REMOTE WORK: TOOL OF CHANGE OR MERELY A MIRROR OF OLD PRACTICES? - A qualitative study on remote work experiences and gender regimes in Slovak context

Abstract

Purpose: The study explores how employee remote work experiences may vary based on the local context, status position and gender of the employees. The study explores these relationships and their implications in the context of two companies situated on the Slovak labour market. Theory: Gendered organizations theory by Acker serves as the main theoretical framework for the study, as it is used to explain the labour market behaviour and how the employee experiences are being shaped. Additionally, Hochschild’s concept of emotion work is used in combination with Acker in order to explore how employees manage their emotions and behaviour in order to accommodate for the expectations and norms they are subject to. Method: The study applies a qualitative research design, employing in-depth semi-structured interviews with employees of the two companies alongside using company documents as a secondary source of data. The eleven interviews have been transcribed and analysed through the grounded theory approach. Result: The results demonstrate that both genders had, overall, a positive attitude towards remote work. Men and women, however, had different reasons for this as they found different aspects of remote work important. Similarly, a distinction can be seen between the two companies as one group of respondents stated they prefer remote work, while the other still saw working from the office as the better option., which the study connects to the role of local context, as well as the status position of the employees.