Thuiswerkers in tijden van de COVID-19-pandemie: Inzichten in verandering in gezondheid en arbeidsomstandigheden, en de rol van persoonskenmerken

Working from home during COVID-19: a descriptive study on the changes in working conditions and health. This study provides an overview of the changes in working conditions and health of home workers in the Netherlands between 2019 (pre COVID-19) and July 2020 (during the COVID-19 pandemic). Moreover, this descriptive study examined if these changes differ across different group of workers (i.e. gender, age, and taking care for (young) children). McNemar test, paired T-tests and a combination of T-tests and weighted deviation contrasts were used to examine differences between 2019 and 2020. In general, the results show a diverse pattern – with both some improvements as well as some deteriorations of working conditions and health – among home workers. First, compared to the pre-covid situation, during the pandemic respondents worked more overtime and less home workers experienced high autonomy. Furthermore, the majority of the home workers did not have an ergonomic workplace at home. The results also showed more sedentary behavior in 2020 compared to 2019. On the other hand, during the covid period, less respondents said to experience high workload or emotional job demands. Additionally, more home workers reported a good self-perceived general and physical health. Overall, the degree of burnout complaints, work-life imbalance and social support does not change between measurements. Personal characteristics seem to play a role in changes in health and working conditions. More women and workers with a temporary contract reported burn-out complaints during the covid-period than before, whereas the proportion of men reporting burn-out complaints slightly decreased. The proportion of women and parents with young children with high autonomy decreased. Additionally, more parents with young children experienced a work-life imbalance.