Kurt Lorenz A. Balingit Jed Matthew P. Francisco Simon Steven N.

Hain 11-Srugi
Jann Arden F. Jadwani Josh Emmanuel G. Jayme 04/11/2022

Lived Experiences of Businesses on Work From Home mode: A phenomenological study

Research Problem and Its Background

The mode of Working From Home (WFH) is prominent in today’s society. Due to the disruption

caused by the current CoVid-19 pandemic, many questions have been raised as to how this mode of

working affects the businesses of different sectors. De La Cruz, C. I. (2021) “According to a mass study

conducted by SEEK Asia, BCG, and The Network in the year 2021, 52% of Filipinos already work

from home pre-pandemic”. As a result of the virus, most of the working population has to go through

this as well which caused a spike in the number of remote working Filipinos by 33%. Having this in

mind, many Filipinos prefer to continue to work from home even post-pandemic since it is much more

convenient, safe, and they get to be with their families for more hours of the day. In the same article, it

is stated that “49% of workers prefer to work from home” which gives the idea that this mode of

working is very popular amongst Filipino workers. But this change brings many adjustments to the

business world due to the fact that most of the operating businesses have already established onsite

working, and transitioning from this mode to working from home is a big factor to consider as it can

cause major changes on a business. If businesses were to implement working from home as one of their

main methods, it is important to first know and understand the advantages/disadvantages for both

parties (which are the employees and the business), and if this change is sustainable for the long term,

especially since the Philippines is considered to be a 3rd world country. This research aims to explore

the experiences of different people working from home to determine if this method can be an

alternative to onsite working.

Research Goal

The main objective of this study is to recognize how businesses adapt to working from home,

and if this method is sustainable for the long term. The study found that while working from home

has its benefits, it also has drawbacks or consequences for employees and employers, such as

conflicts due to distractions and a lack of personal or workspace at home, inability to adapt to the

digital/technology aspect of business, lack of support/motivation from leaders or coworkers, and poor

internet bandwidth in the Philippines. The objectives/goals of this study’s discussion aim to; discuss

the drawbacks of full-time work from home employees as well as the possible advantages/benefits for

both employees and businesses; Examine the impact of working from home on business operations

and/or functionality; and lastly, assess survey results, and summarize the characteristics and variables

that may have taken a toll on companies, businesses, and employees caused by the transition of

working from home.

Research Questions

1. Understanding that WFH has both its benefits and disadvantages, would it be beneficial for

businesses to keep this mode of work, for the long run?

2. What particular aspects of a business gets impacted by this change of work setting?

3. What impact does working from home have on employer-employee relationship?

Research Design and Data Collection Methods

Lockdowns, bans and other measures have been in place around the world for more than two

years. In light of this, researchers have chosen a design and data gathering strategy that does not

necessitate physical meetings. The study will employ an interview methodology research design, which

will aid the researchers in gathering data more effectively by allowing them to make use of the

participant’s experiences, which will help in answering the researcher’s questions. Handpicked

individuals who are willing to participate in responding to the constructed questions will be the mode

of data collection. The purpose of this kind of data collection is to gain data and insights about the

participant’s experiences working from home and how businesses adjusted to this mode of working.

Related Literature

Governments and localities have taken steps to counteract the Coronavirus Disease 2019

pandemic, they implemented measures of "social distancing" such as the closing of companies and

issuing stay at home orders. Even before the epidemic, the teleworking job had been on the rise and has

now exploded with a lot more people shifting to remote work when the opportunity arises. During the

first week of April, an estimate of 31% of workers who were employed in early March had shifted to

remote work and that is all according to the recent study by Erik Brynjolfsson et al. Workers are able to

work from home until the pandemic is contained, even if the remote working orders are not as tight.

(Dey, M., Frazis, H., Loewenstein, M. A., & Sun, H., 2020).

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted a shift to telework, configuration reversals, future

workplace design, and re-engineering of office working protocols because organizations must make

strategic judgments about how to balance employees’ public health and safety against the COVID-19
transmission and the finance of the organization. Prioritizing the choices among the occupational health

and safety and financial returns are reflected in management methods. Office management strategy and

rationales will become physically visible and accountable to office personnel and other stakeholders

and official accountability reports. (Parker, L.D. 2020)

Since 2012, quite a lot has changed, and remote working has become more convenient. Recent

surveys show that working from home speeds up project turnaround and increases productivity.

Directives in 2020 were compared to the period in 2019 during the first 6 months of stay at home.

Remote work productivity remained steady or increased throughout the course of a 2-year survey of

800,000 workers. Prodoscore says productivity is up 47% between March and April 2019, and March

2020. The survey found that workers are most productive between 10:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. The typical

workweek is 8:30 a.m. up until 5:30 p.m., and more workers communicate via email and CRM

software. (Bradshaw, R. 2022)

Definition of Terms

Work From Home (WFH) - The term working from home/remote work/teleworking, is a term

that refers to the mode of setup most people are using, ever since the start of the Coronavirus-19

pandemic. This basically means that the employee would not travel from home to work, nor leave their

own premises, to do their job.

References

Bradshaw, R. (2022, January 17). Surprising Working From Home Productivity Statistics (2022).

Apollo Technical LLC. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from

https://www.apollotechnical.com/working-from-home-productivity-statistics/

Chen, Z. (2021, September 23). Influence of Working From Home During the COVID-19 Crisis and HR

Practitioner Response. Frontiers. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.710517/full

De La Cruz, C. I. (2020, September 22). Filipinos Prefer Work-From-Home, Despite Its Drawbacks.

SPOT.PH. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from

https://www.spot.ph/newsfeatures/the-latest-news-features/83643/work-from-home-is-taking-a-toll-on-f

ilipinos-mental-health-a833-20200917-lfrm

De La Cruz, C. I. (2021, May 4). Almost 50% Filipinos Now Prefer Working From Home, Says

JobStreet. SPOT.PH. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from

https://www.spot.ph/newsfeatures/the-latest-news-features/86046/almost-50-filipinos-prefer-work-from

-home-set-up-a833-20210503

Dey, M., Frazis, H., Loewenstein, M. A., & Sun, H. (2020). Ability to work from home: evidence from

two surveys and implications for the labor market in the COVID-19 pandemic. Monthly Labor Review,

1–19. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/26931202

Dockery, M., & Bawa, S. (2020, May 8). Working from Home in the COVID-19 Lockdown. Bankwest

Curtin Economics Centre Research. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from

https://bcec.edu.au/assets/2020/05/BCEC-COVID19-Brief-4_Working-from-home.pdf

Parker, L. D. (2020, July 23). The COVID-19 office in transition: cost, efficiency and the social

responsibility business case | Emerald Insight. Emerald Insight. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/AAAJ-06-2020-4609/full/html

Yeung, T. (2022, March 18). Employees on coming back to the office after working from home. Cnn.

Retrieved April 4, 2022, from

https://www.cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/Workplace/2022/3/18/back-to-office-after-work-from-hom

e.html

Zhang, T. (2021, April 25). Working from home: small business performance and the COVID-19

pandemic. SpringerLink. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11187-021-00493-6?error=cookies_not_supported&code=137

eecc4-59db-403c-8698-7dfb770448ac