DIGITALIZATION OF LABOR: EVOLUTIONARY INNOVATION OR GAME CHANGING DEVELOPMENTS IN THE WAY WE WORK?

Digital technologies have substantially changed the way our society organizes labor. The most recent developments following the 2020 SARS-CoV-19 crisis, led to – amongst other things – a substantial increase in the share of novel work environments including home office, distance work and online labor. This contribution thus aims at shedding light on the motivational factors for home office, on the observed benefits and challenges of distant work as well as on the human resource implications of these developments. The article draws upon a recent empirical study (n=1074) conducted in Austria in the summer of 2020. Various factors and their effect on the desire to work from home were analyzed. Among these are factors such as respondents’ age (not sign.), gender (female respondents are found to have less desire for home office, β=-0.07**), the presence of flexible working hours (β=0.07**), time spent working with PC (β=0.21***) as well as various other work related and socio-demographic aspects.
Summarizing the empirical evidence suggests that the distance to the physical workplace is among the strongest influential factors for respondent's desired share of home office (β=0.11***). Thus, every additional kilometer of distance is associated with 0.12 per cent increase in the desire to work from home. In case of a doubling of the average distance to work (27.3 km), on average, respondents assume an increase in their desire to work from home increases to 45.6% from 42.4%.
Summarizing, the evidence suggest that the common understanding of distance work only partially resembles the empirical evidence, in which particularly personal factors are found to affect the desire for home office. Furthermore, additional research is needed to ensure appropriate corporate strategies in order to address the developments for increased shares of home office.