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Homeworking, Well-Being and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Diary Study

Author

Listed:
  • Stephen James Wood

    (University of Leicester Business School, Leicester LE2 1RQ, UK)

  • George Michaelides

    (Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK)

  • Ilke Inceoglu

    (University of Exeter Business School, Exeter EX4 4PU, UK)

  • Elizabeth T. Hurren

    (School of History, Politics and International Relations, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK)

  • Kevin Daniels

    (Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK)

  • Karen Niven

    (Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, Manchester M15 6PB, UK)

Abstract

As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many governments encouraged or mandated homeworking wherever possible. This study examines the impact of this public health initiative on homeworkers’ well-being. It explores if the general factors such as job autonomy, demands, social support and work–nonwork conflict, which under normal circumstances are crucial for employees’ well-being, are outweighed by factors specific to homeworking and the pandemic as predictors of well-being. Using data from four-week diary studies conducted at two time periods in 2020 involving university employees in the UK, we assessed five factors that may be associated with their well-being: job characteristics, the work–home interface, home location, the enforced nature of the homeworking, and the pandemic context. Multi-level analysis confirms the relationship between four of the five factors and variability in within-person well-being, the exception being variables connected to the enforced homeworking. The results are very similar in both waves. A smaller set of variables explained between-person variability: psychological detachment, loneliness and job insecurity in both periods. Well-being was lower in the second than the first wave, as loneliness increased and the ability to detach from work declined. The findings highlight downsides of homeworking, will be relevant for employees’ and employers’ decisions about working arrangements post-pandemic, and contribute to the debate about the limits of employee well-being models centred on job characteristics.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen James Wood & George Michaelides & Ilke Inceoglu & Elizabeth T. Hurren & Kevin Daniels & Karen Niven, 2021. "Homeworking, Well-Being and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Diary Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-24, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:14:p:7575-:d:595477
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nicholas Bloom & James Liang & John Roberts & Zhichun Jenny Ying, 2015. "Does Working from Home Work? Evidence from a Chinese Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 130(1), pages 165-218.
    2. Rosseel, Yves, 2012. "lavaan: An R Package for Structural Equation Modeling," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 48(i02).
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    Cited by:

    1. Sandra M. Leitner, 2024. "Working from Home and Mental Well-being in the EU at Different Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Gendered Look at Key Mediators," wiiw Working Papers 244, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.

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