Экономические науки/5.Управление трудовыми ресурсами

Voronova M.V., PhD Merkulova N.V.

Voronezh State Technical University, Russian Federation

Working at Home or in the Office: What is More Effective?

Working at home or in the office: the issue of effectiveness continues to be discussed during some years, and there is no single point of view on the question on which type of work is more productive. The widely spread concept of «freelance» is gaining popularity at a rapid way. Working at home in some cases can be more effective. An increasing number of firms, companies, industries, and individuals choose this new kind of employment. Today, nobody sees anything wrong in the fact that people do not go to work and work sitting at home. But for many people, an important motivation to work is the set of elements and attributes that may exist only in the office (or in any other room, being where the person is at work): namely, the office itself, the working room and its furnishings, the staff, all required to the work tools (machinery, equipment, office supplies, etc.).

During searching for a new job the question raises of what type of employment to choose from: working at home or in the office. At the same time, some important problems arise to the job seeker: How will the work in the office or at home affect relations with colleagues and superiors? Where will the work be more efficient and effective? How will the choice between home and office affect the resume of the specialist and the reputation of the company, etc.?

The choice between working at home or in the office is affected by many factors (economic, social, individual, psychological, etc.): specificity of the organization; location; climate; specialty of an employee; qualification of a specialist; level of education of a job seeker; marital status of an applicant; relationships with colleagues and superiors; etc. [1]. If all factors allow an applicant to choose between working at home or in the office, it is needed to consider the pros and cons of each type of the working process. First, it is necessary to consider the pros and cons of working at home. 
The pluses are the following: the workplace can be anywhere [4]; the desktop can be absolutely the same as the worker wants; the opportunity to choose when to work more/better depending on productivity; the ability to regulate your own employment and salary [2]; the opportunity to independently decide on the time of rest; the possibility to spend more time at home; the independence from the weather; saving money (for transport, lunch, etc.); saving time (no need to go to work in the early morning and also spend half a day in traffic jams); a lunch break can be arranged when it is needed; the absence of a dress code. 

To the minuses of «freelance» can be attributed the following: the instability in wages and decrease in efficiency of work; low level of communication with the authorities and the colleges; no necessary attitude to work (many distracting factors: family members, neighbors, feeding a cat, etc.).

Considering the pros and cons of working in the office, there were revealed some positive points: a fixed salary with a social package; fixed working hours; the more effective and productive work under control; the opportunity to show yourself before the authorities; the promotion of communication with colleagues; the necessary motivation to work; minimal distracting factors (no temptation in the form of a refrigerator or a bed); a dress code as an excellent reason to look good every day [5]; relaxing from relatives gives a good reason to miss them [4].

However, the negative aspects of working in the office are: getting up every morning and going to work in any weather; wasting time in traffic jams; expenses for the road and for lunch; communication with unpleasant colleagues (who you do not like and who don’t like you); dress code; breaks and lunch time on schedule; travelling only on vacation, etc.

As the statistics show, 99% of the time is spent working at your desk, and 1% working on someone else's desktop, so working at home will not save anyone from the work itself. Many people are convinced that the ratio of productive and unproductive work hours in the office shows that the unproductive part is larger, but studies show that the ratio is 6.5 hours productive and 1.5 hours unproductive. This ratio is better than the ratio of working at home. It is worth reminding that these ratios may vary depending on the profession, but such occupations are rare enough [3]. The average duration of the break is 14.4 minutes. Studies have shown that regardless of working at home or in the office this time is enough to give the worker some break for relax.
From the above, the pros and cons of a particular type of work only provided information for reflection. Every job seeker has to prioritize depending on his/her personal qualities and interests, but also knowledge and professionalism, and then to determine which style of work activity is better for this particular applicant. 

Therefore it is always necessary to keep in mind that remote work and office work have their pros and cons, and all depends on the nature of the job, on the individual characteristics of each person, on the structure of the company and the total number of people working in it.

References:

1. Avdeev, V.V. Personnel Management. Optimization of Teamwork: Reengineering Technology / V.V. Avdeev. – Moscow : Finances and Statistics, 2016.

2. Gladky, A.A. 1C: Salary and Staff Management / A.A. Gladky. – Moscow : Eksmo, 2011.
3. Ivanovskaya, L.V. Human Resource Management: Textbook / L.V. Ivanovskaya, A.Ya. Kibanov, I.A. Batkayev. – Moscow : SIC INFRA-M, 2013.
4. Kibanov, A.Ya. Personnel Management of the Organization: Up-to-date Technologies of Hiring, Adaptation and Attestation: Textbook / A.Ya. Kibanov, I.B. Durakova. – Moscow : KnoRus, 2012.
5. Yakusheva, N.M. Personnel Management. Optimization of Teamwork: Reengineering Technology: Textbook / N.M. Yakusheva. – Moscow : Finance and Statistics, 2016.