Working Hard or Hardly Working? A Study of Irish Employees Teleworking Experiences During the Covid-19 Pandemic

McCallion, Claire (2021) Working Hard or Hardly Working? A Study of Irish Employees Teleworking Experiences During the Covid-19 Pandemic. Masters thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

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Abstract

The purpose of this research is to explore and investigate the experiences of teleworkers in Ireland during the Covid-19 pandemic. In order to gain a significant insight into this ongoing experience, specific aspects of E-Work Life Balance, Productivity and Organisational Support were examined.

This research adopted a quantitative approach and involved administering an online questionnaire to 224 participants. Convenience and snowball approach were adopted when distributing the survey, with the researcher advertising it on various online social media platforms. The data collected from the survey was analysed on SPSS and Cronbach’s alpha testing and linear regression analyses were conducted. These tests were applied to confirm reliability and test the hypothesis.

The main findings of the research were that organisational support had a positive influence on E-Work Life Balance, both Organisational Support and E-Work Life Balance positively impacted on Productivity and finally that having caring responsibilities for children or elderly people did not impact on the Productivity of our sample. No significant results were identified when these areas were reviewed with a focus on gender differences. However, there were significant differences when survey participants were asked on their preferences of remote working in a post pandemic environment. Females reported wanting a higher frequency of remote work post pandemic that their male counterparts.

This study will have implications for both employers and government legislative officials as it is evident that a significant number of employees do not wish to return to normal office based working arrangements post the Covid-19 pandemic. It is critical that employers prepare for this in advance and that governmental bodies begin to support employers to make this change. This research also adds to the existing body of research on this topic with a specific focus on the Irish employee experience during Covid-19 and supports the existing data on this topic.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Covid-19; Ireland; Productivity; Organisational Support; Work Life Balance; Human Resources
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management > Human Resource Management D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain > Ireland H Social Sciences > Economics > Microeconomics > Production (Economic theory) > Industrial productivity > Labor productivity
Divisions:	School of Business > Master of Arts in Human Resource Management
Depositing User:	Clara Chan
Date Deposited:	06 Jan 2022 11:53
Last Modified:	06 Jan 2022 11:53
URI:	https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/5261

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