Social Europe

  • EU Forward Project
  • YouTube
  • Podcast
  • Books
  • Newsletter
  • Membership

ICT-enabled flexible working—all plain sailing?

Irene Mandl and Oscar Vargas Llave 11th June 2019

Tech-based flexible working conjures up the independent consultant tapping on her tablet with a latte to hand. But the picture may not be so positive.

flexible working

Irene Mandl

Flexible working time and flexible places of work are nothing new. But advances in information and communications technology have added a new dimension to flexibility, allowing workers to connect virtually with colleagues, clients and business partners anytime, anywhere. ICT has opened the door to new ways of organising work, resulting in much more flexibility around when and where tasks are performed. We are shifting from a regular, bureaucratic and ‘factory-based’ working-time pattern towards a more flexible model of work.

flexible working

Oscar Vargas Llave

Around one fifth of workers in the European Union telework from home or engage in ICT-based mobile work: they work, occasionally or regularly, from somewhere other than a main place of work—such as a train or a coffee shop—depending heavily on mobile devices such as a laptop or tablet. There is variation by country: as the chart below illustrates, proportions range from 8 per cent in Italy to 33 per cent in Denmark.

Percentage of workers doing telework and ICT-based mobile work, by employment status
flexible working

Source: European Working Conditions Survey 2015

 

This diversity across Europe is due to a combination of factors, such as a country’s affinity for technology, the availability and quality of its technological infrastructure, the management culture and the drive for higher productivity within companies, and employees’ needs for spatial and temporal flexibility to balance work demands with family commitments and other personal responsibilities.

Increased flexibility is generally perceived as a positive feature of job quality. It gives workers more autonomy and control, allowing them to combine work with a variety of life situations and to make choices according to their individual preferences. This potentially boosts productivity while enabling a better work-life balance. From a labour-market perspective, ICT-supported flexibility offers better employment opportunities for some groups of workers—such as those with disabilities, illnesses or care responsibilities, whom a standard work schedule doesn’t suit, or those living in remote areas with few local employers.



Don't miss out on cutting-edge thinking.


Join tens of thousands of informed readers and stay ahead with our insightful content. It's free.



Downsides

But this type of working also has downsides. Paradoxically, the elevated autonomy quite often results in people working longer hours or at higher intensity, because they use the flexibility to supplement rather than replace office time. Or they feel pressurised to do more work in exchange for the flexibility provided by the employer or because of excessive workload.

Sometimes, this situation can be a result of work organisation but it can also be due to the worker’s desire to prove their performance is unaffected or even enhanced by their location. As a result, teleworkers and ICT-based mobile workers who work more intensively are more likely to report high stress, anxiety, sleeping disorders, headaches and eye strain.

A new phenomenon is being observed among these workers—virtual ‘presenteeism’. Presenteeism is when employees go to work in spite of being sick. Again, it is nothing new and is often related to the employee’s fear of negative consequences if they miss work. But ICT is facilitating people to work from home when they’re not feeling well, which is likely to impair their performance. What such behaviour could mean for the recovery process and their long-term health has not been explored.

Self-employed

The self-employed comprise a section of the high-autonomy workforce likely to embrace flexibility-enabling ICT, in line with the shift to a service economy. And there is anecdotal evidence that for at least some types of freelancers—such as consultants or those in the creative industries—clients value their ability to adapt their working hours and to operate from different locations.

So far, little research has been carried out on ICT-supported flexible working among the self-employed. The available evidence is generally positive: it supports their entrepreneurial initiatives and fosters their professional prospects, while helping them overcome professional isolation by keeping them in virtual touch with colleagues.

But this group also risks having lesser rest periods than others who are self-employed. They are not covered by labour law, which at least in some countries is already addressing the ‘right to disconnect’. So it is particularly important for them to find individual ways to do so—balancing the business need with their own health and wellbeing.

More on flexible working

On 13 June 2019 from 15:00 to 16:30 CET, Eurofound will host the webinar ‘Flexible working in the digital age: is everyone a winner?’. You can sign up to watch and participate at the link below. The video and other material will be made available after the event.

Webinar: Flexible working in the digital age: is everyone a winner?

Irene Mandl and Oscar Vargas Llave

Irene Mandl is head of the employment research unit at Eurofound and Oscar Vargas Llave is a research officer in its working life unit.

Harvard University Press Advertisement

Social Europe Ad - Promoting European social policies

We need your help.

Support Social Europe for less than €5 per month and help keep our content freely accessible to everyone. Your support empowers independent publishing and drives the conversations that matter. Thank you very much!

Social Europe Membership

Click here to become a member

Most Recent Articles

u42198346ae 124dc10ce3a0 0 When Ideology Trumps Economic InterestsDani Rodrik
u4219834676e9f0d82cb8a5 2 The Competitiveness Trap: Why Only Shared Prosperity Delivers Economic Strength—and Resilience Against the Far RightMarija Bartl
u4219834676 bcba 6b2b3e733ce2 1 The End of an Era: What’s Next After Globalisation?Apostolos Thomadakis
u4219834674a bf1a 0f45ab446295 0 Germany’s Subcontracting Ban in the Meat IndustryŞerife Erol, Anneliese Kärcher, Thorsten Schulten and Manfred Walser

Most Popular Articles

u4219834647f 0894ae7ca865 3 Europe’s Businesses Face a Quiet Takeover as US Investors CapitaliseTej Gonza and Timothée Duverger
u4219834674930082ba55 0 Portugal’s Political Earthquake: Centrist Grip Crumbles, Right AscendsEmanuel Ferreira
u421983467e58be8 81f2 4326 80f2 d452cfe9031e 1 “The Universities Are the Enemy”: Why Europe Must Act NowBartosz Rydliński
u42198346761805ea24 2 Trump’s ‘Golden Era’ Fades as European Allies Face Harsh New RealityFerenc Németh and Peter Kreko

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Spring Issues

The Summer issue of The Progressive Post is out!


It is time to take action and to forge a path towards a Socialist renewal.


European Socialists struggle to balance their responsibilities with the need to take bold positions and actions in the face of many major crises, while far-right political parties are increasingly gaining ground. Against this background, we offer European progressive forces food for thought on projecting themselves into the future.


Among this issue’s highlights, we discuss the transformative power of European Social Democracy, examine the far right’s efforts to redesign education systems to serve its own political agenda and highlight the growing threat of anti-gender movements to LGBTIQ+ rights – among other pressing topics.

READ THE MAGAZINE

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

WSI Report

WSI Minimum Wage Report 2025

The trend towards significant nominal minimum wage increases is continuing this year. In view of falling inflation rates, this translates into a sizeable increase in purchasing power for minimum wage earners in most European countries. The background to this is the implementation of the European Minimum Wage Directive, which has led to a reorientation of minimum wage policy in many countries and is thus boosting the dynamics of minimum wages. Most EU countries are now following the reference values for adequate minimum wages enshrined in the directive, which are 60% of the median wage or 50 % of the average wage. However, for Germany, a structural increase is still necessary to make progress towards an adequate minimum wage.

DOWNLOAD HERE

S&D Group in the European Parliament advertisement

Cohesion Policy

S&D Position Paper on Cohesion Policy post-2027: a resilient future for European territorial equity

Cohesion Policy aims to promote harmonious development and reduce economic, social and territorial disparities between the regions of the Union, and the backwardness of the least favoured regions with a particular focus on rural areas, areas affected by industrial transition and regions suffering from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps, such as outermost regions, regions with very low population density, islands, cross-border and mountain regions.

READ THE FULL POSITION PAPER HERE

ETUI advertisement

HESA Magazine Cover

With a comprehensive set of relevant indicators, presented in 85 graphs and tables, the 2025 Benchmarking Working Europe report examines how EU policies can reconcile economic, social and environmental goals to ensure long-term competitiveness. Considered a key reference, this publication is an invaluable resource for supporting European social dialogue.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Ageing workforce
The evolution of working conditions in Europe

This episode of Eurofound Talks examines the evolving landscape of European working conditions, situated at the nexus of profound technological transformation.

Mary McCaughey speaks with Barbara Gerstenberger, Eurofound's Head of Unit for Working Life, who leverages insights from the 35-year history of the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS).

Listen to the episode for free. Also make sure to subscribe to Eurofound Talks so you don’t miss an episode!

LISTEN NOW

Social Europe

Our Mission

Team

Article Submission

Advertisements

Membership

Social Europe Archives

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Miscellaneous

RSS Feed

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641

BlueskyXWhatsApp