AUEB HRM Laboratory Research: “Teleworking: Is it here to stay?”

The positive attitude of employees and the establishment of the implementation of teleworking, confirms the research conducted by the Human Resource Management Laboratory, which scientifically supports the Postgraduate Program in Human Resource Management of the Athens University of Economics and Business.

The research, under the scientific responsibility of the Director of the HRM Laboratory, Assistant Professor Eleanna Galanaki, was conducted in November 2021 on 557 employees of organizations and businesses operating in Greece and repeats the corresponding research that was done in November 2020 in a similar sample, aiming at the comparison over time.

In the research, 42% of respondents say their working hours have increased compared to the period before the pandemic.Also, the teleworkers during the survey in 2021 were fewer compared to 2020, after the loosening of the relevant measures (before the emergence of the Omikron variant). Moreover, 50% of respondents now have experience teleworking, either during the pandemic or earlier. Before the pandemic, only 30% had such experience.

Additionally, employers provided tools to support teleworking to 63% of respondents (more than in 2020) while 20% of teleworkers would like to telework (higher than the equivalent in 2020).Also, 85% of those who telework today want to continue teleworking (very: 20%, enough: 37%, moderate: 27%) and 84% prefer either a regularity in teleworking (once or more per week -50.5%), or an application of teleworking, whenever needed (34%).

The majority recognize that teleworking facilitates them in various ways (mainly time and resource savings).In general, respondents do not feel that teleworking affects their performance at work (either positively or negatively).Also, they do not feel that teleworking affects their stress levels at work (either positively or negatively).

More negative towards teleworking are older people and those who in their work “help other people (eg. education, medicine, nursing, provision of information, etc.)’ More positive are those who mainly work “with numbers, files or machines, in a given and tactical way.

The predictions of most respondents for teleworking are that its use will be expanded in the future. This belief is stronger in 2021 than in 2020 and in those who have experienced teleworking.

“The Human Resources Laboratory and the Master in Human Resource Management of the Athens University of Economics and Business consistently serve the scientific field of Human Resources Management and contribute to the study of trends in the working environment, with the ultimate goal of optimizing conditions for employees, businesses and the economy. An important contribution to our work is provided by the participants in the research, individuals and organizations that constantly trust us and respond to our invitations. We thank them warmly for their participation! We hope that the research will contribute to the development of scientifically based strategies in the field of HR.”, noted the Assistant Professor Eleanna Galanaki.

The overall results of the research are available on the website of the Laboratory of Human Resource Management of the Athens University of Economics and Business.

For more information regarding the research, please contact the Director of the HRM Laboratory, Assistant Professor Eleanna Galanaki ([email protected])