Understanding perceived proximity to overcome isolation in permanent telework

Resumo

This paper develops the first quantitative analysis of the impact of perceived proximity in employee wellbeing and team cohesiveness in permanent telework contexts of large organizations. Recent predictions advise up to 37% of current jobs in US can be performed from home, 30% in Spain (Dingel and Neiman, 2020). With these predictions in mind, former scholar research on telework is outdated. Academia and practice managers agree in workplace isolation being one of the most recurrent longer-term drawbacks resulting from telework arrangements (Illegems and Verbeke, 2004; Bloom et al., 2015). Scientific research is called to ascertain clarity to further adopt the concept of perceived proximity (Wilson et al., 2008). The work presented in this project assesses the impact of perceived proximity in employee wellbeing and cohesiveness in permanent telework for large organizations. In the advent of permanent telework arrangements, I have addressed two detailed research perspectives: the influence of rich-media ICT on perceived proximity and the role of collective voice in shaping (tele)worker wellbeing. Results arising from this investigation contribute to the academic community and practice managers ascertain clarity on overcoming long term drawbacks from permanent telework.