ONE SIZE DOESN'T FIT ALL: WHAT DO EMPLOYEES AND EMPLOYERS MAKE OF THEIR TELEWORKING EXPERIENCE? Presentation at the conference «New Labour Market Developments in the Context of Digitalisation and Social Change»

Abstract

During the first half of 2021, 18% of employees in Latvia were working remotely (either all working time or 3-5 days a week). For most teleworkers and their employers, this was a new experience. How do teleworkers and their employers evaluate this experience? What will be the impact of this experience on the post-pandemic labour market? Our paper offers nuanced answers to these questions using data from two recent surveys conducted in Latvia: a representative survey of managers of private sector firms (N = 750) and a weighted web survey of recent teleworkers (N > 1700). The main finding from both surveys is substantial heterogeneity, even within industries, of preferences regarding the post-pandemic use of teleworking. However, employers are somewhat less enthusiastic than employees are in this regard. In the public sector (apart from education and health care), 64% of current (or recent) teleworkers post-pandemic would prefer to work only or mostly from home, while 25% have opposite preferences. In the private sector, these figures are similar: 68% vs. 26%. However, among private-sector employers practicing remote work, those planning to let a majority of current teleworkers continue working mostly from home represent 33% of the workforce in this segment, while those planning to return all or most teleworkers back to office represent 57%, and 10% have not decided. We also analyse workers’ perception of productivity at home and compare perceived challenges of teleworking among employees and employers. Commuting time and cost are important determinants of worker attitudes towards teleworking. Finally, we show that workers which prefer working from home (respectively, in the office) attach a substantial monetary value to the preferred mode. For those who prefer teleworking this value is well above commuting costs but seems to be in line with the value of commuting time.
Keywords: teleworking, worker vs employer perceptions, commuting, the value of time.

Full text

ONE SIZE DOESN'T FIT ALL: WHAT DO EMPLOYEES AND
EMPLOYERS MAKE OF THEIR TELEWORKING EXPERIENCE?
MihailsHazans
80th International Scientific Conference of the University of Latvia
January 31,2022
Section
«New Labour Market Developments in the Context of Digitalisation and Social Change»
The study conducted within the project "The Economic
Integration of the Nordic
-
Baltic Region through Labour,
Innovation, Investments and Trade - LIFT". The project is
funded by EEA and Norway financial instrument under
the Baltic Research Programme

CONTEXTANDDATA
CONTEXT
In Latvia,about 135000employees worked
remotely in the 1sthalf of2021
(70%‐ all the time and 30%‐ 3‐5days aweek)
For most,itwas anew experience
Data 1(web survey,17.05.‐07.07.2021)
Morethan 2000respondents,>1700
fully completed questionnaires
Targetpopulation ‐ teleworkers
Weighted by age and gender tomatch
Statistics Latviadata on teleworkers
Data 2:representative survey of750
managers ofprivate sector firms

TELEWORKER SURVEY
RESPONDENT SETTLEMENT AND REGION OFRESIDENCE,BY TYPE OFEMPLOYER
TYPE OF SETTLEMENT REGIONS

TELEWORKER SURVEY
WHERE AREYOU MORE PRODUCTIVE?

OTHER THINGS EQUAL,WHERE WOULD YOU PREFER TOWORK POSTPANDEMIC?
TELEWORKERS’PREFERENCES,BYSELF‐ASSESSED PRODUCTIVITY

OTHER THINGS EQUAL,WHERE WOULD YOU PREFER TOWORK POSTPANDEMIC?
TELEWORKERS’PREFERENCES,BY SECTOR

HOW MANY OF CURRENT TELEWORKERS WILL YOU KEEP WORKING
REMOTELY AFTER THE PANDEMIC: EMPLOYERS PERSPECTIVE, PRIVATE SECTOR

BY HOW MUCH SHOULD YOUR MONTHLY PAY GO UP
TOMAKE YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND? (TELEWORKER SURVEY)
Prefers to work:
Valueof
teleworking
monthly
commuting
cost*
Valueof
workingat
theoffice
intheoffice 10 500
mostlyintheoffice 20 200
indifferent 35 
mostlyathome 275 50 
athome 500 60 
*ifworkingintheoffice
median(EUR)

EXPERIENCED CHALLENGES OF TELEWORKING
(WORKERS. YES + RATHER YES)

INCIDENCE OF SOME CHALLENGES OF TELEWORKING (MANAGERS PERCEPTION)
AMONG PRIVATE SECTOR FIRMS, BY SHARE ORTELEWORKERS

DETERMINANTS OF THE PREFERENCES FOR TELEWORKING
MARGINAL EFFECTS FOR «AT HOME» OR «MOSTLY AT HOME», PROB = 0.630
Mothertongue(vsLAT)
RUS ‐0.094 *** sex
RUS&LAT ‐0.098 ** age
ChildrenintheHH familystatus
1‐0.046 * education
2+ ‐0.086 *
NACE(vsO‐Publ.Adm)
commut_time,bothways(vs.Upto30minute
s
A ‐0.180
30‐60min 0.038 BCDE 0.098
1‐2hours 0.161 *** F 0.026
2‐3hours 0.265 *** GI 0.043
>3hours 0.361 *** H 0.037
JKL 0.070 **
comm_cost_ln 0.043 *** MNP ‐0.098 **
Supervisoyjob ‐ 0.079 *** QRS ‐ 0.071 *
Othercontrol s
(notsignificant)

SOME CONCLUSIONS
Teleworkers and their employers alike are quite heterogeneous regarding the preferred
mode of working post-pandemic.
In the public sector (apart from education and health care), 64% of current (or recent)
teleworkers post-pandemic would prefer to work only or mostly from home, while 25%
have opposite preferences
In the private sector: 68% vs. 26%
Those willing to work remotely can do it without loss of productivity
Employers are somewhat less enthusiastic about teleworkers than employees are.
Among private-sector employers practicing remote work those planning to let a
majority of current teleworkers continue working mostly from home represent 33% of
the workforce in this segment
Opportunity to work from home will become an important factor in competition for
workers

THANK YOU!
mihails.hazans@lu.lv