Speaker
Description
Introduction. Discussions about the benefits and risks of remote work continue to be relevant for both, scientists and practitioners. Research shows that due to a higher level of uncertainty, remote work can create a perception of increased work demands (e.g., Gagné et al., 2022). Yet, little is known about how remote work might be related to these work demands on a longer term, as empirical data is scarce.
The aim of this study was to investigate long-term effects of remote work on the perception of quantitative, emotional, and cognitive work demands. 389 participants (72,2% women) of various backgrounds participated in the study (M age = 31,9, SD = 9,8).
Methods used. An online questionnaire was comprised of questions about remote working days, quantitative, emotional and cognitive work demands (Bakker, 2014), and demographic data. Time-span between evaluations was approx. 4 months, with 41% of participation rate on T2.
Results. Higher amount of remote working days on T1 predicted increased quantitative and cognitive work demands on T2, controlling for age, gender, and T1 evaluations of corresponding work demands. This effect was not observed for emotional work demands. Hence, the more employees worked remotely, the more pressure of high workload volumes and cognitive tension they perceived after 4 months, yet there was no increase of emotional pressure.
Conclusions. While working remotely employees should be aware of possible increase of cognitive and quantitative work demands over time. Additional research is needed to evaluate possible associated factors.
Keywords: remote work; work demands; longitudinal design.
