Working from home during and beyond the coronavirus pandemic: Employee reflections from the Czech Republic

Abstract

Research background: Working from home (WFH) has become the norm for many people around the world due to the coronavirus pandemic. It has accelerated the implementation of WFH and has raised questions about its further use. Purpose of the article: The article analyzes the experience of employees in the Czech Republic with WFH during the coronavirus pandemic to identify perceived benefits, difficulties, skills, and conditions related to WFH, assess the employee desire to work from home depending on their industry, age, and gender, and propose actions for further use of WFH beyond the coronavirus pandemic. The statistical verification of the dependence of the desire of employees to work from home beyond the coronavirus pandemic on their industry, age, and gender is integral to the analysis. Methods: The analysis is founded on data from the authors' online questionnaire survey conducted from December 2021 to September 2022. Responses from 480 employees who experienced WFH during the coronavirus pandemic in the Czech Republic are analyzed. Statistical non-parametric methods for the analysis of nominal data are used to verify defined hypotheses. Findings & value added: A research gap concerning the further use of WFH in the Czech Republic and elsewhere by considering the employee experience is met. The findings have revealed the desire of more than half of surveyed employees to continue working from home part-time to achieve reasonable work-personal-family well-being. The desire turned out to be dependent on the employees' industry. Within further use, WFH should be taken as a specific work pattern for suitable professions and individuals with adequate organizational and technical support. Three matters concerning performance agreement, work environment, and self-management are proposed to enhance work-personal-family well-being and thus job satisfaction and productivity of homeworkers. The findings and proposals can help any theorist and practitioner interested in WFH.