Telewerken en thuiswerken: de stand van zaken vóór het uitbreken van COVID-19

Abstract

Teleworking and homeworking: the situation before COVID-19

Teleworking or telecommuting means working from a distance from a central work location, office, or client, whereby the teleworker is being supported by information and communication technology (ICT). As regards working from home, the terms homeworking and telehomeworking are most common. This review describes the most important developments between 1980 (when teleworking was introduced in practice) until the corona crisis in the beginning of 2020 (when homeworking was strongly advised by government). Teleworkers and homeworkers turn out to be a very heterogeneous collection of employees and self-employed workers. They differ with respect to the locations from which they operate (their home, a home office, on the move, in satellite offices, and in public spaces) and concerning the time they spend on these various locations. In addition, there is a lot of variation in the nature and intensity of their use of ICT

applications. The characteristics of three main types of teleworkers are described, along with their advantages and drawbacks: telehomeworkers, mobile or multi-location workers, and self-employed teleworkers. This article ends with a discussion about the role of autonomy in teleworking, the relationship between teleworking and the intensification of work, and the optimal teleworking intensity.