We are not working at home, but are at home, during a pandemic, attempting to work”: Exploring experiences of home working and work-life balance during the Covid-19 crisis

The global Covid-19 outbreak means that many people are having to work from home, and this is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Homeworking can improve wellbeing, work-life balance and productivity, providing people have control and choice over their working arrangements and receive guidance to help them balance their multiple role demands (Kossek & Lautsch, 2008; McDowall & Kinman, 2017). Nonetheless, current restrictions have posed new challenges even for longstanding homeworkers (e.g. home-schooling children and partners also working at home) and posed new demands (e.g. getting to grips with new and varied information technologies). Leaders and managers may also have little experience of managing remote workers which can impact on wellbeing and performance.