The Demand and Drivers for Teleworking Among Back-Office Personnel After the COVID-19 Pandemic in New Zealand

Abstract

Telework enables employees to work from any location other than their designated work environment with the integration of computing and telecommunication technologies. The advantages of teleworking include improved productivity and job satisfaction for employees, reduced overhead costs for employers, and decreased carbon footprint for the environment. However, the benefits and challenges of telework, especially on back-office employees in their organisations, are still not fully investigated. This project researched the demand for telework from New Zealand back-office personnel after the COVID-19 pandemic and the drivers for this need. The research used a mixed-methods approach with qualitative and quantitative approaches to achieve the research objective. A questionnaire consists of the Likert scale, open-ended, and multiple-choice questions was used to collect quantitative data. In order to get insightful qualitative information about the research question, semi-structured structured interviews were used. The findings of the research revealed that there is a significant demand for telework among the back-office employees in New Zealand, and predominantly they prefer a hybrid telework model.