Working from Home: Is Our Housing Ready?

Area of Science:

• Environmental Psychology
• Sociology of Work
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated widespread adoption of remote work, transforming home environments into telework spaces.
• Working from home (WFH) has become a significant trend in the post-pandemic era, raising questions about home suitability for professional activities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the readiness of Spanish households for teleworking during the COVID-19 lockdown.
• To assess the perceived adequacy of home telework spaces, digital resources, and internet connectivity.

Main Methods:

• A national prospective mixed-methods study conducted during the spring 2020 lockdown in Spain.
• Utilized online quantitative questionnaires (1800 surveys) and qualitative data (over 200 images and texts).
• Evaluated perceived workspace adequacy, digital resources, internet availability, and environmental/ergonomic factors.

Main Results:

• Over 25% of Spanish homes were found to have insufficient telework space adequacy.
• Workspace adequacy strongly correlated with household social status and stability, but not with sociodemographic features, home composition, or habitat.
• Significant factors included occupation regime, dwelling type/size, indoor environmental quality, dedicated workspace availability, digital resource quality, and specific space features.

Conclusions:

• Teleworking, experienced as an experiment during the pandemic, requires critical evaluation of home environments.
• Recommendations for improving telework readiness should focus on environmental, resource, and ergonomic aspects of home workspaces.