantages Questionnaire (RW-B&D) by the authors Ingusci et al. (2023) and selected socio-demographic variables. Economic and time savings during commuting were considered the strongest benefit. The strongest disadvantage was the loss of a sense of belonging within their work, as well as isolation and lack of contact with colleagues. Sex, cohabitation, and type of work had little or no effect on perceived benefits and disadvantages, while the rate of remote work had a moderate effect. Based on the findings, we believe that employers should formulate internal remote work policies with regards to the conditions of the specific workplace and employees. Based on our research and that of other authors, we believe that, where possible, the most advantageous form of work is a hybrid one, which combines benefits from both on-site and remote work.

Keywords

remote work, remote work benefits, remote work disadvantages, satisfaction with remote work

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