Remote employment in the corona-crisis period: the extent of spread and effectiveness of introduction

Abstract

Basing on the materials of the representative surveys held by RANEPA in 2020 and 2021, it has been shown how wide-spread and effective is the distance form of employment in Russia. Before the epidemiological crisis distance employment was characteristic of a very limited segment of the labor market and was mostly concentrated in groups of relatively high-income employees in the sphere of services and informational technologies. Along with actualization of the coronavirus threat and activation of the measures taken to prevent its spread, the labor market underwent significant changes in 2020, and more than 20% of the employed were forced to switch to distance employment. The transition to distance employment turned out to be very traumatic in terms of work efficiency and psychological comfort. The developed typology shows that positive perception is likely only for 16% of respondents and more than a half are found in the zone of negative integral assessment. Representatives of the youngest cohorts and metropolis dwellers showed the highest level of adaptivity: they expressed the highest positive assessments of the shift to the remote format. The spread of remote employment enhanced the use of informational technologies, particularly, the means of distance visual interaction for solving working tasks. On the whole, such a mass switch to remote employment has turned out to be effective as a temporary measure that will allow smoothing out the negative outcomes of the pandemic. It may be assumed that in the medium term there will be optimization of management efforts when introducing remote work of some employees, and segmental development of mixed employment forms based on the effective balance of employees' and employers' interests.