How have our satisfaction (and our productivity) with teleworking evolved since the COVID shock?

"At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, UGent@Work researchers were among the first to survey employee well-being and the shock the pandemic created in relation to telework. Since then, their study has been cited in more than 580 national and international publications. In the early days of the pandemic, employees appeared, all in all, very enthusiastic about teleworking."

""It is possible that some negative consequences-such as missed promotion opportunities or reduced connection with the employer-only gradually become apparent. On the other hand, these drawbacks may also be temporary, as employees and employers eventually discover effective strategies to address them," says Professor Labor Economics Stijn Baert."

"Other international research suggests that employees tend to evaluate their work-life balance and productivity more positively as they gain more experience with telework: over time, they learn to structure their tasks to minimize conflicts between work and family obligations, allowing them to combine different roles more effectively."

Flemish employees rated telework benefits more positively three years after initial pandemic experience, citing increased efficiency, improved work-life balance, and greater ability to concentrate. Employees gained experience structuring tasks to reduce conflicts between work and family obligations and to combine different roles more effectively. Some negative consequences, such as missed promotion opportunities and reduced connection with employers, can manifest over time, though employees and employers can discover strategies to mitigate these drawbacks. Early-pandemic enthusiasm for teleworking endured and in some dimensions strengthened over the three-year period.

Read at Phys