Mobiles Arbeiten
Mobiles Arbeiten bietet sowohl für Beschäftigte als auch für Unternehmen Vorteile einer größeren Flexibilität. Die Corona-Pandemie hat die Einstellungen gegenüber mobilem Arbeiten sowohl bei den Mitarbeitenden als auch bei den Führungskräften in eine neue Richtung gelenkt. Die Erfahrungen während Corona bewirkten, dass mittlerweile die Rahmenbedingungen und Fragen der Gestaltung hybrider Arbeitsformen in den Vordergrund rücken. Präsenzarbeit als auch mobiles Arbeiten sollen möglich sein, aber ebenso Lösungen, die mobile Arbeit und Freizeit - "workation" - verbinden.
Das Themendossier beleuchtet die Chancen und Herausforderungen mobilen Arbeitens für Beschäftigte und Unternehmen und zeigt Handlungsanforderungen auf.
Im Filter „Autorenschaft“ können Sie auf IAB-(Mit-)Autorenschaft eingrenzen.
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Literaturhinweis
Performance Pay in the Hybrid Work Economy (2026)
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Alipour, Jean-Victor (2026): Performance Pay in the Hybrid Work Economy. (CESifo working paper 12680), München, 41 S.
Abstract
"The large-scale rise of working from home (WFH) has granted workers unprecedented autonomy over how they allocate their time and effort, while weakening employers' monitoring ability. We ask whether firms use performance-based compensation to align workers' incentives when adopting WFH. To isolate the causal impact of WFH, we use individual-level panel data and exploit workers' exposure to the WFH shock in 2020 through their 2019 job's WFH feasibility. Results show that WFH significantly raises the incidence of performance pay and its share in annual earnings between 2019 and 2023, consistent with principal-agent theory. The shift is concentrated among men and workers without collectively bargained wages. WFH simultaneously reduces uncompensated overtime, particularly in the groups with stronger shifts to performance pay. The pattern is expected when implicit incentives (overtime as a worker-quality signal) are replaced by explicit performance-based contracts (bonus for output). We find evidence for selection on gains, where those more easily induced to WFH are also more likely to adopt performance pay." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
The rise of work from home and its impact on job satisfaction (2026)
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Angrisani, Marco, Arie Kapteyn & Francisco Perez-Arce (2026): The rise of work from home and its impact on job satisfaction. In: Labour Economics, Jg. 102. DOI:10.1016/j.labeco.2026.102933
Abstract
"The COVID-19 pandemic induced dramatic changes in work arrangements, most notably through a sharp expansion of working from home (WFH). Starting in 2021, we fielded annual surveys on WFH in a nationally representative, probability-based panel. Using these data, we employ three complementary empirical strategies to estimate the impact of WFH on worker wellbeing. First, using discrete choice experiments, we elicit workers’ willingness to pay for additional days of WFH and show that remote work is a highly valued job amenity. Second, using pooled OLS and individual fixed-effects regressions, we document that workers who are allowed to work from home report significantly higher job satisfaction. Third, exploiting the pandemic-induced shift to WFH, we document that workers in jobs amenable to WFH at the onset of the pandemic experienced a relative increase in satisfaction compared to workers in non-amenable jobs; this effect persists and remains statistically significant several years after the pandemic’s onset. All three approaches consistently point to WFH as a valuable non-monetary job amenity. Because access to WFH expanded disproportionately across the socioeconomic distribution, the pandemic-induced shift toward remote work disproportionately benefited higher-socioeconomic-status workers." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2026 Published by Elsevier B.V.) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Post-Covid Telework and Productivity: A Large Scale Analysis (2026)
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Askenazy, Philippe, Ugo Di Nallo & Ismaël Ramajo (2026): Post-Covid Telework and Productivity: A Large Scale Analysis. (IZA discussion paper / IZA Network @ LISER 18655), Bonn: IZA Network @ LISER, 39 S., App.
Abstract
"This paper studies the causal impact of post-Covid telework on firm productivity in France, where hybrid work has become the dominant form of telework. Using matched survey and administrative data on over 6,500 firms employing three million workers, we test whether telework in 2022 relates to productivity growth from 2019 to 2022 excluding agriculture, finance and insurance, and real estate. OLS estimates show a modest positive link: a 10-percentage-point rise in telework share correlates with a 0.7-1.0 percentage-point productivity gain. To address endogeneity, we use an instrumental variable based on pre-pandemic office surface per employee in rented separate office spaces, which likely facilitated telework adoption and cost reductions. The instrument is strong, and 2SLS results indicate a sizeable LATE: a 10-point increase in telework raises productivity by about 2.7 points. Firms with separate offices also reduce obsolete space and slightly increase office equipment, suggesting additional productivity channels beyond real-estate adjustments." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Home Alone: Work from Home and Loneliness (2026)
Zitatform
Baktash, Mehrzad B. (2026): Home Alone: Work from Home and Loneliness. (Universität Trier. Research papers in economics 2026,04), Trier, 48 S.
Abstract
"Does working from home lead to loneliness? If yes, how and for whom? Using a quasi-natural experiment and individual fixed-effects, this study shows that work from home leads to increased worker loneliness. Teleworking not only increases overall loneliness, but it also affects each of the three dimensions of loneliness (feeling isolated, feeling left out, lacking companionship). Working from home increases irregular work hours and decreases satisfaction with leisure time, dwelling, and family life. Consequently, teleworkers feel lonelier. However, the effect is highly heterogeneous. Work from home particularly exacerbates the loneliness levels of employees who are extroverted, not married, without children, living in smaller households, working in the private sector, or residing in East Germany. Importantly, this detrimental effect is mainly driven by fully working remotely. Implications are discussed." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Workplace Flexibility and the Motherhood Penalty: Evidence from the Diffusion of Remote Work (2026)
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Basso, Gaetano, Maria de Paola, Salvatore Lattanzio & Matteo Paradisi (2026): Workplace Flexibility and the Motherhood Penalty: Evidence from the Diffusion of Remote Work. (RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 2026,140), Berlin, 40 S., App.
Abstract
"We study whether workplace flexibility is a key driver of the motherhood penalty. Exploiting the sharp and heterogeneous diffusion of work-from-home (WFH) contracts after COVID-19 in a difference-in-differences framework, we combine administrative data on the universe of Italian WFH contracts with matched employer--employee records, mother-father links, fertility records, and firm balance sheets. Greater exposure to flexible work substantially reduces mothers' post-childbirth earnings losses, primarily through higher weeks worked, lower part-time incidence, lower parental leave take-up, and improved career progression. IV estimates indicate that holding a WFH contract offsets about 77% of mothers' earnings losses around childbirth. Gains are larger among younger, lower-earning, and commuting mothers, in households where the father is the dominant earner, and in occupations with steeper hours-earnings profiles, consistent with flexibility relaxing constraints where most binding. Fathers' own earnings do not respond to flexibility around childbirth, yet fathers' exposure to flexible work reduces mothers' earnings losses by a comparable magnitude, pointing to household-level time constraints as a central mechanism. Consistent with this interpretation, fertility, a joint household decision, rises for women more exposed to flexibility, as flexibility lowers the labor-market cost of the marginal child. A counterfactual exercise shows that the life-cycle widening of the gender earnings gap would have been 10.7% smaller under current WFH diffusion and up to 29.4% smaller if all remotable jobs had adopted flexible arrangements." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Taking a Break: Two Diary Studies on Lunch Break Recovery During Telework and On-Site Days (2026)
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Beckmann, Jan Sinner, Sebastian Seibel & Verena C. Haun (2026): Taking a Break: Two Diary Studies on Lunch Break Recovery During Telework and On-Site Days. In: Zeitschrift für Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie, S. 1-17. DOI:10.1026/0932-4089/a000477
Abstract
"Mittagspausen sind entscheidend für die Erhaltung von Gesundheit und Leistungsfähigkeit von Beschäftigten. Diese Forschungsarbeit untersucht, ob sich an Homeofficetagen im Vergleich zu Präsenztagen Unterschiede in den Mittagspausenaktivitäten und im anschließenden Energieniveau zeigen. Wir nahmen an, dass Beschäftigte an Homeofficetagen häufiger entspannende und pflichtorientierte, jedoch seltener soziale Mittagspausenaktivitäten ausüben und dass diese Aktivitäten den Zusammenhang zwischen Arbeitsort und Energie vermitteln. Es wurden zwei Tagebuchstudien mit 80 Beschäftigten (N = 369 Tage) und 126 Beschäftigten (N = 322 Tage) durchgeführt. Mehrebenen-Pfadanalysen zeigten, dass Beschäftigte an Homeofficetagen mehr pflichtorientierten, weniger sozialen und (nur in Studie 1) mehr entspannenden Mittagspausenaktivitäten nachgingen. Soziale Pausenaktivitäten standen nicht im Zusammenhang mit Energie, während entspannende Aktivitäten konsistent mit höherer Energie assoziiert waren. Pflichtorientierte Aktivitäten waren in Studie 1 positiv mit Energie assoziiert. Insgesamt unterstreichen die Befunde die Bedeutung des Arbeitsortes für das Pausenverhalten und die Energie von Beschäftigten." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku, © 2026 Hogrefe Verlag)
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Literaturhinweis
Still in play, but out of sight? Recognition and fairness in hybrid work: Special Issue on Alternative Work Arrangements: The Role of HR in Responding, Managing and Championing (2026)
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Bertola, Lara, Véronique Robert, Julia Eisenberg & Lara Colombo (2026): Still in play, but out of sight? Recognition and fairness in hybrid work. Special Issue on Alternative Work Arrangements: The Role of HR in Responding, Managing and Championing. In: The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Jg. 37, H. 1, S. 57-80. DOI:10.1080/09585192.2026.2627460
Abstract
"Hybrid forms of work have become commonplace in many organizations, but bring new challenges when it comes to how presence, contribution and recognition are interpreted and managed. This study, based on interviews with 16 managers and focus groups with 37 employees in a multinational company, examines the social and structural dynamics that shape the experience of hybrid work. Employees often reported feeling disconnected or undervalued, especially when their contributions were not visible. Managers, in turn, reported difficulty assessing engagement and outcomes when they were not regularly face-to-face. In many cases, visibility of results was replaced as the most important signal of engagement, leading to compensatory measures such as frequent updates or extended availability. Using the Job Demands–Resources model and signaling theory, we show how these visibility practices can paradoxically act as new work demands, increasing pressure, reinforcing existing inequalities, especially when support systems are applied inconsistently. The findings point to the need for more coordinated HR policies that clarify expectations, promote inclusion and align recognition with actual contribution- regardless of the work settings." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Individualism and working from home (2026)
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Bietenbeck, Jan, Natalie Irmert & Therese Nilsson (2026): Individualism and working from home. In: Economic Inquiry, Jg. 64, H. 2, S. 491-507. DOI:10.1111/ecin.70037
Abstract
"We show that culturally transmitted individualism is an important determinant of working from home (WFH). Using individual-level data from the U.S. Current Population Survey (CPS) and the European Social Survey (ESS), we compare immigrants and their descendants from different cultural backgrounds residing in the same location. A 10-point increase in country-of-origin individualism (0–100 scale) increases the likelihood of WFH by 3.9percentage points and WFH hours by 1.12 per week in the CPS, and frequent WFH by 2 percentage points in the ESS. Individualism appears to affect WFH partly through higher educational attainment and occupational selection." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Work from Home and Disability Employment (2026)
Zitatform
Bloom, Nicholas, Gordon Dahl & Dan-Olof Rooth (2026): Work from Home and Disability Employment. (CEPR discussion paper / Centre for Economic Policy Research 21377), London, 16 S., App.
Abstract
"There has been a dramatic rise in disability employment since the pandemic. At the same time, work from home (WFH) has risen four-fold. This paper asks whether the two are causally related. Controlling for compositional changes and labor market tightness, a 1 percentage point increase in WFH increases full-time employment by 1.0% for individuals with a physical disability. The postpandemic increase in working from home explains 68%-85% of the rise in full-time employment. Wage data suggests that WFH increased the supply of workers with a physical disability, likely by reducing commuting costs and enabling better control of working conditions." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Die Arbeit im Homeoffice besser verstehen: Zusammenhänge zwischen Merkmalen der Arbeit im Homeoffice und Arbeitszufriedenheit, Produktivität sowie Stresserleben der Beschäftigten unter Berücksichtigung individueller Rahmenbedingungen (2026)
Brandt, Jörn ; Philippsen, Ana; Buchner, Axel; Scheepers, Louisa; Süß, Stefan ; Pischke, Claudia; Angerer, Peter ; Dragano, Nico ;Zitatform
Brandt, Jörn, Ana Philippsen, Peter Angerer, Nico Dragano, Claudia Pischke, Louisa Scheepers, Axel Buchner & Stefan Süß (2026): Die Arbeit im Homeoffice besser verstehen. Zusammenhänge zwischen Merkmalen der Arbeit im Homeoffice und Arbeitszufriedenheit, Produktivität sowie Stresserleben der Beschäftigten unter Berücksichtigung individueller Rahmenbedingungen. In: Arbeit. Zeitschrift für Arbeitsforschung, Arbeitsgestaltung und Arbeitspolitik, Jg. 35, H. 1, S. 27-56. DOI:10.1515/arbeit-2026-0003
Abstract
"Die COVID-19-Pandemie hat die Bedingungen für Wissensarbeit durch die flächendeckende Verlagerung der Arbeit in das Homeoffice nachhaltig verändert. Dabei bringt die Arbeit im Homeoffice viele augenscheinliche Potenziale, aber auch Risiken mit sich. In der vorliegenden Studie wurden daher mögliche positive und negative Auswirkungen der Gestaltung der Arbeit im Homeoffice auf Arbeitszufriedenheit, Produktivität, potenzielle Konflikte zwischen Arbeits- und Privatleben sowie Technostress unter Berücksichtigung moderierender Variablen analysiert. Unsere Befragung von 532 Beschäftigten verschiedener Unternehmen zeigt, dass statt der absoluten Anzahl der Stunden im Homeoffice vielmehr die Qualität der Ausstattung und der Kommunikation im Homeoffice, die Partizipation bei der Gestaltung dieser Arbeit sowie Persönlichkeitseigenschaften der Beschäftigten entscheidend dafür sind, welche Effekte die Arbeit im Homeoffice hat. Zudem lassen sich Unterschiede zwischen verschiedenen Homeoffice-Mischmodellen finden. Auf Basis dieser Ergebnisse werden zentrale Handlungsfelder für die Gestaltung und das Angebot der Arbeit im Homeoffice abgeleitet." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)
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Literaturhinweis
Does feasibility explain the unequal development of working from home? (2026)
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Breda, Thomas, Paul Dutronc-Postel & Vladimir Pecheu (2026): Does feasibility explain the unequal development of working from home? In: Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Jg. 241. DOI:10.1016/j.jebo.2025.107328
Abstract
"Using rich historical survey data on job tasks and machine learning techniques, we study which jobs can be moved from the office to home over three decades in France. The share of jobs with task content compatible with working from home has increased steadily from 14 % in 1991 to 45 % in 2021. At the same time, actual Working From Home (WFH) remained limited to less than one-fifth of its full potential before the COVID-19 crisis and is still below that level in 2021. The growth of WFH is largely unrelated to the evolution of job tasks, implying that the main obstacles to WFH have not been technical constraints. Low-skilled employees in particular have been performing tasks compatible with teleworking for a long time, but they were barely teleworking before the COVID-19 crisis and remained still below 50 % of their full potential during it. This pattern is likely mostly explained by the cost to managers of supervising low-skilled remote workers and managerial trust in employees. It implies that the well-known large inequality in access to WFH along the earnings distribution cannot be attributed only to feasibility constraints and is potentially inefficient." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
HOP – An Occupational Indicator for the Potential of Working from Home (2026)
Zitatform
Bruns, Franziska, Britta Matthes & Michael Stops (2026): HOP – An Occupational Indicator for the Potential of Working from Home. In: Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik, Jg. 246, H. 3, S. 261-280., 2025-03-17. DOI:10.1515/jbnst-2025-0014
Abstract
"Das Arbeiten von zu Hause aus (im folgenden WFH genannt) gewinnt zunehmend an Bedeutung, da die zunehmende Verfügbarkeit moderner Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien es vielen Arbeitnehmern ermöglicht, selbst zu entscheiden, wo (und wann) sie arbeiten. Es ist jedoch wichtig anzuerkennen, dass bestimmte Arbeiten nicht außerhalb des Arbeitsplatzes ausgeführt werden können. Arbeiten, die mit digitalen Geräten wie Smartphones oder Laptops und einer Internetverbindung erledigt werden können, lassen sich relativ leicht von zu Hause aus erledigen. In Berufen, die soziale Nähe oder einfach physische Anwesenheit erfordern (z. B. bei der Überwachung und Steuerung von Maschinen, Systemen oder Geräten oder bei der Erbringung von Dienstleistungen für Menschen), ist WFH jedoch sehr schwierig, da es (derzeit) keine Technologien gibt, die die mit WFH verbundene soziale oder physische Distanz überbrücken können. Wenn das Potenzial für WFH in einem Beruf nicht berücksichtigt wird, führen Analysen darüber, wer WFH unter welchen Umständen nutzt oder wie sich die Nutzung von WFH auf Beschäftigung oder Löhne auswirkt, zu verzerrten Schätzungen. Es gibt verschiedene frühere Messungen des WFH-Potenzials in den Berufen. Es wird jedoch ein Indikator benötigt, der die folgenden vier Kriterien erfüllt. Erstens sollte der Indikator auf objektiven und nicht auf subjektiven Einschätzungen beruhen, da die subjektiven Einschätzungen der Befragten zu ihrer WFH-Fähigkeit naturgemäß mit ihren normativen Überzeugungen und persönlichen Präferenzen verbunden sind. Zweitens hängt die WFH-Fähigkeit nicht direkt von den Arbeitsaufgaben ab, sondern vielmehr davon, ob es möglich ist, ein vergleichbares Arbeitsumfeld an einem anderen Ort als dem vorgesehenen Arbeitsplatz zu schaffen. Drittens muss unbedingt vermieden werden, Berufe als entweder völlig geeignet oder ungeeignet für WFH zu kategorisieren, da die Arbeitsbedingungen in allen Berufen WFH mehr oder weniger wahrscheinlich machen. Viertens bedeutet dies, dass nicht nur das Vorhandensein ausgewählter (geeigneter) Arbeitsbedingungen, sondern die Bewertung aller typischen Arbeitsbedingungen eines Berufes notwendig ist, um festzustellen, ob sie die Arbeit von zu Hause aus ermöglichen. In diesem Papier entwickeln wir daher einen neuen Indikator für das berufsspezifische WFH-Potenzial, das wir „Home Office Potential“ (HOP) nennen. HOP gibt für jeden Beruf im Vergleich zu allen anderen an, ob es möglich ist, diesen Beruf in einer anderen Arbeitsumgebung als der eigentlichen Arbeitsstätte auszuüben. HOP ergänzt damit andere WFH-Indikatoren, die auf (subjektiven) Einschätzungen der Befragten oder auf Informationen über die am Arbeitsplatz ausgeübten Tätigkeiten beruhen. Zu diesem Zweck verwenden wir Informationen über Arbeitsbedingungen aus der deutschen Expertendatenbank BERUFENET. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird HOP für eine Reihe von Berufsaggregaten nach der Klassifikation der Berufe in Deutschland (KldB-2010) und der Internationalen Standardklassifikation der Berufe (ISCO-08) zur Verfügung gestellt. Informationen zum WFH-Potenzial liegen für bis zu 1.200 Berufseinheiten vor, was einen wesentlichen Vorteil der Verwendung von Expertendaten gegenüber Befragungsdaten darstellt. Zur Beurteilung der Konstruktvalidität wurde eine Reihe von Analysen durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse dieser Analysen zeigen, dass HOP geeignet ist, die Machbarkeit von Heimarbeit in einem bestimmten Beruf zu beurteilen." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku, © De Gruyter)
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Literaturhinweis
Is working from home changing the meaning of work? (2026)
Zitatform
Bähr, Sebastian, Bernad Batinic & Matthias Collischon (2026): Is working from home changing the meaning of work? In: PLoS ONE, Jg. 21, H. 1, 2025-12-22. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0340452
Abstract
"Especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home (WFH) has become a common practice in the workplace. This raises the question of whether WFH changes the non-monetary benefits of work, such as job quality or social contacts. Thus, in this article, we investigate how working from home affects Jahoda’s latent functions of employment as well as job quality measures. To this end, we use panel data from the German Panel Study Labour Market and Social Security (PASS) and estimate the effects of changing work patterns on the aforementioned outcomes. Our findings reveal basically no effects of WFH on job quality measures and latent benefits. This, in contrast to anecdotal evidence, implies that WFH does not harm psychological well-being." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © Sage) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Entrepreneurship and inequality in access to remote work: a longitudinal study of social groups in the United States (2026)
Zitatform
Carrasco-Garrido, Cristina, Antonio Martínez Raya & Alberto Muñoz Cabanes (2026): Entrepreneurship and inequality in access to remote work: a longitudinal study of social groups in the United States. In: International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Jg. 22, H. 2. DOI:10.1007/s11365-026-01220-x
Abstract
"In advanced economies, the growth of telework has changed the nature of labor. However, access to remote work is still not equally distributed. This study examines access to telework opportunities in the United States (U.S.) from October 2022 to February 2025, focusing on demographic factors such as age, gender, and educational attainment. Using a longitudinal, intersectional approach, the analysis identifies patterns in telework adoption based on monthly data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The findings reveal that individuals aged 25 to 54 and those with higher education consistently exhibited the highest telework rates. Women also demonstrated higher participation rates than men throughout the period. Conversely, younger workers (16 –24), older adults (55+), and those with lower levels of education remained significantly underrepresented. This study contributes to management and entrepreneurship research by providing insights into workforce segmentation in teleworking environments in the post-pandemic era. The findings are relevant for managers, human resources specialists, and policymakers aiming to promote inclusive remote work practices. Interventions such as digital skills training and sector-specific hybrid models may help close access gaps, enhancing employee engagement and fostering broader participation in the digital economy. However, the findings should be interpreted in light of certain research limitations, particularly the lack of granularity in the dataset with respect to ethnicity, family status, geographic region, and social class. Despite these limitations, the study provides valuable empirical insights and opens avenues for future research on telework inequality." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Competing devotions in the postpandemic economy: the effect of remote working on perceptions of employees as “good workers” and “good parents” in Germany, South Korea, and the United States (2026)
Zitatform
Cha, Youngjoo, Lena Hipp & Soocheol Cho (2026): Competing devotions in the postpandemic economy: the effect of remote working on perceptions of employees as “good workers” and “good parents” in Germany, South Korea, and the United States. In: Social forces. DOI:10.1093/sf/soaf218
Abstract
"Before the pandemic, remote workers were often perceived as less committed than their in-office counterparts. Have these perceptions persisted in the postpandemic era of global remote work expansion? Does working remotely affect how people are viewed as parents and not just as workers? How do these relationships differ across cultural contexts with different work and parenting norms? We address these questions using original, preregistered survey experiments in three countries with distinct work cultures and gender norms: Germany, South Korea, and the United States. In all three countries, remote workers are perceived as less committed to work but as better parents. These effects, however, differ across countries in gender-specific ways: when working remotely, South Korean fathers face larger penalties in perceived work commitment than fathers in Germany, and South Korean mothers receive larger parental rewards than mothers in both Germany and the United States. These findings suggest that workers face competing pressures from work and family, and that remote work can produce distinctively gendered outcomes—drawing mothers into remote work while pushing fathers away from it. However, this pattern only occurs in cultural contexts where work and parenting norms are strongly gendered, such as South Korea." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Is Hybrid Work the Best of Both Worlds? Evidence from a Field Experiment (2026)
Zitatform
Choudhury, Prithwiraj, Tarun Khanna, Christos A. Makridis & Kyle Schirmann (2026): Is Hybrid Work the Best of Both Worlds? Evidence from a Field Experiment. In: The Review of Economics and Statistics, Jg. 108, H. 4, S. 1134-1140. DOI:10.1162/rest_a_01428
Abstract
"This paper reports causal evidence on how the extent of hybrid work—the number of days worked from home relative to days worked from office—affects employee attitudes and performance. Workers who spent around two days in the office each week on average self-reported greater work-life balance, more job satisfaction, and lower isolation from colleagues compared to workers who spent more or fewer days in the office. Employees in the intermediate hybrid condition received no different performance ratings compared to peers who spent more or fewer days in the office." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © MIT Press Journals) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Working from home increases work–home distances (2026)
Zitatform
Coskun, Sena, Wolfgang Dauth, Hermann Gartner, Michael Stops & Enzo Weber (2026): Working from home increases work–home distances. In: Journal of Urban Economics, Jg. 152, 2026-01-09. DOI:10.1016/j.jue.2026.103832
Abstract
"Wir untersuchen, wie die verstärkte Nutzung von Homeoffice während und nach der Covid-19-Pandemie die Art und Weise beeinflusst, wie der Arbeitsmarkt und die Wahl von Wohn- und Arbeitsort interagieren. Für unsere Analyse kombinieren wir Individualdaten zu Erwerbsbiografien in Deutschland und einen neuen Homeoffice-Potenzialindikator, der auf umfassenden Daten zu berufsspezifischen Arbeitsbedingungen basiert. Wir stellen fest, dass sich im Zuge der Covid-19-Pandemie Arbeitsplatz und Wohnort von Beschäftigten in Berufen, die von zu Hause aus ausgeübt werden können, weiter entfernt haben: Der Zusammenhang zwischen Homeoffice-Potenzial und Entfernung zwischen Arbeitsplatz und Wohnort hat seit 2021 stetig zugenommen. Zuvor war der Zusammenhang über einen längeren Zeitraum stabil. Der Effekt ist für neue Arbeitsplätze im Vergleich zu bestehenden Arbeitsplätzen sehr viel größer. Im Vergleich zur Zeit vor der Pandemie, sind Jobs mit hohem Homeoffice-Potenzial im Durchschnitt weiter entfernt von den Wohnorten der Beschäftigten, die in diese Jobs gewechselt haben. Der größere Teil dieses Effekts ist auf Arbeitsplätze in Großstädten zurückzuführen, was darauf hindeutet, dass die Arbeit von zu Hause aus die Einschränkungen durch angespannte Wohnungsmärkte mildert. Wir finden dabei keine signifikanten Hinweise darauf, dass sich Pendelgewohnheiten bei Frauen oder Männern stärker verändert haben." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)
Beteiligte aus dem IAB
Coskun, Sena ; Weber, Enzo ; Gartner, Hermann ; Stops, Michael ; Dauth, Wolfgang ; -
Literaturhinweis
Hiring the ideal remote worker: the gendered implications of the rise of remote work (2026)
Zitatform
Daviss, Claire, Emma Williams-Baron & Erin Macke (2026): Hiring the ideal remote worker: the gendered implications of the rise of remote work. In: Social forces, Jg. 104, H. 4, S. 1313-1336. DOI:10.1093/sf/soaf141
Abstract
"The COVID-19 pandemic precipitated the widespread adoption of remote and hybrid work arrangements. How will this change affect parental status gaps in hiring? We experimentally test hiring decision-makers’ beliefs about companies’ preferences (i.e., third-order beliefs) and their personal preferences (i.e., first-order beliefs) when evaluating mothers, childless women, fathers, and childless men applying to in-person, remote, and hybrid jobs. Participants believed companies would prefer childless women over mothers in all three job types and expected no significant penalties for fathers versus childless men. However, participants’ own preferences varied across jobs: they preferred childless women over mothers applying for in-person jobs, but they held no significant preference for childless women or mothers in remote or hybrid jobs. In additional analyses of digital trace data, we show that the salience of parental status differs by job candidate gender and job type. Overall, our findings suggest meaningful variation in parental status hiring gaps across gender and core job features, with potential implications for gender inequality." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Fully remote work: Understanding employee experiences of work characteristics and work quality (2026)
Zitatform
Di Lauro, Stefano, Aizhan Tursunbayeva, Gilda Antonelli & Luigi Moschera (2026): Fully remote work: Understanding employee experiences of work characteristics and work quality. In: German Journal of Human Resource Management, S. 1-25. DOI:10.1177/23970022261454270
Abstract
"Fully remote work has increasingly become a standard operating model for many organizations. However, our understanding of employee experiences in entirely voluntary remote work environments remains limited, particularly regarding the specific work characteristics that define fully remote work, or how they interact with perceived work quality. To address this gap, this study investigates the multidimensional nature of employee experience in fully remote work by examining the relationship between work characteristics and work quality. We draw on 1659 Glassdoor employee reviews from 13 companies that operate exclusively remotely. Our analysis shows that social support, along with job autonomy, are the most salient and positively perceived work characteristics in fully remote settings. In contrast, workload and monitoring practices were consistently viewed as negative. Furthermore, the findings extend existing work characteristics models by identifying two novel dimensions – virtual team characteristics and task characteristics – that appear to be important in fully remote work contexts, responding to recent calls for more integrative perspectives on global virtual work that incorporate the dynamics of people, technology, context, and time. Taken together, these insights refine our understanding of employee experience in digitally mediated environments and offer practical guidance for designing fully remote roles that enhance it. In addition, they offer actionable implications for organizations by highlighting the importance of designing autonomy with clear coordination structures, fostering social support and belonging, and enhancing transparency around career development and recognition in fully remote settings. They also highlight several promising avenues for future research on remote work, job design, work quality, and employee experience." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Vereinbarung von Erwerbstätigkeit und Care für ältere Angehörige - die betriebliche Ebene: Fünf Fallstudien aus Österreich (2026)
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Dötig, Charlotte, Karl Krajic & Thomas Geisen (2026): Vereinbarung von Erwerbstätigkeit und Care für ältere Angehörige - die betriebliche Ebene. Fünf Fallstudien aus Österreich. In: Arbeit. Zeitschrift für Arbeitsforschung, Arbeitsgestaltung und Arbeitspolitik, Jg. 35, H. 1, S. 57-86. DOI:10.1515/arbeit-2026-0004
Abstract
"Viele Menschen im erwerbsfähigen Alter sind in Care-Aufgaben für ältere Personen involviert. Die Vereinbarung von Erwerbstätigkeit und informeller Care-Tätigkeit ist oft mit erheblichen Belastungen verbunden, sodass viele betroffene Personen ihre Erwerbstätigkeit reduzieren oder aufgeben. Bisher wurde nur in wenigen Studien untersucht, wie die Vereinbarkeit von Erwerbstätigkeit und Care effektiv und nachhaltig gestaltet werden kann und welche Rolle die betriebliche Ebene dabei spielt. Das Projekt COMBECA setzt an dieser Forschungslücke an und untersucht Praktiken der Vereinbarung auf betrieblicher Ebene in Österreich. Die hier dargestellten Ergebnisse einer systematisch vergleichenden Analyse der Vereinbarungspraktiken in fünf Betriebsfallstudien in Österreich wurden in Orientierung an der Grounded-Theory-Methode erarbeitet. Sie zeigen, dass der Entlastungs- bzw. Unterstützungsbedarf in den untersuchten Betrieben in der Regel individuell beurteilt und mit situationsangepassten Lösungen bearbeitet wird, die auch gut an die formalen Strukturen der Betriebe angeschlossen sind. Zentral ist dabei die Anpassung der zeitlichen Erwartungen der Berufsrollen, die je nach betrieblichem Kontext durch örtliche, personelle und sachliche Anpassungen ergänzt bzw. ermöglicht werden können." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)