Psychophysiological Reactivity, Postures and Movements among Academic Staff: A Comparison between Teleworking Days and Office Days

The impact of remote work using mobile information and communication technologies on physical health: a systematic review

Remote e-working with information and communication technology (ICT) has long been on the rise, with its implementation accelerated by mandatory working from home regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic. This systematic literature review summarises the influencing factors of ICT-based remote e-working (device types, duration of use, user interfaces, etc.) on the physical health (musculoskeletal system and eyes) of knowledge workers. A search in four electronic databases and a manual search in four German journals resulted in 21 articles being included in this review. A bias analysis was conducted for all articles. Unfavourable postures, inappropriate working devices and certain environmental factors may cause a range of physical complaints, even after comparably short periods of time. Mostly, these complaints are greater compared to those experienced when working on a fully equipped stationary computer. Therefore, remote e-working requires careful planning, awareness, and the willingness to embrace working situations that counteract these problems.

A bibliometric analysis of telework research based on Web of Science via VOSviewer

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked increased interest in telework as a means of reducing the spread of the virus and maintaining social distance.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to generate a bibliometric analysis of research progress and trends in telework over the past 20 years.

METHOD

A search of key terms was conducted in the Social Science Citation Index, Science Citation Index Expanded, and Arts and Humanities Citation Index categories for documents published on telework from 2000-2023. A total of 3,446 studies were analyzed using VOSviewer for co-citation, co-word, and cluster analysis.

RESULTS

Bibliometric analysis revealed that telework research has experienced a significant increase during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the number of publications in 2022 being more than 15 times higher than that in 2019. The analysis revealed that the most commonly researched areas related to telework were applied psychology, management and business. The knowledge base focuses on the antecedents, moderators, mediators, and consequences of telework, and the research primarily centers around seven directions of well-being, mental health, and work-family conflict. A conceptual framework for telework research and suggestions for future investigation are proposed based on the results of the bibliometric analysis.

CONCLUSION

This study provides an overview of telework research over the past two decades, highlighting the current status and hot topics in the field. It calls for wider and more active participation of researchers globally to advance the understanding of telework.

Insights on physical behavior while working from home: An ecological momentary assessment study

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home (WFH) has emerged as a common alternative work environment, but the possible influence on daily physical behavior (PB) (i.e., physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB)) remains unclear. This study aimed to examine daily associations between PB and the work environment (i.e., WFH, working at the office (WAO)), as well as to explore and identify patterns of PB within each work environment. An observational study using a dual-accelerometer system to continuously assess PB for at least 5 days was conducted. The sample consisted of 55 participants providing 276 days of assessment. Additional demographic, contextual, and psychological variables were measured via baseline questionnaire and several smartphone prompts per day. To analyze the effects of the work environment on PB, multilevel analyses were conducted. For the identification of patterns within each work environment, latent class trajectory modelling was applied. Associations between the work environment and various PA parameters were found, indicating that WFH has a negative effect on MVPA time, steps, and physical activity intensity (MET), but a positive effect on short PA bouts (≤5 min). No associations between the work environment and any SB parameter (i.e., SB time, SB breaks, SB bouts) were found. Latent class trajectory modelling revealed three MVPA patterns for days WFH, and two patterns for days WAO. Given the growing prevalence of WFH and the positive health effects associated with MVPA, daily-tailored solutions to enhance MPVA while WFH are urgently needed.

Mismatch between actual and preferred extent of telework: cross-sectional and prospective associations with well-being and burnout

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to determine whether telework mismatch, i.e., lack of fit between actual and preferred extent of telework, is cross-sectionally and prospectively associated with well-being and burnout.

METHODS

A questionnaire was sent to employees in a Swedish manufacturing company in November 2020 (baseline) and September 2021 (follow-up). It contained questions about well-being (WHO-5 Well-Being Index) and burnout (Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire III), as well as the preferred extent of telework and extent of telework performed. Telework mismatch was calculated as the difference between the actual and preferred extent of telework. Change in mismatch over time was categorized as 1) less mismatch at follow-up than at baseline, 2) more mismatch at follow-up, and 3) identical levels of mismatch at baseline and follow-up. Multivariate and univariate analyses of variance were used to determine the effects of mismatch and change in mismatch over time on baseline ratings and changes in ratings of well-being and burnout. All analyses were performed with and without adjustment for age, sex, marital status, children, type of employment, commuting time and extent of telework performed.

RESULTS

The response rate was 39% at baseline (n = 928, 67% men, mean(SD) age: 45(11) years) and 60% at follow-up (n = 556, 64% men, mean(SD) age: 46(11) years). A cross-sectional association was found between telework mismatch and well-being, showing that employees who teleworked more than they would like reported worse well-being than those who teleworked less than they would like. No statistically significant association was found between telework mismatch and burnout. The ability of telework mismatch at baseline to predict changes in well-being or burnout over 10 months was small and non-significant. No association was found between change in telework mismatch over the 10-month period and corresponding changes in well-being or burnout.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that telework should be thoughtfully practiced in companies/organizations to avoid negative consequences for employees who already telework more than they prefer. Studies are needed to determine how long-term changes in match between preferred and actual extent of telework is associated with employee well-being, including how the association is modified by the nature of the job and the work environment.

Supporting Knowledge Workers’ Health and Well-Being in the Post-Lockdown Era

The specific problem is that knowledge workers experience high levels of stress and burnout in their professional lives, a trend that increased due to the transition to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic. This integrative literature review addresses this problem by answering the following research questions: (1) How can working in the post-lockdown era allow greater well-being, job satisfaction, and job security to abide?; and (2) How can mental capital be increased in the 21st century to ensure maximum health and positive well-being in the future employment arena and on a global scale? This review contributes to the literature on worker health and wellbeing, hybrid work arrangements, and knowledge workers’ professional experiences. The findings suggest that knowledge workers can only thrive in a hybrid work environment if organizations take an empathetic approach to manage these workers and give them sufficient autonomy and flexibility in determining their work conditions, in addition to ample opportunities for social interaction and professional advancement.

Physical activity changes among office workers during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and the agreement between objective and subjective physical activity metrics

After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many office workers transitioned to working-from-home (WFH) which altered routine physical activity (PA). To understand how these workers' PA were affected throughout the pandemic, PA data collected in January, April, June, and December 2020 with an activity tracker and a validated survey were analyzed. Between January and December, it was found that step counts during the weekday decreased (p < 0.01), weekday heart rate was higher than weekends (p < 0.01), activity-tracker and self-reported PA decreased (p < 0.01), and sitting time increased (p < 0.01). To understand the agreement between the objective and subjective METs, Bland-Altman analyses were completed and demonstrated an acceptable level of agreement. Findings show decreased level of PA amongst WFH office workers and that the activity tracker and survey are reliable methods of recording WFH PA.

How Is Telework Experienced in Academia?

An increasing number of academic institutions offer their staff the option to work from other places than the conventional office, i.e., telework. Academic teaching and research staff are recognized as some of the most frequent teleworkers, and this seems to affect their well-being, work performance, and recovery in different ways. This study aimed to investigate academics’ experiences and perceptions of telework within the academic context. For this, we interviewed 26 academics from different Swedish universities. Interviews were analyzed with a phenomenographic approach, which showed that telework was perceived as a natural part of academic work and a necessary resource for coping with, and recovering from, high work demands. Telework was mostly self-regulated but the opportunity could be determined by work tasks, professional culture, and management. Telework could facilitate the individual’s work but could contribute to challenges for the workgroup. Formal regulations of telework were considered a threat to academics’ work autonomy and to their possibility to cope with the high work demands. The findings provide insight into academics’ working conditions during teleworking, which may be important for maintaining a sustainable work environment when academic institutions offer telework options.

Post-Pandemic Office Work: Perceived Challenges and Opportunities for a Sustainable Work Environment

The widespread adoption of remote and hybrid work due to COVID-19 calls for studies that explore the ramifications of these scenarios for office workers from an occupational health and wellbeing perspective. This paper aims to identify the needs and challenges in remote and hybrid work and the potential for a sustainable future work environment. Data collection involved two qualitative studies with a total of 53 participants, who represented employees, staff managers, and service/facility providers at three Swedish public service organisations (primarily healthcare and infrastructure administration). The results describe opportunities and challenges with the adoption of remote and hybrid work from individual, group, and leadership perspectives. The main benefits of remote work were increased flexibility, autonomy, work-life balance and individual performance, while major challenges were social aspects such as lost comradery and isolation. Hybrid work was perceived to provide the best of both worlds of remote and office work, given that employees and managers develop new skills and competencies to adjust to new ways of working. To achieve the expected individual and organisational benefits of hybrid work, employers are expected to provide support and flexibility and re-design the physical and digital workplaces to fit the new and diverse needs of employees.

Impact of Working from Home on Cardiovascular Health: An Emerging Issue with the COVID-19 Pandemic

Mandatory working from home is one of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for a large number of workers. Transition to working from home may significantly impact lifestyle, psychosocial status, and the overall health of workers. This review summarizes available data about the effects of lockdown measures, particularly working from home, on cardiovascular risk factors including sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy diet pattern, psychological distress, smoking, alcohol misuse, and cardiometabolic parameters. Finally, we suggest countermeasures that can attenuate the negative health impact of working from home. Indeed, timely and tailored interventions implemented by companies in cooperation with the health care system could allow workers to benefit more from some of the advantages associated with working from home.