Teleworking, task sharing, and work life balance: A gender issue? Theoretical approach

Abstract

Aim/purpose – The impact of teleworking on the work-life balance is still not clear. Since women are the ones who tend to assume most of the domestic tasks, our paper aims to determine, in gender terms and with a theoretical approach, how the effects of teleworking may affect the division of domestic tasks and the reconciliation of the pri- vate and professional spheres. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on a literature review and focuses on theoretical perspectives. Findings – On the one hand, the flexibility offered by teleworking during the health crisis may have enabled women to achieve a better work-life balance by offering them the possibility of not having to stop working despite the family responsibilities they had to assume. On the other, the unequal distribution of unpaid domestic work, which has continued and even increased during the crisis, has forced many women to quit their jobs. Research implications/limitations – The health crisis has shown that as long as tele- working is not organized in a way challenging the assumption of the home as a female environment, the office will stay a male environment with gender inequalities always prevailing between home and work. Originality/value/contribution – This paper contributes to the literature on teleworking by highlighting that generalizing teleworking without considering gender aspects may be harmful to female workers. Such a finding is important in the actual context of the de- velopment of hybrid organizations. Keywords: Teleworking, gender, repartition of domestic tasks, work-life balance. JEL Classification: O15, J16.