Remote work in the age of COVID-19: Case studies of knowledge workers during forced social isolation

Abstract

It has been over a year and a half since remote work became a necessity introduced by many companies around the world to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The word necessity is key here, because probably if it wasn’t for the outbreak of the global pandemic, the system of work, learning and many face-to-face meetings would never have experienced such a rapid digital transformation. The author focuses on comparing existing theories of remote management with the reality during mass social isolation. To investigate this phenomenon, the author conducts qualitative research in forms of case studies in the privacy of knowledge workers’ homes. The main outcomes of the work include the creation of a new work-life balance model based on remote work that can only be applied during social isolation, further recommendations for implementing remote procedures, and overall challenges of remote workers are presented. This paper is a summary of months of work in the pursuit of understanding how existing remote management theories can be transformed into practical, individual-centered action.