Telework: different balances

A person teleworks from his home in Madrid.

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• The pandemic drives teleworking in Spain: almost three million remote employees

One of the labor and social consequences generated by the covid-19 pandemic has been the drastic and forced establishment of teleworking. At the beginning of 2020, companies of all sizes had to react abruptly to organize the continuity of their activity with most - or all - of their employees outside their usual place of work. They also did so without knowing how long that situation would last, what unexpected operational difficulties they would encounter, or how that situation would affect their business. And although it is true that teleworking, even if it was partial, had already been in operation for years in some sections of the economic productive fabric, which was a trend for the future with an undefined perspective of implementation, then it had to be introduced in a generalized way.

One year and four months after the declaration of the state of alarm in Spain, it is evident that in many sectors there will not be a return to the same situation as before the pandemic. Along the way, a new regulatory framework has been approved, and the productive fabric has gradually taken the measure of what telework contributes and what remains. Each activity is different, and sets a balance between advantages and disadvantages for companies and workers.

Teleworking can save costs, facilitate family reconciliation, take advantage of distant talent and reduce travel, which results in an advance against climate change. Presence facilitates communication, speeds up processes, in many cases leads to a spontaneous finding of better solutions through fluid interaction, and eliminates possible adverse effects of prolonged periods of solitary activity. The weight of the factors changes according to the activities. Given that the workforce is vast, there are no categorical answers. In a general regulated framework, new equilibria will be explored. Weighing the pros and cons will yield different results, but it is clear that new and interesting opportunities are opening up.