- increases employees’ perceptions of autonomy, which improves remote workers’ work-life-balance due to the separation and  integration of work and nonwork based on personal preferences

- allows mothers to maintain full-time employment upon childbirth

Positive Outcomes of Flextime

- could reinforce traditional gender roles in both workplaces and households due to the pre-existing barriers such as ideal worker culture, gendered norms, and stereotypes

- work intensification: excessive workloads and low work-life balance due to the expectatios that employees should always be available and ready to respond to work requests immediately

- working late at night

- ignoring remote workers’ family obligations

Challenges and Disadvantages of Work Intensity

- Flextime: flexibility in the timing of work, also called schedule flexibility or temporal flexibility

- Work Intensity: work intensification, reported by workers as the excessive workloads and low work-life balance while working from home

New York University

Desirable (the greatest benefits) vs. Undesirable (the most difficult challenges) Aspects of Remote Work: characteristics fell on a spectrum; most employees’ experiences usually fell somewhere between the extremes.

- Flextime vs. Work Intensity

- Flexplace vs. Space Limitation

- Technologically-Feasible Work Arrangement vs. Technostress and Isolation

- Family-Friendly Work Arrangement vs. Housework and Care Intensity

Four Themes Representing the Contrast between Remote Work's Desirable Expectations and Undesirable Experiences

Shirmohammadi, M., Au, W. C., &amp; Beigi, M. (2022). Remote work and Work-Life Balance: Lessons learned from the covid-19 pandemic and suggestions for HRD Practitioners. Human Resource Development International, 25(2), 163–181. https://doi.org/10.1080/13678868.2022.2047380 

Remote work and work-life balance: Lessons learned from the covid-19 pandemic and suggestions for HRD practitioners

- Flexplace: flexibility in working location 

- Space Limitation: lack of a dedicated home office or enough space to designate for work; need to share or reorganize space to meet work commitments

Flexplace vs. Space Limitation

Flextime vs. Work Intensity

- Technologically-feasible: having access to technological tools is a necessary condition for remote work’s success

- Technostress and Isolation: two major challenges remote workers face when they work from home and depend on information and communication technologies (ICTs) to work

1. Technostress: stress and psychological burdens caused by adjusting to the use of ICTs and various platforms

2. Isolation: the feeling of isolation and loneliness caused by communication with colleagues and supervisors through ICTs


Technologically-Feasible Work Arrangement vs. Technostress and Isolation

- Family-Friendly Work Arrangement: remote work allows workers to take care of family members, integrate work and family roles, and adjust their work schedules according to household needs and care responsibilities
- Housework and Care Intensity: during the pandemic, the massive amount of housework and intensive childcare demands imposed on families and remote workers

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