A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE LEADING LITERATURE ON PRODUCTIVITY IN WORK-FROM-HOME-SETTINGS

Abstract

Topicality: The topic of working from home has gained more and more attention in recent years, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. Many companies worldwide have announced that they would permanently enable people to work remotely, as they themselves believe that quality work can be done remotely. To this end, working-from-home arrangements should be closely analyzed and understood, and understanding the psychological implications of prolonged work-from-home is crucial.

Purpose: This paper aims to systematically review the literature to develop a common understanding of the concept of productivity in work-from-home settings and how work-from-home impacts productivity. Moreover, it provides future research directions for the development of theory and practice.

Design/ methodology/ approach: The review examines the leading publications with the search term “Work from home AND Productivity” in Scopus, Emerald Insight, and ScienceDirect databases. 56 publications were used in over 47 sources from 1993 to 2023.

Findings: Research into working-from-home models and productivity has been a hot topic for researchers over the past three years. There also seems to be an upward trend. Publications can be found in professional journals with different subject areas such as applied psychology, human resources management, and organizational behavior. The publication's view of working from home describes working away from the office, primarily at home. Employee productivity varies significantly between home office and workplace work. These differences arise from the impact of the workplace on the productivity of the individual. In addition, there are many factors that influence this relationship such as gender, age, level of education, work experience, marital status, number of children, and type of organization.

 Originality/value: This study is intended to contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge in the field of teleworking and enable companies to reconsider their teleworking strategies in order to optimize policies and improve organizational productivity without compromising the quality of life and well-being of their employees.

Keywords: Work from home, working from home, covid-19, employee productivity

Paper type: Literature review