Reconstructing Attitudes towards Work from Home during COVID-19: A Survey of South Korean Managers
Abstract
:1. Introduction and Background
1.1. Purpose
1.2. Background and Context
1.3. Approach
1.4. Constraints
2. Methods
2.1. Objectives
2.2. Research Questions
- RQ1
- Has WFH become more prevalent in South Korea during the government’s social distancing mandate to reduce the number of workers in the office, and does organizational WFH policies, job feasibility, and management culture influence this outcome?
- RQ2
- Have managers changed their general attitudes towards WFH due to their forced experience with it and does their job satisfaction mediate their response?
- RQ3
- Do managers expect WFH to continue at their organizations after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides and what is the relationship between their general attitudes towards WFH and their expectations for WFH?
2.3. Participants and Procedure
2.4. Instrument and Measures
2.5. Latent Constructs
2.6. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Increase in Work-from-Home (WFH) Take-Up during COVID-19
3.2. Reconstructing General Attitude towards WFH
3.3. Expected WFH Continuation after COVID-19 Subsides
3.4. Graphic Model of Results
4. Discussion of the Results
5. Conclusions
Limitations and Future Work
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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One or More Days WFH Per Week | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Time | n | Before COVID-19 (%/Mean) | During COVID-19 (%/Mean) | Expected after COVID-19 (%/Mean) |
Total | 229 | 13%/0.3 | 59%/1.6 | 44%/1.1 |
Gender | ||||
Male | 134 | 11%/0.2 | 56%/1.5 | 47%/1.2 |
Female | 91 | 16%/0.5 | 62%/1.7 | 39%/1.0 |
Age | ||||
18–29 Years Old | 29 | 7%/0.3 | 59%/1.8 * | 45%/1.3 ** |
30–39 Years Old | 42 | 14%/0.4 | 67%/2.0 * | 54%/1.6 ** |
40–49 Years Old | 57 | 16%/0.4 | 70%/1.8 * | 53%/1.2 ** |
50+ Years Old | 97 | 13%/0.3 | 48%/1.2 * | 33%/0.7 ** |
Married | ||||
Yes | 163 | 13%/0.3 15%/0.5 | 59%/1.6 55%/1.7 | 42%/1.0 47%/1.3 |
No | 60 | |||
Education Level | ||||
High School Graduate | 13 | 15%/0.5 | 38%/1.1 | 30%/0.8 |
2-year College | 9 | 22%/0.4 | 44%/0.9 | 33%/0.7 |
4-year University | 126 | 12%/0.4 | 65%/1.7 | 47%/1.2 |
Masters degree | 61 | 13%/0.3 | 51%/1.4 | 46%/1.0 |
PhD or Doctoral Degree | 16 | 19%/0.3 | 60%/1.6 | 27%/1.0 |
Length of Employment | ||||
Less than 6 months | 16 | 25%/0.9 | 63%/2.2 | 50%/1.9 *** |
6–11 months | 19 | 16%/0.6 | 58%/2.0 | 53%/2.1 *** |
1–4 years | 61 | 10%/0.3 | 52%/1.6 | 38%/0.9 *** |
4–8 years | 20 | 15%/0.2 | 55%/1.4 | 26%/0.6 *** |
More Than 8 years | 107 | 13%/0.3 | 61%/1.4 | 47%/1.0 *** |
Employees Supervised | ||||
One, Just Myself | 83 | 17%/0.4 | 64%/1.8 | 50%/1.2 |
Under 5 People | 73 | 10%/0.3 | 56%/1.5 | 42%/1.1 |
5–19 People | 41 | 10%/0.3 | 56%/1.4 | 33%/0.8 |
20–49 People | 17 | 12%/0.2 | 40%/1.0 | 33%/0.6 |
50 or More | 10 | 20%/0.5 | 67%/1.7 | 63%/1.2 |
Size of Organization | ||||
One, Just me | 2 | 50%/1.0 | 50%/1.8 ** | 50%/1.5 * |
Fewer than 10 | 40 | 18%/0.4 | 44%/1.2 ** | 29%/0.9 * |
10–49 People | 37 | 11%/0.2 | 25%/0.9 ** | 31%/0.6 * |
50–99 People | 28 | 25%/0.9 | 59%/2.2 ** | 46%/1.5 * |
100–499 People | 34 | 15%/0.4 | 76%/2.0 ** | 61%/1.3 * |
500–1000 People | 20 | 10%/0.4 | 65%/2.2 ** | 60%/1.8 * |
More Than 1000 People | 62 | 6%/0.1 | 76%/1.6 ** | 45%/0.9 * |
Organizational Policy | n | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Time WFH DuringCOVID-19 | 194 | 41% | 20% | 25% | 14% |
0 (None) | 36 | 64% | 19% | 11% | 6% |
1–3 Days Per Month | 40 | 45% | 23% | 23% | 10% |
1 Day Per Week | 44 | 59% | 14% | 20% | 7% |
2 Days Per Week | 20 | 35% | 20% | 35% | 10% |
3 Days Per Week | 22 | 14% | 23% | 36% | 27% |
4 Days Per Week | 15 | 7% | 27% | 40% | 27% |
5 Days Per Week | 17 | 6% | 24% | 29% | 41% |
Eta Squared | 0.212 | ||||
F-value | 8.40 | ||||
Sig. | <0.001 |
Job Feasibility | n | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Time WFH During COVID-19 | 217 | 16% | 32% | 40% | 13% |
0 (None) | 44 | 36% | 36% | 23% | 5% |
1–3 Days Per Month | 45 | 16% | 36% | 36% | 13% |
1 Day Per Week | 47 | 13% | 32% | 49% | 6% |
2 Days Per Week | 21 | 5% | 57% | 38% | – |
3 Days Per Week | 24 | 8% | 21% | 46% | 25% |
4 Days Per Week | 17 | – | 12% | 65% | 24% |
5 Days Per Week | 19 | 11% | 16% | 37% | 37% |
Eta Squared | 0.155 | ||||
F-value | 13.04 | ||||
Sig. | <0.001 |
Management Culture | n | Index Score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Time WFH During COVID-19 | 221 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 3.0 | 2.4 |
0 (None) | 47 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 2.7 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 2.7 | 2.2 |
1–3 Days Per Month | 45 | 2.9 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 2.4 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 2.2 |
1 Day Per Week | 47 | 2.9 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 2.6 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 2.4 |
2 Days Per Week | 22 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 2.6 | 2.9 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 2.3 |
3 Days Per Week | 24 | 3.4 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 3.0 | 2.6 | 2.2 |
4 Days Per Week | 17 | 3.3 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.2 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.1 |
5 Days Per Week | 19 | 2.8 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 2.6 |
Eta Squared | 0.115 | 0.095 | 0.094 | 0.092 | 0.091 | 0.086 | 0.077 | 0.069 | 0.068 | |
F-value | 4.66 | 3.74 | 3.63 | 3.62 | 3.57 | 3.32 | 2.95 | 2.61 | 2.57 | |
Sig. | <0.001 | 0.001 | 0.002 | 0.002 | 0.002 | 0.004 | 0.009 | 0.019 | 0.020 |
General Attitude | n | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Time WFH During COVID-19 | 221 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 4.4 | 2.2 |
0 (None) | 46 | 3.0 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 4.9 | 2.4 |
1–3 Days Per Month | 45 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.2 | 4.5 | 2.5 |
1 Day Per Week | 47 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 4.2 | 2.2 |
2 Days Per Week | 22 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 1.9 | 4.5 | 2.1 |
3 Days Per Week | 25 | 2.3 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 1.7 | 3.9 | 1.9 |
4 Days Per Week | 17 | 2.1 | 3.1 | 2.8 | 1.8 | 4.0 | 1.8 |
5 Days Per Week | 19 | 1.7 | 3.2 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 4.0 | 1.9 |
Eta Squared | 0.167 | 0.124 | 0.109 | 0.107 | 0.097 | 0.062 | |
F-value | 6.25 | 4.92 | 4.38 | 4.25 | 3.80 | 2.20 | |
Sig. | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.001 | 0.045 |
Job Satisfaction | n | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Time WFH During COVID-19 | 224 | 2.5 | 2.7 | 4.4 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 2.0 |
Very Satisfied | 41 | 1.8 | 3.1 | 3.7 | 2.9 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
Somewhat Satisfied | 147 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 4.4 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 2.0 |
Somewhat Dissatisfied | 33 | 3.1 | 2.1 | 5.1 | 2.2 | 2.8 | 2.4 |
Very Dissatisfied | 3 | 5.0 | 1.0 | 5.9 | 1.3 | 4.0 | 3.3 |
Eta Squared | 0.202 | 0.195 | 0.168 | 0.154 | 0.135 | 0.119 | |
F-values | 16.46 | 17.51 | 14.71 | 13.32 | 10.81 | 9.82 | |
Sig. | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
Factor | Time WFH during COVID-19 | In Favor of WFH | Time WFH Expected after COVID-19 |
---|---|---|---|
Control: Age | 0.023 * | 0.069 *** | 0.043 ** |
Time WFH During COVID-19 | --- | 0.077 *** | 0.371 *** |
In Favor of WFH | 0.033 * | --- | 0.100 *** |
Organizational WFH Policy | 0.192 *** | 0.029 *** | 0.233 *** |
Time WFH Before COVID-19 | 0.139 *** | 0.026 *** | 0.140 *** |
Management Culture | 0.124 ** | 0.093 *** | 0.078 ** |
Job Satisfaction | 0.090 ** | 0.104 *** | 0.039 ** |
Job Feasibility | 0.060 ** | 0.071 *** | 0.118 *** |
Likelihood Organization will Continue WFH Post-COVID-19 | n | Much More Likely Now | Somewhat More Likely Now | No Change | Somewhat Less Likely Now | Much Less Likely Now |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Time WFH During COVID-19 | 196 | 17% | 33% | 14% | 11% | 25% |
0 (None) | 25 | 4% | 36% | 36% | 12% | 12% |
1–3 Days Per Month | 42 | 12% | 29% | 17% | 14% | 29% |
1 Day Per Week | 46 | 2% | 13% | 13% | 22% | 50% |
2 Days Per Week | 22 | 18% | 41% | 9% | 9% | 23% |
3 Days Per Week | 25 | 24% | 52% | 12% | 0% | 12% |
4 Days Per Week | 17 | 47% | 47% | 0% | 6% | 0% |
5 Days Per Week | 19 | 47% | 37% | 5% | 0% | 11% |
Eta Squared | 0.292 | |||||
F-value | 13.00 | |||||
Sig. | <0.001 |
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Rose, P.A.; Brown, S. Reconstructing Attitudes towards Work from Home during COVID-19: A Survey of South Korean Managers. Behav. Sci. 2021, 11, 163. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs11120163
Rose PA, Brown S. Reconstructing Attitudes towards Work from Home during COVID-19: A Survey of South Korean Managers. Behavioral Sciences. 2021; 11(12):163. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs11120163
Chicago/Turabian StyleRose, Patrick Allen, and Suzana Brown. 2021. "Reconstructing Attitudes towards Work from Home during COVID-19: A Survey of South Korean Managers" Behavioral Sciences 11, no. 12: 163. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs11120163