Many South Africans who are working from home due to the lockdown say while avoiding traffic and early morning alarms are a bonus – the office is a better place to work from.
A Johannesburg mother of three, Candice Maistry says working from home has forced her to go beyond the call of duty. She says she has dedicated more time to her laptop and less to her family.
“My hours of working are not as consistent as that of the office. I work later, start later and I even work on the weekends. It is eating into my family time because I place no restriction on a start and end. Some of the restrictions are having to continuously check on the kids, even though the helper is around.
“If your child is calling you, you’re not going to ignore them. If they need attention, there is no such thing as I will give it to you later. They are at that age when they don’t understand that mummy is working and working from home. There is no differentiation from weekday to weekend,” Maistry explains.
Advantages of working from home:
Labour analyst Terry Bell – who is currently writing an article on the work from home model – has predicted that a large number of companies will adopt the practice after the coronavirus lockdown.
He says the benefits of working from home for employers are significant. Bell says, fewer cars on the road would mean reduced road fatalities and less pollution.
“I certainly do see that working from home is going to become much more common. It’s a lot cheaper for employers because they don’t have to provide office space. From a worker’s point of view, they end up working as individuals, they will then end up being negotiated with as individuals. It’s extremely advantageous for employers, productivity does not fall. That has been shown around the world. In fact, it tends to increase. People get out of bed and go “Oh my god, I better get on with that”. There’s no more having a chat or coffee with your mates. Looking at it from a wider perspective, it’s much more advantageous, less traffic on the roads, less pollution.”
In the video below, working remotely and how SLA’s and KPI’s are affected:
Productivity
While the national lockdown has forced many companies to equip employees to work from home, analysts believe the model will be introduced by many corporates after COVID-19. Some South Africans working from home say their productivity levels have since increased, due to less stress and no traffic.
Mother of two from Durban Thelma Mnembe says, “Working from home has been amazing, I dont have to worry about getting to the office, getting stuck in traffic, working up early. The stress levels have actually been decreased by the fact that I’m actually working from home. I’m able to do my work perfectly with no issues whatsoever. If you stationed at home. you don’t have to worry about your kids not coming back home from school on time.”
Amendments of lockdown regulations:
-Reporting by Prabashini Naicker
