Investigation of Working From Home and Its Supportive Effect on Employees' Work and Private Life, as Well as Possible Consequences

Abstract

Before the covid-19 pandemic, working from home was not considered to be a norm. Today that has that has changed, and people are working from home almost as much during the Danish lockdown.Studies have investigated many different aspects of how working from home affects employees in terms of work-life balance and job-satisfaction, etc. Most of these studies have been using quantitative methods to understand these findings. Very few studies, however, have used qualitative methods to understand the subjective aspects of working from home and how employees feel and use this opportunity.This thesis will investigate how working from home supports employee’s working life and private life and what kind of consequences it can have, using a qualitative method: semi-structured interview. I have interviewed 16 employees from 3 different organizations who all have the opportunity to work from home and uses it regularly. The employees either had 2-5 years of working experience or 9+ years of working experience. The interview process was semi-structed because it allowed for flexibility in case of new interesting perspective and or knowledge. This thesis uses a variety of theories to such as border theory and job-demand and job-resources, to show how working from home has supported the employee’s work- and private life and what consequences this support may have had. The analysis shows that different parts of the employees’ work- and private life have been affected by the opportunity to work from home and the employees’ have different experiences and uses for it. For instance, the analysis shows that working from home gives the employees’ a greater amount of the flexibility, which is used in different ways. The analysis also shows that working from home supports the employee’s ability to handle different expectations and commitments that exists in the employee’s work- and private life. However, the increased flexibility makes it harder for the employees to know when the they are off the clock and to lay the work down. The thesis tries to give a more subjective understanding on how contributes to a better understanding on how working from home supports the employees’ work life and private life and what consequences this support can have.