A phenomenological study on working from home in the service sector during the Covid-19 pandemic period

ABSTRACT A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY ON WORKING FROM HOME IN THE SERVICE SECTOR DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC PERIOD Birol ALTUN Declared as a pandemic, the coronavirus disease Covid-19 has had an impact on the world since 2019 and depending on the measures taken and vaccinations, it began to lose its effects in the first quarter of 2022. The remote working model, which was common especially in developed countries in the pre-pandemic period, has become widespread throughout the world with the impact of the pandemic. This study firstly reveals the effects of the pandemic on the labor markets. The definition and types of remote work are discussed. During this period, due to the measures taken to prevent the spread of the pandemic, remote working was carried out at employees' homes. For this reason, the study examined the work from home application, which is a type of remote working model. The experiences of the participants who worked from home during this period were included. The sample of this research, which we conducted with the phenomenological approach, which is one of the qualitative research designs, consists of 27 office workers who have no previous experience of working from home, are dependent and work with indefinite-term employment contracts. Participants experienced working from home for the first time during the pandemic. The working from home model is analyzed with the data obtained from 33 semi-structured open-ended questions. Working from home has been widely implemented in labor markets due to the measures taken during the pandemic. Thus, economies have been prevented from completely stagnating. The home working model has advantages for employees such as work flexibility, employee autonomy, protection from the epidemic and contribution to employment. It has disadvantages such as social isolation, presenteeism, work-life balance problems and organizational problems. In the study, categories such as stress, commitment, occupational health and safety, data security, communication and control, which are a part of business life, are addressed and evaluated within the working from home model. Keywords: Covid-19, Home Workers, Remote Work, Technology, Unemployment,