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Home sweet home: Working from home and employee performance during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK

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  • Deole, Sumit S.
  • Deter, Max
  • Huang, Yue

Abstract

In 2020, many governments responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by encouraging employees to work from home (WFH). Analyzing representative data from the UK, we find that the pandemic-led increases in WFH frequency are associated with a higher self-perceived hourly productivity among employed respondents. Interestingly, changes in WFH frequency are unrelated to the respondents’ weekly working hours and weekly wages during the same period. While the WFH-productivity association is more substantial in non-lockdown months, it is inexistent during the months with strict lockdowns, indicating that lockdown measures inhibited the baseline association. The WFH-productivity association is weaker among parents with increased homeschooling needs due to school closures implemented during lockdowns. In addition, the effect heterogeneity analysis identifies the role of crucial job-related characteristics in the baseline association. Finally, looking at the future of WFH, we show that employees’ recent WFH experiences and subsequent changes in hourly productivity are intimately associated with their desires to WFH in the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Deole, Sumit S. & Deter, Max & Huang, Yue, 2023. "Home sweet home: Working from home and employee performance during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:80:y:2023:i:c:s0927537122001853
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2022.102295
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    Cited by:

    1. Jose Maria Barrero & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis, 2020. "Why Working From Home Will Stick," Working Papers 2020-174, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    2. Maria Barrero, Jose & Bloom, Nicholas & Davis, Steven J., 2021. "Internet access and its implications for productivity, inequality and resilience," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 113869, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Zarate, Pablo & Dolls, Mathias & Davis, Steven & Bloom, Nicholas & Barrero, Jose Maria & Aksoy, Cevat Giray, 2024. "Why Does Working from Home Vary Across Countries and People?," CEPR Discussion Papers 19003, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Masayuki Morikawa, 2024. "Productivity dynamics of work from home: Firm-level evidence from Japan," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 465-487, April.
    5. Burdett, Ashley & Etheridge, Ben & Tang, Li & Wang, Yikai, 2024. "Worker productivity during Covid-19 and adaptation to working from home," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    6. Deole, Sumit S. & Zeydanli, Tugba, 2021. "Does education predict gender role attitudes?: Evidence from European datasets," GLO Discussion Paper Series 793, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    7. Richard Machin, 2023. "UK local government experience of COVID-19 Lockdown: Local responses to global challenges," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 38(1), pages 80-91, February.
    8. Sharfizie Mohd Sharip & Nur Rasyida Mohd Rashid & Syahrul Bariah Abdul Hamid & Asiah Abdullah & Noor Hidayah Pungot, 2023. "The Work from Home Revolution: WFH Starter Kit," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 15(2), pages 226-237.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Working from home; Employee performance; Productivity; COVID-19 pandemic;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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