By: Maria Varlamova & Federica Previtali
Telework, namely the activity of working from home, has become part of the everyday experience of many workers. The lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated a change in work arrangements and forced many employers to provide the possibility or even obligation to work from home to their employees. The introduction of these modalities has been drastic, and many organisations, managers, as well as employees, were not prepared for this change.
Now that the COVID-19 pandemic is slowing down, at least in the European countries, it looks that telework is here to stay. The Gartner study shows that 74% of CFOs and finance leaders would move at least 5% of their previously on-site workforce to permanently remote positions post-COVID-19. The economic advantage for employers on the cost of running workplaces is undeniable. But the current labour market is just not ready for such a major shift. In general, about 36% of jobs in the EU can be performed entirely remotely, while before the crisis such an option was used by 19% on EU workers on average. But there are significant variations across economic sectors and countries.
Source: Dingel, Neiman (2020), Eurofund
In a Eurofound survey (EU27), nearly one-third of the respondents aged 50 over stated that they have started to work from home as a result of the COVID-19 situation. But only in Bulgaria and Italy, the percentage of over-50 working from home exceeds the one for the age group 35-49. Therefore, the majority of older workers could not or did not want to use such an opportunity. This can be partly explained by the age segregation of the job market. Over 50 years old are mostly employed in “traditional” sectors, like manufacturing, which face challenges in switching to telework arrangements. Nevertheless, the scenario is more nuanced.
Source: Based on Eurofound (2020), Living, working and COVID-19 dataset, Dublin, http://eurofound.link/covid19data. Excluded EU countries had insufficient data, data on countries marked with (*) is low reliable.
Appallingly, a huge number of employees cannot work from home or do not have the necessary equipment and training. The research „COVID-19 and Remote Work: An Early Look at US Data” shows that older workers are less likely to switch to remote working than their younger colleagues. U.S. Bureau of labor statistics shows a sharp decline in the ability to work at home for the category 65+, making them more vulnerable in the new reality. Managers could also reinforce the negative stereotypes about older adults’ productivity and ability to cope with merging situations and/or computer skills by attributing temporary adaptation difficulties to stable negative age-specific features. While a challenge that might be faced, especially by older workers, and has been overlooked is the ergonomic adjustment required to work from home.
Remote working is more complex than merely taking your laptop home and waking up five minutes before opening it for the workday. Several aspects need to be considered: the availability of a healthy and proper workspace in the house, the ergonomic adjustment, the presence of stable connection, the leadership management, the teamwork management, personal-psychological readiness and transferability of skills and competences to the remote environment. Moreover, during the lockdown, workers have faced the challenge of sharing the house with other family members and coordinating their sometimes very different needs. Previous research has shown 10 to 20 per cent of the population aged 50 and over are caring informally on a weekly basis or more for a person in need of care. Therefore, the balance between care and work might also be an additional problem for older teleworkers. On the other side of the spectrum, remote working may raise the problem of loneliness – people living alone experience isolation as they are cut off from their social contacts at work, a loss that internet communication fails to make up for. Moreover, the house is an environment that was not planned to host long working hours and employers still retain the obligation to take care of the health and well-being of their employees when working.
Ergonomic design and flexible work arrangements are shaping the work to fit the capabilities and limitations of the workers. It benefits all workers, but what is „just not comfortable” for the youngest workers, could become a barrier for those, who need additional support from the environment (and not necessarily all of those are chronologically old). Addressing this issue today with workplace ergonomics programs and education & training is becoming more and more essential, as it results in a safer, healthier, more productive and more competitive work environment tomorrow.
Compared to other changes induced by the pandemic, telework will stay and it will be part of our working life experience. Nevertheless, the change to work from home might have a negative impact in the long run, if employers do not take into consideration the workers’ needs. Older workers are also a part of this innovation and they should not be left behind because of the nature of the job they perform or because of a negative stereotype on their ability to succeed. We, therefore, emphasise the inclusion of older adults in tech development and encourage employers to discuss work spatial and ergonomics issues with their employees to provide the most enabling work environment to maximise the realization of the employees’ potential and well-being. COVID-19 pushed the labour market to face the new realities, and it’s up to the employers, whether it will become a crucial challenge or a new opportunity for development.
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Maria Varlamova is a PhD student within EU H2020 MSCA-ITN EuroAgeism at the Jagiellonian University. Her research addresses the employers perspective and age management practices, and the effect of the legal environment, economic cycle or welfare regime characteristics on it. For more information visit: https://euroageism.eu/projects/ageism-in-the-workforce-the-role-of-welfare-regimes/
Federica Previtali is a doctoral researcher (ESR) in the ITN EuroAgeism at the Faculty of Social Science and Gerontology Research Center, Tampere University, Finland. Her research interests include constructions of age, ageing workers in organizational contexts. Her doctoral dissertation identifies and investigates ageist practice in institutional interpersonal encounters, and yields qualitative evidence on the dynamics of age inclusive and exclusive practices and discourses in work organizations.
