Thumbs up for teleworking!
Baert and al. conducted a state-of-the-art web survey among Flemish employees. They survey was filled by 14,005 individuals who because of the COVID crisis were forced to work from home. The results mainly suggest that employees thought that teleworking increased efficiency and a lowered the risk of burnout. In addition, the overwhelming majority believe that teleworking (85%) and digital conferencing (81%) are here to stay.
The COVID-19 crisis and telework: A research survey on experiences, expectations and hopes
Authors: Stijn Baert, Louis Lippens, Eline Moens, Philippe Sterkensiv, Johannes Weytjens
From: Ghent University
How about productivity?
Masayuki Morikawa conducted an interview survey in the middle of March of full-time employees and executives at RIETI (Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry) about their productivity at home. Although the sample size is small, about 95% of full-time people responded to the survey. The results suggest:
- Productivity of teleworking relative to working in the office is low (63 at the mean);
- Researchers’ relative teleworking productivity (81 at the mean) is, on average, better than that of managers and staff (55 at the mean) and the difference is statistically significant at the 1% level;
- The dispersion of productivity is very large even within the same occupation. A small number of people answered that their productivity at home is higher than in the office, but a non-negligible number of people indicate that it is lower than half when at home.
COVID-19, teleworking, and productivity
By: Masayuki Morikawa – RIETI
An unexpected negative effect of teleworking
Bryan Caplan is stunned that for the first time employers are now cutting nominal wages. Ususally, during recessions, even severe ones like the Great Recession, employers cut total pay during recessions by slashing bonuses and hours. He ventures as an explanation the fact that teleworkers, isolated in their homes, are deprived from the workspace “forum” where they can complain, stand up for themselves and make their colleagues wary about their own future in the firm. Stripped of this social feedback loop, neither morale nor productivity will fall much. Ironically, pay cuts finally do exactly what firms desire: mitigate losses by cutting costs!
From Telework to Flexible Wages?
By: Bryan Caplan – George Mason University
