COVID-19 and the Effect of Remote Working on Motivation, Productivity, and Wellbeing of Employees in the UK Finance Sector

Abstract

Purpose: This study will explore the effect that remote working has on employees working in the UK finance sector, by analysing the impact on employee’s motivation, productivity and wellbeing. This study adopted a quantitative methodology through the use of an online questionnaire to gain a better understanding of the current impact that Covid-19 has on working conditions of employees in the finance sector. A total of 100 respondents took part. Methodology: The data collection method for this study was a quantitative approach, which was conducted using an online survey. The sampling method for this study used a non-probability, snowball approach, and also using appropriate social media platforms. Findings: Key findings from this study identified that 95% of financial services employees worked remotely full-time during the pandemic, with 4% working part-time at home, and only 1% not working from home. It also found that remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on employee well-being, especially amongst senior managers and financial directors, due to the change and adaptation to the Covid-19 pandemic (HSE 2020). Another key finding identified that a positive work-life-balance has been hard to achieve while remote working, as 80% of participants declared they worked longer days. This result aligned with 2.1 of the literature, which found that the home environment may lack impermeable borders that can lead to an inability to switch off in the evening (Sullivan 2012). A finding, which disagreed with recent studies among companies such as KPMG (2020) which found that 78% of employees were able to work effectively from home, whereas this study found that 35% of participants found it either moderately or often challenging to maintain high-productivity levels of a day-to-day basis.