A Research on Social and Demographic Determinants of Remote Working

Year 2021, , 755 - 776, 01.12.2021

Oğuz Başol , Mehmet Fatih Çömlekçi

https://doi.org/10.17153/oguiibf.941442

Cited By: 2

Abstract

Remote working has been widely experienced, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. The present study aims to reveal the social and demographic determinants that have an impact on remote work attitudes and to make some recommendations about the future of remote work. We collected the data from 415 white-collar and remotely working people in different regions of Turkey by using the questionnaire method. We analyzed the collected data with the SPSS 22 package program. As a result, we observed that white-collar employees with higher education levels develop a more positive attitude towards remote working. On the other hand, when the workload of the employee increases with the remote working, they tend to employ a more negative approach towards remote working. If the organizations switch to remote working without controlling and balancing the workload, they may face negative consequences.

Keywords

Remote working, Covid-19, Work psychology

Uzaktan Çalışmanın Sosyal ve Demografik Değişkenlerle İlişkisi Üzerine Bir Araştırma

Abstract

Covid-19 Pandemisi döneminden uzaktan çalışma uygulamaları yaygın olarak deneyimlenmiştir. Mevcut çalışmanın amacı, uzaktan çalışma tutumu üzerinde etkisi olan sosyal ve demografik belirleyicileri ortaya koymak ve uzaktan çalışmanın geleceği ile ilgili bazı öneriler getirmektir. Araştırma kapsamında, Türkiye’nin farklı bölgelerindeki 415 beyaz yakalı ve uzaktan çalışma deneyimi bulunan kişiden anket tekniğiyle veri toplanmış, nicel yöntemsel yaklaşım benimsenmiştir. Elde edilen veriler SPSS 22 paket programı ile analiz edilmiştir. Araştırma sonucunda, eğitim seviyesi daha yüksek olan beyaz yakalı çalışanların uzaktan çalışmaya karşı daha olumlu tutum geliştirdikleri görülmüştür. Öte yandan, uzaktan çalışma ile çalışanlarının iş yükünün arttığı durumlarda, çalışanların uzaktan çalışmaya karşı daha olumsuz bir yaklaşım geliştirdikleri görülmüştür. Organizasyonların iş yükünü kontrol altında tutup dengelemeden uzaktan çalışmaya geçmelerinin onlar açısından negatif sonuçlar doğurabileceği anlaşılmaktadır.

Keywords

Uzaktan çalışma, Covid-19, Çalışma psikolojisi

References

• Allen, T. D., Golden, T. D. & Shockley, K. M. (2015), “How Efective Is Telecommuting? Assessing the Status of Our Scientifc Findings. Psychological Science in the Public Interest”, 16, 2, 40–68. https://doi.org/10. 1177/1529100615593273
• Beise, C.M., Carte, T.A., Vician, C. & Chidambaram, L. (2010), “A case study of project management practices in virtual settings.”, ACM SIGMIS Database: Database Adv. Inf. Syst., 41, 75–97.
• Bellmann, L., & Hübler, O. (2020), “Working from home, job satisfaction and work–life balance–robust or heterogeneous links?”, International Journal of Manpower. 42 (3), 424-441.
• Bloom, N., Liang, J., Roberts, J., & Ying, Z. J. (2015), “Does Working from Home Work? Evidence from a Chinese Experiment”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics 130, 1 (2015), 165–218. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/ qju032
• Bozkurt, V. (2020), “Working During a Pandemic: Economic Concerns, Digitalization, and Productivity”, The COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Economic, Social, and Political Impacts, 87-106.
• Choudhury, P., Foroughi, C., & Larson, B. (2021), “Work‐from‐anywhere: The productivity effects of geographic flexibility”, Strategic Management Journal, 42(4), 655-683.
• Das, M., Tang, J., Ringland, K. E., & Piper, A. M. (2021), “Towards Accessible Remote Work: Understanding Work-from-Home Practices of Neurodivergent Professionals, Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 5(CSCW1), 1-30.
• Di Martino, V., & Wirth, L. (1990), “Telework: A new way of working and living”, International Labour Review, 129(5), 529–554.
• Grant, C. A., Wallace, L. M. & Spurgeon, P. C. (2013), “An exploration of the psychological factors afecting remote e-worker’s job efectiveness, well-being and work-life balance”, Employee Relations 35, 5 (2013), 527–546. https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-08-2012-0059
• Felstead, A., & Henseke, G. (2017), “Assessing the growth of remote working and its consequences for effort, well‐being and work‐life balance”, New Technology, Work and Employment, 32(3), 195-212.
• Ferreira, R., Pereira, R., Bianchi, I.S., & da Silva, M.M. (2021), “Decision Factors for Remote Work Adoption: Advantages, Disadvantages, Driving Forces and Challenges”, J. Open Innov. Technol. Mark. Complex., 7, 70. https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc 7010070
• Flores, M. F. (2019), “Understanding The Challenges Of Remote Working And It’s Impact To Workers”, International Journal of Business Marketing and Management (IJBMM), 4(11), 40-44.
• Golden, T. D. & Eddleston, K. A. (2020), “Is there a price telecommuters pay? Examining the relationship between telecommuting and objective career success”, Journal of Vocational Behavior 116, 87–111. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2019.103348
• Hunter, P. (2019), “Remote working in research: An increasing usage of flexible work arrangements can improve productivity and creativity”, EMBO reports, 20(1), e47435.
• Lund, S., Madgavkar, A., Manyika, J., Smit, S., Ellingrud, K., Meaney, M., & Robinson, O. (2021), The future of work after COVID-19. McKinsey, https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/the-future-of-work-after-covid-19 (Erişim 10.05.2021).
• Mattarelli, E. & Tagliaventi, M.R. (2010), “Work-Related Identities, Virtual Work Acceptance and the Development of Glocalized Work Practices in Globally Distributed Teams” Ind. Innov, 17, 415–443.
• Mazmanian, M., Orlikowski, W. J., & Yates, J. (2013), “The autonomy paradox: The implications of mobile email devices for knowledge professionals” Organization science, 24(5), 1337-1357.
• Mihhailova, G. (2009), “Management challenges arising from the use of virtual work”, Balt. J. Manag. 2009, 4, 80–93.
• Mihhailova, G., Õun, K., & Türk, K. (2011), “Virtual work usage and challenges in different service sector branches”, Balt. J. Manag., 6, 342–356.
• Moss, J. (2018), “Helping remote workers avoid loneliness and burnout”, Harvard Business Review on Health, https://hbr.org/2018/11/helping-remote-workers-avoid-loneliness-and-burnout (Erişim 11.05.2021).
• Owl Labs. (2021), “The State of Remote Work Report”, https://resources.owllabs.com/state-of-remote-work, (Erişim 10.05.2021).
• Palumbo, R. (2020), “Let me go to the office! An investigation into the side effects of working from home on work-life balance”, International Journal of Public Sector Management, 33(6/7), 771-790.
• Prasad, D. K., Rao, M., Vaidya, D. R., & Muralidhar, B. (2020), “Organizational climate, opportunities, challenges and psychological wellbeing of the remote working employees during COVID-19 pandemic: a general linear model approach with reference to information technology industry in hyderabad”, International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology (IJARET), 11(4), 372-389.
• Putnam, L. L., Myers, K. K., & Gailliard, B. M. (2014), “Examining the tensions in workplace fexibility and exploring options for new directions”, Human Relations 67, 4 (2014), 413–440. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726713495704
• Putra, K. C., Pratama, T. A., Linggautama, R. A., & Prasetyaningtyas, S. W. (2020), “The Impact of Flexible Working Hours, Remote Working, and Work Life Balance to Employee Satisfaction in Banking Industry during Covid-19 Pandemic Period”, Journal of Business Management Review, 1(5), 341-353.
• Rogers, Y. (2020), “Is Remote the New Normal? Refections on Covid-19, Technology, and Humankind”, Interactions 27 (4), 42–46. https://doi.org/10.1145/3403586
• Schall, M. A. (2019), “The relationship between remote work and job satisfaction: The mediating roles of perceived autonomy, work-family conflict, and telecommuting intensity”, Master Thesis, https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_theses/5017/ (Erişim 09.05.2021).
• Sivunen, A., Nurmi, N. & Koroma, J. (2016), “When a one-hour time difference is too much: Temporal boundaries in global virtual work”, In Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Koloa, HI, USA, pp. 511–520.
• Sullivan C. (2012), “Remote Working and Work-Life Balance”, In: Reilly N., Sirgy M., Gorman C. (eds) Work and Quality of Life. International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life. Springer: Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4059-4_15
• Sundin, K. (2008), “Virtual Teams: Work/Life Challenges—Keeping Remote Employees Engaged”, Cornell University Library: Ithaca, NY, USA, 81–98.
• Thompson, B.Y. (2018), “The Digital Nomad Lifestyle: (Remote) Work/Leisure Balance, Privilege, and Constructed Community”, Int. J. Sociol. Leis., 2, 27–42.
• Vartiainen, M. & Andriessen, E. (2006), “Mobile virtual work: What have we learned? In Mobile Virtual Work: A New Paradigm?”, Springer: Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany, 369–386.
• Vartiainen, M.A. (2012), “Facilitating Mobile and Virtual Work”, In 21st Century Management: A Reference Handbook; SAGE Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA, USA, Volume II, pp. 348–360.
• Verburg, R. M., Boschsijtsema, P. M. & Vartiainen, M. (2013), “Getting it done: Critical success factors for project managers in virtual work settings”, Int. J. Proj. Manag., 31, 68–79.
• Wang, B., Liu, Y., Qian, J., & Parker, S. K. (2021), “Achieving effective remote working during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A work design perspective”, Applied psychology, 70(1), 16-59.
• Webster, J. & Randle, K. (2016), “Positioning Virtual Workers Within Space, Time, and Social Dynamics”, Springer: Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany.