REÎNTOARCEREA LA BIROU - PRIME IMPRESII ALE CELOR CE AU LUCRAT DE ACASĂ

ABSTRACT

The main objective of this paper is to observe the effects that a long-term online work program have on the importance of having an office to go to work to. I talked with nine white-collar workers (back-office and administrative responsibilities) from an international company with branch-offices in Bucharest, in order to collect their impressions about their current work environment and arrangements. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they had to work from home for the last two years. Through discussions, I have concluded that, for them, the home's environment has helped them when it came to their daily professional tasks. At the same time, they were in agreement that the only advantage of having an office was the chance to better socialize with coworkers. For this study's participants, work-from-home meant no time wasted on the way to the office and back and more time either to increase their work efficiency or to unwind. Before the pandemic hit, they saw the office as indispensable. After the pandemic, the office has lost this role and became more important as a central place for employees to gather and socialize.