Abstract
In Spring of 2020, the novel coronavirus (SAR-CoV-2) prompted an unprecedented number of individuals across the United States to begin working from home. Prior research has identified both positive and negative impacts of teleworking on employee well-being, and this study built on that research to explore perceptions regarding how companion animals factor into the teleworking experience. Individuals who had experience working from home and from their employer’s office completed an online survey about those experiences. Participants reported spending more quality time with their companion animals and family members when they worked from home. Furthermore, when working from home, individuals with dogs were more likely than those without dogs to report they socialized with other people, got a healthy amount of physical activity, and took at least one 15-min walk during the workday. Some participants, particularly those in households containing both dogs and cats, indicated that their pets created distractions during the workday. Future studies can build on this research by investigating whether the findings persist once the novel coronavirus is no longer a threat, and by paying close attention to the characteristics of pets, owners, and household dynamics that may influence the effects of pet ownership on the teleworking experience.
Highlights
It was hypothesized that workplace location would affect these variables, and that pet ownership would be associated with the extent to which individuals reported socializing, exercising, and being distracted by others on days they worked from home
Even though survey results indicated that the experience of working from home with dogs and cats differs in some ways from the experience of teleworking without pets, pet ownership does not appear to be a driver of the emotions that are associated with teleworking
This study explored whether pet ownership was associated with differences in attitudes, psychological wellbeing, and physical activity for individuals when working from home versus from the office
Summary
A 2019 report estimated that approximately 5 million individuals worked from home in the United States at least half the time [1]. During 2020, the number of teleworkers increased dramatically due the public health threat created by the novel coronavirus (SAR-CoV-2), commonly referenced as COVID-19. This virus prompted employers across the United States to allow, encourage, or require their employees to work from home beginning in March 2020. As recent statistics indicate that approximately 38% of households in the United States include a dog and 25% include a cat [2], for many individuals, the shift to teleworking meant spending more time within the proximity of companion animals
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