The joys of WFH versus the pressure of always answering emails

Flexibility is a key concept in today’s working life. But what impact does flexibility have on the workplace? This is one of the issues AFI researchers are looking at as part of the Crossbow project.

The project will run until 2026 and studies the consequences of increased use of remote and home offices in Norwegian working life.

The joys of WFH

We never fully returned to the office after Covid-19. Today, more than 50 per of Norwegian employees have the opportunity to work from home. This has led to changes to how we work and it has given many people more freedom and flexibility in their everyday lives.  

This is according to AFI researchers Siri Yde Aksnes and Cathrine Egeland, who both work on the Crossbow research project. 

They have talked to both employees and employers in order to understand why people want to work from home and the consequences this has for employees, employers and work organisations. 

Flexibility is one of the main advantages employees mention when explaining why they prefer working from home. It cuts commuting time and makes it easier to balance work with raising little children while also providing a quiet environment for concentration. 

More time for work and more job satisfaction 

Employees also feel that working from home can be seen as the employer expressing trust in them. 

Just read this quote from the researchers’ material:

“[…]with the introduction of working from home, we did get a lot more responsibility […] and I think that has been very good, it’s trust with responsibility. I have become much more fond of my job since I stopped being micromanaged in every area.”

Some also see the home office as a kind of adaptation. Here is another quote from someone who took part in the research project:

“I have an illness which means I get tired quickly. […] For me, working from home means I am less tired. I avoid the stress of the morning commute and getting out the door in the morning. […] That, I feel, has been much better for my health […] I guess I avoid some sick leave because of it.” 

Yet we do tend to work while ill.

“In other words, there is every reason to celebrate. Working from home can be good for your health, well-being and quality of life,” says AFI researcher Siri Yde Aksnes. But she adds a warning: 

“It is too early to pop the Champagne. Working from home also brings challenges,” she says.

The surveys show that when working from home, the line between work and private life becomes blurred. This also applies to the line between being ill and well.  

This is what one of the survey participants says: 

“[…] I work even when I am ill. I must nearly be bedridden not to work. And that applies not only to my own ill health but also when the children are ill […] And that boundary is probably pushed far more than it was before we started working from home." 

AFI researcher Cathrine Egeland says that many of those they talk to feel this is the price they must pay to keep their flexible working from home life. 

But is this too high a price to pay, wonder the researchers?

Online? Offline?

Are employees really expected to be online via their smartphones 24/7? Or is it time to go offline? This is also an aspect which the researchers deal with in project Crossbow.

Most people use a smartphone both privately and at work. This could mean that you are constantly logged on at work. Several European countries, including France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Slovakia and Greece, have established that employees should be given the right to disconnect from work. EU legislation is also being worked out to strengthen workers’ right to completely disengage from work. 

In Norway, the Liberal Party proposed similar legislation last autumn. So why is there a debate? Are we so keen on using our smartphones outside of normal working hourThe answer is undoubtedly yes, according to AFI researcher Wendy Nilsen. Here are some key figures from their surveys:

• 66 per cent perform a work session outside of working hours at least every week. 
• 88 per cent check work-related emails outside of working hours.
• 31 per cent check work-related emails outside of working hours several times a day.
• 43 per cent say they check emails before going to bed.
• 36 per cent feel pressured to reply to emails outside of working hours.

We work while being with our family, friends and our children. We work when we are spending time in nature, when we cook dinner, attend a football match and on the top of mountains.  

And why? Because we get emails at all hours, according to one of the respondents in the research project.

A good idea to log off

There are many positive aspects of being less physically present but more digitally present at work, says AFI researcher Wendy Nilsen. Working from home gives employees flexibility and a sense of being able to perform at their best while also having time for family and friends.  

Wendy Nilsen believes it can be a good idea to log off, but that it should not be up to the individual to decide how this should work.

Yet there are drawbacks too, and according to the researcher working from home could have negative consequences. According to surveys, limitless working life is: 

• Detrimental to employees’ health
• Disruptive to private life
• Adding to stress and can lead to burnout
• Increasing the pressure to be digitally available

So, is it a good idea to log off? Absolutely, according to Nilsen, who also thinks it is a good idea to put the issue on the political agenda. It should not be up to each individual to decide how this should work, she argues.

Are long shifts a solution?

However, in a more regulated form, it might be OK to work shifts that last longer than usual. This according to Vilde Hoff Bernstrøm and Andreas Lillebråten. The AFI researchers are working on the project “Better shift patterns – a research project about work schedules in health and care services”.

Vilde Hoff Bernstrøm and Andreas Lillebråten have studied how 12-hour shifts work in the health and care sector.

The study aims to assess the consequences of how working hours and working conditions are organised in shifts and rotas.  

Together with the Delta trade union, the Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees and the Norwegian Nurses Organisation, the researchers are following 8,000 employees in nursing homes, residential facilities, ambulance services and home-based services.

They look at the consequences of people having so-called “compressed working hours”, also known as long shifts. The idea is that employees work more hours per day in return for working fewer days a week.

According to the AFI researchers, there has been a considerable rise in the number of people working long shifts, from 21 per cent in 2018 to 44 per cent in 2022. 

Employees and users are content

It makes sense to ask how working 12-hour shifts day in, day out impacts the employee, users and the working environment.

The researchers say both the employees and users to a great extent are content with long shifts. 

“Employees experience increased influence at work and a slower work pace. Job satisfaction is higher,” says AFI researcher Andreas Lillebråten. 

But when the researchers ask whether long shifts are the solution for a healthcare system desperately in need of staff, their answer is negative. Vilde Hoff Bernstrøm says case studies show long shifts do increase employment percentages but not by very much. 

“Long shifts are not the only solution, but can be one of several tools for saving the health care sector,” says Hoff Bernstrøm.