Comparing Exposure to Psychosocial Risks: Face-to-Face Work vs. Telework

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Sociology of Work
• Psychosocial Risk Assessment

Background:

• The rise of teleworking has significantly altered work organization for non-manual employees.
• Understanding the psychosocial risks associated with different teleworking modalities is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess psychosocial risks among Spanish non-manual wage-earners based on their work modality.
• To analyze differences in risk exposure between teleworking, hybrid, and onsite work arrangements.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study utilizing an online survey of 11,519 trade union members in Spain (April-May 2021).
• Psychosocial Risks (PSR) were measured using COPSOQ Questionnaire Scales.
• Analyses were stratified by sex to identify gender-specific differences.

Main Results:

• Both men and women combining telework with onsite work, and men mainly teleworking, showed higher exposure to quantitative demands.
• Women teleworking (fully or hybrid) and men mainly teleworking reported lower exposure to emotional demands.
• Telework showed no association with social support or work-life conflict, except for supervisor support in men.

Conclusions:

• Hybrid work arrangements (combining telework and onsite) appear to offer lower overall psychosocial risk exposure compared to full telework or full onsite work, excluding quantitative demands.
• Further research incorporating gender and class perspectives is recommended to fully understand telework's impact on psychosocial risks.