KEY FACTORS INFLUENCING DEMAND FOR REMOTE WORK AMONG EMPLOYEES: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM AUSTRIA DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

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. 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 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***).

Regarding the reasons why remote work is not used, it becomes clear that from the employees' perspective, the causes are mainly to be seen in the responsitbility of the employer. Caused by the SARS-CoV-19 crisis, companies were forced to introduce home office as a new form of work in order to protect health. However, if this is to remain a permanent policy in the organization, several factors must be taken into consideration to gain the described positive effects.