Abstract
The article is based on the findings of the applied research project Assessment of the Effectiveness of COVID-19-Related Restrictions on Economic Activity and the Impact of State Intervention Measures on Enterprises in the Klaipėda Region (No P-COV-20-51) The aim of the research is to reveal the characteristics of distance work in small and medium business enterprises of Klaipėda Region in the context of COVID-19 The main research question focuses on how the variety of work activities be realized in distance way and to what extent is it effective? To identify the situation, a mixed research methodology, quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (focus group) research methods were used 73 business entities participated in the survey, and 7 focus group discussions were organised remotely in 7 municipalities, with the participation of 61 respondents (on average, 8 in each group) The research findings revealed that the problems of distance work in SME‘s were generally an under-researched topic, and the definition and concept of distance work varied Problems emerged that could be divided into two subgroups: the first related to the IT infrastructure(a shortage of equipment, Internet disruption and the resulting increased costs), while the second subgroup concerned mainly human factors (the issues of employees' communication skills and attitudes or emotions when working remotely, lack of methodology for organising distance work, etc ) It is worth adding that, in the course of the current research, identification of a broader field of problems and discussions of their causes were possible due to the cooperation of researchers-representatives of various scientific areas
Highlights
The idea of distance-work is closely related to the development of the knowledge society in Europe
The article is based on the findings of the applied research project Assessment of the Effectiveness of COVID-19-Related Restrictions on Economic Activity and the Impact of State Intervention Measures on Enterprises in the Klaipėda Region (No P-COV-2051)
The aim of the research is to reveal the characteristics of distance work in small and medium business enterprises of Klaipėda Region in the context of COVID-19
Summary
The idea of distance-work (referred to as e-work; telework, remote work) is closely related to the development of the knowledge society in Europe. In the early 21st century, about 27% of new jobs were created using flexible forms of employment in the United States (about 18% in the EU), and the role of such forms has been steadily growing (Gruževskis, 2001). Typical forms of such a type of employment are usually characterised by non-standard working time, specific employment contracts, or other less common employment and/or labour relations; they appear to be the least popular in Bulgaria, Estonia, and Latvia (accounting for approximately 13-15%) (Miežienė, Gruževskis, 2016). The draft LLC (the Lithuanian Labour Code) approved on 21 June 2016 contained, in addition to other novelties, certain amendments to the types of employment contracts (Miežienė, Gruževskis, 2016)
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