Employees' Resources, Demands and Health While Working from Home during COVID-19 Pandemic-A Qualitative Study in the Public Sector

(1) Background: The COVID-19 pandemic changed the working environment in Europe in March 2020, leading to an increase in working from home. In the German public sector, many employees experienced working from home for the first time. Despite the impact on employees' daily working life, we know little about employees' resources, demands and health while working from home. The aim of this study is to investigate how working from home is implemented in the public sector one year after the COVID-19 outbreak. In line with the job demand-resources model by Bakker and Demerouti (2007), potential resources, demands and health benefits of working from home are explored. (2) Methods: Semi-structured qualitative telephone interviews were conducted with twelve employees from different public sectors in Germany between December 2021 and February 2022. The semi-structured interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim, and the data was content-analyzed. (3) Results: Employees reported that personal resources, job autonomy, work task, collaboration, leadership, offers by the agency, work environment and equipment served as resources to buffer physical, social, psychological and organizational demands. (4) Conclusions: The research highlights job resources, job demands and potential health impacts of working from home in the public service. Furthermore, the study shows possible starting points for dealing with the health risks of working from home in the future.

Automated summary

This study investigates the implementation of working from home in the German public sector one year after the COVID-19 outbreak. It finds that working from home can serve as a resource to mitigate various pressures and health issues in the workplace.