Task-Technology Fit and ICT Use in Remote Work Practice During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study examines the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in remote work practice during the COVID-19 pandemic by integrating task-technology fit theory and the post-acceptance model of IS continuance into a research framework. In addition, it operationalizes the technological characteristics of TTF (task-technology fit) with the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory. The methodology to test the research model takes support from the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method using a sample of 320 employees. The results show that TAM significantly explains TTF. Furthermore, there is a positive impact of ICT use on individual and organizational performance. User satisfaction has the most significant effect on individual performance, organizational performance, and IS continuance intention. The authors provide some managerial implications for addressing the challenges of remote work related to ICT disruptions for the post-COVID-19 period.

Connecting and relating in Brazil: Implications of remote work

COVID-19 triggered a monumental shift to remote work. The challenge of connecting and relating among knowledge employees emerged globally, and research about remote work in this unique circumstance surged. However, we know more about the impact of remote work on knowledge employees in low-context cultures than in high-context. Given that Brazil is high context, we explored how remote work impacted relating and connecting among knowledge employees in Brazil. First, employees lost the informality of work-life;instead of informal, fluid communication and collaboration, participants had to book appointments and schedule time to discuss simple issues. Second, good-humoured behaviours diminished, implicating connectedness. Third, non-verbal communication ceased, and employees lost facial expressions, eye contact, and other prevalent signs necessary for context. Fourth, the loss of unstructured exchange of experiences and ideas lessened tacit knowledge sharing. Fifth, workspace inequalities emerged as the employees' homes were unequipped for remote work. Lastly, the most significant win was work-life balance. Therefore, remote work in high-context cultures is not without peril;culture and socioeconomics underline remote work's self-generating, self-organizing mechanisms. Thus, corporate leaders and human resource professionals should address remote work as a layered phenomenon and, carefully, with employees, co-construct the notion of connecting and relating. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Exploring proven strategies that enable remote workers to take active breaks during their workday

Remote work has been gaining in popularity for years, even before the COVID-19 pandemic began. Along with its perceived benefits, remote work often results in individuals spending long hours at a computer or on the phone. Consequently, remote workers may find that a large portion of their day is spent sitting without taking any kind of break, especially those for physical activity. The purpose of this action research study was to explore proven strategies that enable remote workers to take active breaks during their workday. Data was collected from longtime remote workers during Cycle 1 research through 11 semi-structured interviews and document analyses. Data analysis led to 12 themes that responded to the research questions. Along with the literature and a focus group, these findings informed the action step, which was designed, executed, and evaluated in Cycle 2. The action step involved four longtime remote workers sharing their lived experiences around remote work, breaks, and activity through a podcast series. These podcasts were consumed by 16 new remote workers who answered qualitative survey questions to determine the impact of the podcasts on their break taking during their workdays. The research found that a remote worker's work environment, degree of autonomy, and break options influence how they fit in breaks during their workdays. The findings suggest that remote workers need consistent organizational support;that having autonomy to manage their workdays is critical for remote workers;and all breaks "are not created equal". (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Negotiation of psycho-social risks of remote working. An enterprise-level comparison in Italy and France

The article focuses on how the actors of industrial relations acted at firmlevel in multi-national company, Danone, in two different institutional contexts (Italy and France), in order to set rules and procedures aimed to mitigate the negative psycho-social consequences of remote working adopted during Covid-19 pandemic. In particular, it examines what was the role of firm-level industrial relations in setting specific oriented actions and what were the relations between these, global policies of the company and national level policies about health and safety and in general the institutional context. It emerges the importance of informality of relations between actors in helping to face an emergency together with the role of global policies of the company that seems to overcomes the different national institutional contexts.

How Can Organizations Improve Virtual Onboarding? Key Learnings from the Pandemic

Onboarding, the process through which newcomers become organization's insiders, has gained increasing attention in recent years. Such attention is justified by the considerable costs that companies have to face when onboarding is not properly managed. The challenges to manage this process effectively have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic that forced many organizations to onboard newcomers remotely, while fully working from home. The purpose of this chapter is (1) to explore the main goals associated with the onboarding process, (2) analyse the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has generated on the onboarding of employees fully working remotely and (3) present some viable solutions to address these challenges. To do this, we developed a conceptual analysis that builds on literature resources and provides empirical illustrations. The chapter is structured as follows. We first summarize the general objectives of the onboarding process for newcomers and organizations. We then discuss the challenges and sustainable solutions for managing the onboarding remotely and help newcomers and organizations get attain their respective objectives. We conclude by reflecting on the post-pandemic scenario, highlighting opportunities for future research focused on the interplay between remote and in presence working domains. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023.

Towards a Metaverse Workspace: Opportunities, Challenges, and Design Implications

Both enterprises and their employees have globally experienced remote work at an unprecedented scale since the outbreak of COVID-19. As the pandemic becomes less of a threat, some companies have called their employees back to a physical office, citing issues related to working remotely, but many employees have refused to return. Thus, working in the metaverse has gained much attention as an alternative that could complement the weaknesses of completely remote work or even offline work. However, we do not know yet what benefits and drawbacks the metaverse has as a legitimate workspace, because there are few real cases of 1) working in the metaverse and 2) working remotely at such an unprecedented scale. Thus, this paper aims to identify real challenges and opportunities the metaverse workspace presents when compared to remote work by conducting semi-structured interviews and participatory workshops with various employees and company stakeholders (e.g., HR managers and CEOs) who have experienced at least two of three work types: working in a physical office, remotely, or in the metaverse. Consequently, we identified 1) advantages and disadvantages of remote work and 2) opportunities and challenges of the metaverse. We further discuss design implications that may overcome the identified challenges of working in the metaverse. © 2023 Owner/Author.

COVID-19 and the shift to remote work

COVID-19 has accelerated the shift to remote work. Enabling knowledge workers to do their jobs from home or elsewhere brings benefits by increasing labour participation, avoiding unproductive commuting time (thus reducing the carbon footprint), and reducing the gender gap by enabling a partner with domestic care responsibilities to work. Not all jobs are suitable for remote work, but far more remote work is feasible than has been typical to date. The post-pandemic new normal is sure to differ both from the pre-pandemic normal and from current arrangements. Hybrid arrangements where part of the week is spent at the office, and a part at home, might well become the norm. Employers, workers, trade unions, and governments will need to adapt to the new normal. © 2023 the authors.

Adapting during the Covid-19 pandemic: How the Information Services Desk was (and still is!) managed remotely

The Covid-19 pandemic affected the services at Dahlgren Memorial Library (DML), especially the Information Services Desk, where our student assistants perform circulation desk duties in person. Once the pandemic began in March 2020, the Information Services Desk was closed until the summer of 2021. The majority of the library staff were allowed to work remotely full-time until starting a hybrid schedule in the Fall of 2021. However, the student assistants were allowed to return to work at the Information Services Desk during the summer of 2021. This article explores how the Information Services Desk student assistants were managed by their supervisor remotely and the challenges that were faced. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Access Services is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Legitimacy versus efficiency: implementation of in-person work in Japanese companies during the COVID-19 pandemic

PurposeThis study aims to examine how companies persuaded their employees to be present at offices during the COVID-19 pandemic and how remote and non-remote work practices affected employee performance. Design/methodology/approachFirm strategies are assumed to follow the principles of legitimacy and efficiency. However, these principles are often contradictory and incompatible. This study explored how companies legitimized non-remote work during the pandemic in Japan, and how in-person work practices affected individual employee productivity. The authors conducted a survey in the country, and the collected data was quantitatively analyzed. FindingsOn the basis of our empirical study on institutional work providing rationales for maintaining existing business practices, the authors found that Japanese companies often used institutional logics that included the inevitability of employees' obedience to company policy, the lack of employees' digital resources at home and the necessity of face-to-face customer dealing to legitimize their non-adoption of telework, even amid the emergency. The findings also indicate that the adoption of in-person work was negatively related to individual employee performance. Originality/valueThe current study aims to make a theoretical contribution to the literature on institutional maintenance and institutional work, which, till now, has only focused on institutional change rather than institutional maintenance. Second, few studies have empirically investigated the contradiction between legitimacy and efficiency, although the literature on organizational legitimacy assumes that individuals and organizations are not always rational.

Teleworking in the Public Administration: a model for the public sector vis-à-vis the regulation of the private sector

The article analyzes the regulation of teleworking and remote work for the personnel of Public Administrations, regulated by Law 10/2021, of July 9, on remote work. The article highlights the shared and none-shared factors with the regulation of teleworking for workers in the private sector, regulated by Royal Decree-Law 29/2020, of September 29, on urgent measures regarding teleworking in public administrations and human resources in the National Health System for facing the COVID-19 crisis. The Royal Decree-Law only modified the consolidated text of the Law on the Basic Statute of Public Employees, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 5/2015, of October 30 (TREBEP). The comparison of both regulations reveals that public regulation presents a wider scope than the regulation of art. 47 bis TREBEP. © 2022, Fundacion Democracia y Gobierno Local. All rights reserved.

Critical Commentary: Cities in a post-COVID world

This paper examines the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and its related economic, fiscal, social and political fallout on cities and metropolitan regions. We assess the effect of the pandemic on urban economic geography at the intra- and inter-regional geographic scales in the context of four main forces: the social scarring instilled by the pandemic;the lockdown as a forced experiment;the need to secure the urban built environment against future risks;and changes in the urban form and system. At the macrogeographic scale, we argue the pandemic is unlikely to significantly alter the winner-take-all economic geography and spatial inequality of the global city system. At the microgeographic scale, however, we suggest that it may bring about a series of short-term and some longer-running social changes in the structure and morphology of cities, suburbs and metropolitan regions. The durability and extent of these changes will depend on the timeline and length of the pandemic. (English) [ FROM AUTHOR] 本文研究新冠肺炎大流行的影响及其对城市和大都市地区造成的相关经济、财政、社会和政治后果。我们在四种主要力量的背景下，在区域内和区域间地理规模上评估大流行对城市经济地理的影响。这四种力量为：大流行造成的社会创伤；作为一种强迫实验的封锁；确保城市建筑环境免遭未来风险之害的必要性；以及城市形态和系统的变化。在宏观地理规模上，我们认为大流行不太可能显著改变赢家通吃的经济地理和全球城市体系的空间不平等。然而，在微观地理规模上，我们认为它可能会给城市、郊区和大都市地区的结构和形态带来一系列短期的、以及某些长期的社会变化。这些变化的持久性和程度将取决于大流行的时间表和长度。 (Chinese) [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Urban Studies (Sage Publications, Ltd.) is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

The impact job satisfaction and employee engagement are having on remote work teams during a global pandemic: A qualitative descriptive study in a telecommunications organization

Information and communication are sectors of technology made up of telecommunications companies, telephone companies, and internet service providers. The present study examined the impacts of working remotely from home (WFH) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Adopting a case study perspective, this study employed twenty participants in the telecommunication industry. Participants took part in online questionnaires, interviews, and a focus group that captured employee engagement and job satisfaction as significant factors in an organization's remote work team experiences. This qualitative descriptive study attempts to describe the unknown impact of job satisfaction and employee engagement strategies while working in remote teams during COVID-19. This study also provided evidence to improve, understand, and enable the development of leadership strategies from the perspective of management and non-management employees in the telecommunication industry. Using Braun & Clarke's framework of the six-phase thematic analysis was crucial to the study by examining how engagement and satisfaction were affected by five job characteristics when working from home: Challenges from working from home are problems and situations affecting an organization's flow of communication by compromising with outside interruptions that is transparent in work assignments or tasks. The advantages and Motivations of Working from home include balancing work-life, improving work efficiency, and providing greater control. Strategies of Employee Engagement to Enhance Satisfaction inspire employees to feel a tremendous societal purpose for the company that employs them. Measuring Employee Engagement and Satisfaction is when employee satisfaction measures how content/happy employees are with their role and what comes with it. Strategies Used by Management to Influence Motivation at Work, when achieved, result in productivity and success of an organization. The findings revealed that employee engagement and job satisfaction are necessary conditions for remote work teams. Most managers preferred easy access to information, regular meetings, and monitoring productivity. Most employees prefer better pay, compensation, and an excellent work relationship. Other factors that can improve job satisfaction in telecommunication companies include time to work split shifts that would benefit the employer, employee, and the organization. These findings have clear implications for theory and practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Human capital and legal perspectives on remote work: recommendations for organizations

PurposeAs a result of COVID-19 and associated stay-at-home orders, the number of employees working remotely reached unprecedented levels during early periods of the pandemic. Since that time, some employees have returned to the office;yet, there is a lasting impact on employees' desires for remote work. In response, decision-makers in organizations should be equipped with knowledge regarding what makes remote work beneficial for both employees and the organization and also fair and compliant with the law. This paper aims to take a dual perspective spanning human capital and legal aspects of remote work to offer six practical recommendations to organizations. Design/methodology/approachThis paper reviews the human resources (HR) scholarly literature on remote work, using principles from evidence-based management to select valid and reliable findings in which to base practical recommendations for organizations. Associated legal risks are identified through a review of the legal literature on remote work and integrated into the recommendations. FindingsBuilding on a multilevel model of HR practices, the authors offer the following six practical recommendations to organizations: offer hybrid work and both location and schedule flexibility;ensure fair and compliant work schedules;acknowledge manager perceptions;ensure fair approval and evaluation of remote workers;acknowledge individual workers;and align remote work practices with diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Originality/valueThe multilevel model of remote work practices discussed in this paper offers an organizing framework for identifying advantages and disadvantages of remote work that future research may build upon. The six recommendations help bridge the research-practice gap by providing organizations with knowledge on how to maximize the benefits of remote work while mitigating potential legal risks.

Remote Persons Are Closer Than They Appear: Home, Team and a Lockdown

Since 2020, worldwide COVID-19-related lockdowns have led to a rapid increase of remote collaboration, particularly in the domain of knowledge work. This has undoubtedly brought challenges (e.g., work-life boundary management, social isolation), but also opportunities. Practices that have proven successful (e.g., through increased task performance, efficiency or satisfaction) are worth retaining in future. In this qualitative empirical study, we analyzed four teams' (14 participants in total) mandatory remote collaboration over a period of several days to several months during a nationally imposed lockdown. We report results derived from questionnaires, logbooks, group interviews, and meeting recordings. We identify possible factors influencing quality of task outcome as well as subjective aspects like satisfaction, motivation, and team atmosphere. As a basis for our conclusions, we provide a scheme for categorizing effects of remote collaboration based on an exhaustive literature review on pandemic-induced mandatory remote work and collaboration. © 2023 Owner/Author.

How COVID-19 is Accelerating the Digital Revolution: Challenges and Opportunities

This book explores how digital technologies have proved to be a useful and necessary tool to help ensure that local and regional governments on the frontline of the emergency can continue to provide essential public services during the COVID-19 crisis. Indeed, as the demand for digital technologies grows, local and regional governments are increasingly committed to improving the lives of their citizens under the principles of privacy, freedom of expression and democracy. The Digital Revolution began between the late 1950s and 1970s and represents the evolution of technology from the mechanical and analog to the digital. The advent of digital technology has also changed how humans communicate today using computers, smartphones and the internet. Further, the digital revolution has made a tremendous wealth of information accessible to virtually everyone. In turn, the book focuses on key challenges for local and regional governments concerning digital technologies during this crisis, e.g. the balance between privacy and security, the digital divide, and accessibility. Privacy is a challenge in the mitigation of COVID-19, as governments rely on digital technologies like contact-tracking apps and big data to help trace peoples patterns and movements. While these methods are controversial and may infringe on rights to privacy, they also appear to be effective measures for rapidly controlling and limiting the spread of the virus. Next, the book discusses the 10 technology trends that can help build a resilient society, as well as their effects on how we do business, how we work, how we produce goods, how we learn, how we seek medical services and how we entertain ourselves. Lastly, the book addresses a range of diversified technologies, e.g. Online Shopping and Robot Deliveries, Digital and Contactless Payments, Remote Work, Distance Learning, Telehealth, Online Entertainment, Supply Chain 4.0, 3D Printing, Robotics and Drones, 5G, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT). © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Who can work from home in MENA?

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the world economy. The need for social distancing, lockdowns, or complete curfews has meant that this impact varied significantly across segments of society. Those unable to work remotely, or who work in settings necessitating close contact with others faced a trade-off between their lives and livelihoods. This trade-off was especially pronounced early on during the pandemic when vaccines had not yet been developed, hospitals were overwhelmed and governments were resorting to strict social distancing measures to mitigate the impact on their already strained healthcare systems. In this study, I examine the extent to which jobs can be successfully performed remotely in five MENA countries: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine and Tunisia. I develop a teleworkability index using micro data on occupational characteristics. I find that relatively few jobs in MENA countries are compatible with teleworking and this share varies considerably by industry, gender, age and the formality of employment. I further investigate the ability to work from home in practice by considering the digital divide (a lack of reliable access to vital tools for teleworking, such as a personal computer and reliable internet access) as well as actual work from home behavior during the pandemic using real time surveys. I find that even for those who have high telework potential only few have access to computer and internet. Surveys conducted during the pandemic suggest that our measure of teleworkability was quite close to actual work from home behavior in each country.

Experiences of Sign Language Interpreters and Perspectives of Interpreting Administrators During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Description.

OBJECTIVE: Interpreting during the COVID-19 pandemic caused stress and adverse mental health among sign language interpreters. The objective of this study was to summarize the pandemic-related work experiences of sign language interpreters and interpreting administrators upon transitioning from on-site to remote work. METHODS: From March through August 2021, we conducted focus groups with 22 sign language interpreters in 5 settings, 1 focus group for each setting: staff, educational, community/freelance, video remote interpreting, and video relay services. We also conducted 5 individual interviews with interpreting administrators or individuals in positions of administrative leadership in each represented setting. The 22 interpreters had a mean (SD) age of 43.4 (9.8) years, 18 were female, 17 were White, all identified as hearing, and all worked a mean (SD) of 30.6 (11.6) hours per week in remote interpreting. We asked participants about the positive and negative consequences of transitioning from on-site to remote at-home interpreting. We established a thematic framework by way of qualitative description for data analysis. RESULTS: We found considerable overlap across positive and negative consequences identified by interpreters and interpreting administrators. Positive consequences of transitioning from on-site to remote-at-home interpreting were realized across 5 overarching topic areas: organizational support, new opportunities, well-being, connections/relationships, and scheduling. Negative consequences emerged across 4 overarching topic areas: technology, financial aspects, availability of the interpreter workforce, and concerns about the occupational health of interpreters. CONCLUSIONS: The positive and negative consequences shared by interpreters and interpreting administrators provide foundational knowledge upon which to create recommendations for the anticipated sustainment of some remote interpreting practice in a manner that protects and promotes occupational health.

Career adaptability to prevent unexpected careers and burnout for woman employees in the remote work era.

Since the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, female remote workers need career adaptability. The main reason is that women are susceptible to mental health issues like burnout and unexpected career. To balance public and domestic roles, women need access to new skills and professional networks.

Musculoskeletal pain among teleworkers: Frequency and associated factors

Teleworking, also known as remote working, has become the new norm for many workers since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Studies show that during this time, the incidence of musculoskeletal pain is increasing among these workers. Despite this, few studies have addressed the possible correlates of musculoskeletal pasin in teleworkers, with several potential predictors receiving little or no attention in published studies. With this in mind, an online survey was conducted among organizations in the IT and communications sectors in Malta. Information was collected from 459 teleworkers on the frequency of telework, frequency of work during nonworking hours, exercise frequency, burnout, and ergonomic arrangements. Demographic data were also collected. Results revealed that 55.8% reported one or more musculoskeletal pain. Back pain was the most common, followed by neck and shoulder pain. The presence of pain, the number of painful body areas, and the presence of back, neck, and shoulder pain were each individually associated with work during nonworking hours, lower levels of exercise, and higher levels of burnout. It is argued that musculoskeletal pain appears to be common among teleworkers and may negatively impact the quality of life and organizational performance. Companies and occupational health practitioners should strive to identify the prevalence of these problems among their teleworkers, develop appropriate preventive measures, and support workers to obtain multidisciplinary care when needed.