Remote work in information technology : how has the new wave of remote work affected employees in an IT company?

Abstract

How do employees adjust to working remotely when a rapidly developing global pandemic forces them into it? Is remote work the future of work, or is it just a necessary evil that must be endured for the duration of the pandemic?

Before conducting a deductive study in the thesis, it was necessary to study past remote work studies. Based on them, the following hypothesis was formed. Remote working is a good option for some employees, but others might struggle with work-life balance issues and loneliness. Furthermore, with the pandemic forcing people to adjust to the new work situation rapidly, the results were expected to be more mixed than otherwise.

A question form was created to gather data from the company. Around half of the organization’s employees ended up responding to it. Not as many as would have been hoped, but enough to give a reasonably good, albeit not complete, view of the whole organization’s perspective on remote working.

The data was gathered in both numerical and text form. First, the numerical data was colour-coded and analyzed for different groups and behavioural models. Then the text-based data was searched for themes using thematic analysis. Finally, these themes were quantified.

The analysis shows that the organization’s employees adjusted well to remote working. Most saw an improvement in their motivation, particularly those who had struggled in the past. The respondents liked remote working so well that all of them would want to continue to work remotely in the future. The largest issues are with the distractions respondents had at home. As a follow up to the thesis work, these distractions could be studied in more detail, and their impact on work-life balance and work welfare should be assessed. Remote working can be a permanent policy for many organizations, but its impact should be assessed for a longer period of time.