WFH Blurring Work-Home Boundary? Answer In Key Study By IIT, IIM Experts

Covid forced many organisations to assign employees work-from-home. This pleased many organisations as they cut costs. But, not all employees are happy.

Has work from home violated boundaries of employees? Does gender play a role in remote work being productive? Is working from office better to maintain work-life balance? Experts at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras and Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Amritsar have the answers.

Teams from the two reputed institutes conducted an investigation into the situation to analyse whether the boundary between work and home is blurred during remote work, and whether work affects family life negatively and vice versa. The study has also been published in noted journal "Employee relations".

According to them, the COVID-19 pandemic forced many organisations to assign their employees work-from-home. This choice pleased many organisations as they saved on risks and maintenance costs. Big employers have continued the trend. However, not all employees are happy.

"Work-from-home caused an incredible amount of stress on both male and female employees, especially those who were married. New complications had arisen that had never been dealt with before, for instance, a fear of COVID-19, pandemic-related job insecurity, and so on," Rupashree Baral, Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras told PTI.