The experience of home working under COVID-19 across the UK

The Working@Home project examines in-depth this radical shift in working arrangements and how it impacts on the wellbeing and productivity of workers and their households. Using a combination of in-depth interviews with eighty participants, representing the spectrum of this novel group of homeworkers, as well as a large-scale survey, the Working@Home project provides unrivalled insights into the experience of home-working for the UK population and the lives of citizens in this unprecedented time. The research sheds light on our understanding of the expectations that organisations have placed on workers, as well as the robustness of support systems that have been put in place, taking into account the rapid advancement of home working systems with almost no preparation and only limited existing support structures or expertise. The findings provide a benchmark for the resilience of both individuals and businesses and demonstrate the potential for the robustness of the infrastructure in the return to a ‘new normal’ after the crisis.