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Teleworkability and the COVID-19 crisis: potential and actual prevalence of remote work across Europe

Matteo Sostero
Matteo Sostero
, 
Santo Milasi
Santo Milasi
, 
John Hurley
John Hurley
, 
Enrique Fernandez-Macias
Enrique Fernandez-Macias
 and 
Martina Bisello
Martina Bisello
   | Dec 17, 2023
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Published Online: Dec 17, 2023
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Received: Dec 02, 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/izajolp-2023-0006
Keywords
© 2023 Matteo Sostero et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Figure 1

Values of technical teleworkability variables from ICP survey.Note: The figure shows the density distribution plot for the values of physical interaction variables across 798 different CP 5-digit occupations, divided by 1-digit occupation major groups. Wider sections of the density curves mean that more occupations are clustered around that value of the importance score. The dashed line represents the threshold used to classify the technical teleworkability of occupations.
Values of technical teleworkability variables from ICP survey.Note: The figure shows the density distribution plot for the values of physical interaction variables across 798 different CP 5-digit occupations, divided by 1-digit occupation major groups. Wider sections of the density curves mean that more occupations are clustered around that value of the importance score. The dashed line represents the threshold used to classify the technical teleworkability of occupations.

Figure 2

Relationship between technical teleworkability and social interaction index by 3-digit ISCO08Note: The four quadrants are generated as follows. A cut-off point of 40 on the physical teleworkability scale to differentiate between teleworkable and non-teleworkable occupations (ISCO 3d) – as in the construction of the original index itself. We then further differentiate teleworkable jobs based on the social interaction scale discussed in the previous section and use a cut-off to differentiate between occupations with limited (<50) or extensive (>=50) social interaction. More detailed information on values of the “technical teleworkability” and “social interaction” indeces by occupations are provided in Appendix B.Source: Authors’ calculations from ICP and EWS.
Relationship between technical teleworkability and social interaction index by 3-digit ISCO08Note: The four quadrants are generated as follows. A cut-off point of 40 on the physical teleworkability scale to differentiate between teleworkable and non-teleworkable occupations (ISCO 3d) – as in the construction of the original index itself. We then further differentiate teleworkable jobs based on the social interaction scale discussed in the previous section and use a cut-off to differentiate between occupations with limited (<50) or extensive (>=50) social interaction. More detailed information on values of the “technical teleworkability” and “social interaction” indeces by occupations are provided in Appendix B.Source: Authors’ calculations from ICP and EWS.

Figure 3

% of EU dependent employment by level of teleworkability and social interactionSource: Authors’ calculations from EU-LFS, EWCS, ICP.
% of EU dependent employment by level of teleworkability and social interactionSource: Authors’ calculations from EU-LFS, EWCS, ICP.

Figure 4

Relationship between technical teleworkability and prevalence of telework in 2018 by 2-digit ISCO08Note: Employees only. “Teleworkability” refers to share of employment in teleworkable occupations according to our operationalisation; ‘telework, 2019 (2020)’ refers to share of employment working from home usually or sometime according to EU-LFS 2019 (2020) microdata (EU27).Source: Authors’ calculations from ICP, EWS, and EU-LFS.
Relationship between technical teleworkability and prevalence of telework in 2018 by 2-digit ISCO08Note: Employees only. “Teleworkability” refers to share of employment in teleworkable occupations according to our operationalisation; ‘telework, 2019 (2020)’ refers to share of employment working from home usually or sometime according to EU-LFS 2019 (2020) microdata (EU27).Source: Authors’ calculations from ICP, EWS, and EU-LFS.

Figure 5

Teleworkability and actual teleworking among employees by broad occupation groupNote: Employees only. “Teleworkability” refers to share of employment in teleworkable occupations according to our operationalisation; ‘telework, 2019 (2020)’ refers to share of employment working from home usually or sometime according to EU-LFS 2019 (2020) microdata (EU27).Source: Authors’ calculations from ICP, EWS, and EU-LFS.
Teleworkability and actual teleworking among employees by broad occupation groupNote: Employees only. “Teleworkability” refers to share of employment in teleworkable occupations according to our operationalisation; ‘telework, 2019 (2020)’ refers to share of employment working from home usually or sometime according to EU-LFS 2019 (2020) microdata (EU27).Source: Authors’ calculations from ICP, EWS, and EU-LFS.

Figure 6

Share of teleworkable employment, by country, in EU27Note: Employees only. Changes in the survey methodology have led to a break in German data in 2020. Estimates for 2020 therefore cannot be compared directly with those of previous years. In addition, data collection during 2020 was impacted by technical issues and COVID-19 measures. The German data published is therefore preliminary and may be revised in the future. For more information, see here.Source: Authors’ calculations from ICP, EWS, and EU-LFS.
Share of teleworkable employment, by country, in EU27Note: Employees only. Changes in the survey methodology have led to a break in German data in 2020. Estimates for 2020 therefore cannot be compared directly with those of previous years. In addition, data collection during 2020 was impacted by technical issues and COVID-19 measures. The German data published is therefore preliminary and may be revised in the future. For more information, see here.Source: Authors’ calculations from ICP, EWS, and EU-LFS.

Figure 7

Week-by-week share of employee usually (sometimes) working from home in 2020 in the EU27Note: Employees only. Figures refer to the weighted data for EU27 countries combined.Source: Authors’ calculations from EU-LFS ad-hoc extractions provided by Eurostat.
Week-by-week share of employee usually (sometimes) working from home in 2020 in the EU27Note: Employees only. Figures refer to the weighted data for EU27 countries combined.Source: Authors’ calculations from EU-LFS ad-hoc extractions provided by Eurostat.

Figure A1

Distribution of physical interaction variable “Lifting or moving people” from EWCSNote: The figure shows the distribution of the values of Lifting or moving people for 129 different ISCO 3-digit occupations, divided by 1-digit occupation major groups. The dashed line represents the threshold used to classify the technical teleworkability of occupations.
Distribution of physical interaction variable “Lifting or moving people” from EWCSNote: The figure shows the distribution of the values of Lifting or moving people for 129 different ISCO 3-digit occupations, divided by 1-digit occupation major groups. The dashed line represents the threshold used to classify the technical teleworkability of occupations.

Technical teleworkability index and social interaction index by ISCO08 3-digit occupations

ISCO08 code Occupation title Technical teleworkability Social interaction
111 Legislators and senior officials 1.00 0.68
112 Managing directors and chief executives 1.00 0.69
121 Business services and administration managers 1.00 0.61
122 Sales, marketing and development managers 1.00 0.65
131 Production managers in agriculture, forestry and fisheries 0.00 0.62
132 Manufacturing, mining, construction, and distribution managers 0.18 0.62
133 Information and communications technology service managers 1.00 0.57
134 Professional services managers 1.00 0.67
141 Hotel and restaurant managers 0.97 0.63
142 Retail and wholesale trade managers 0.07 0.67
143 Other services managers 0.89 0.61
211 Physical and earth science professionals 0.23 0.45
212 Mathematicians, actuaries and statisticians 1.00 0.59
213 Life science professionals 0.26 0.54
214 Engineering professionals (excluding electrotechnology) 0.25 0.50
215 Electrotechnology engineers 0.00 0.51
216 Architects, planners, surveyors and designers 0.38 0.36
221 Medical doctors 0.39 0.79
222

Value duplicated from 322: Nursing and midwifery associate professionals, because the official CP-ISCO mapping does not distinguish between the two.

 Nursing and Midwifery Professionals 0.00 0.94
225 Veterinarians 0.00 0.64
226 Other health professionals 0.59 0.75
231 University and higher education teachers 0.49 0.80
232 Vocational education teachers 1.00 0.76
233 Secondary education teachers 1.00 0.77
234 Primary school and early childhood teachers 0.61 0.78
235 Other teaching professionals 0.86 0.74
241 Finance professionals 1.00 0.46
242 Administration professionals 0.97 0.57
243 Sales, marketing and public relations professionals 1.00 0.56
251 Software and applications developers and analysts 1.00 0.46
252 Database and network professionals 1.00 0.41
261 Legal professionals 1.00 0.43
262 Librarians, archivists and curators 1.00 0.51
263 Social and religious professionals 0.98 0.67
264 Authors, journalists and linguists 1.00 0.43
265 Creative and performing artists 0.34 0.54
311 Physical and engineering science technicians 0.01 0.45
312 Mining, manufacturing and construction supervisors 0.00 0.57
313 Process control technicians 0.02 0.38
314 Life science technicians and related associate professionals 0.63 0.35
315 Ship and aircraft controllers and technicians 0.09 0.60
321 Medical and pharmaceutical technicians 0.00 0.39
322 Nursing and midwifery associate professionals 0.00 0.94
324 Veterinary technicians and assistants 0.00 0.39
325 Other health associate professionals 0.35 0.66
331 Financial and mathematical associate professionals 1.00 0.41
332 Sales and purchasing agents and brokers 1.00 0.66
333 Business services agents 1.00 0.52
334 Administrative and specialised secretaries 1.00 0.53
335 Regulatory government associate professionals 0.53 0.57
341 Legal, social and religious associate professionals 1.00 0.74
342 Sports and fitness workers 0.04 0.67
343 Artistic, cultural and culinary associate professionals 0.11 0.48
351 Information and communications technology operations and user support technicians 0.93 0.43
352 Telecommunications and broadcasting technicians 0.00 0.32
411 General office clerks 1.00 0.39
412 Secretaries (general) 1.00 0.44
413 Keyboard operators 1.00 0.29
421 Tellers, money collectors and related clerks 0.93 0.50
422 Client information workers 1.00 0.48
431 Numerical clerks 1.00 0.26
432 Material-recording and transport clerks 0.40 0.42
441 Other clerical support workers 0.82 0.40
511 Travel attendants, conductors and guides 0.73 0.78
512 Cooks 0.00 0.48
513 Waiters and bartenders 0.00 0.56
514 Hairdressers, beauticians and related workers 0.00 0.58
515 Building and housekeeping supervisors 0.00 0.70
516 Other personal services workers 0.32 0.55
521 Street and market salespersons 0.00 0.84
522 Shop salespersons 0.04 0.80
523

Value for the main subgroup (CP 5.1.2.4.0) changed manually from teleworkable to non teleworkable.

 Cashiers and ticket clerks 0.10 0.51
524 Other sales workers 0.33 0.50
531

Value just below the threshold, moved from teleworkable to non teleworkable.

 Child care workers and teachers’ aides 0.00 0.75
532 Personal care workers in health services 0.00 0.54
541 Protective services workers 0.40 0.57
611 Market gardeners and crop growers 0.00 0.43
612 Animal producers 0.00 0.33
613 Mixed crop and animal producers 0.00 0.36
621 Forestry and related workers 0.00 0.46
622 Fishery workers, hunters and trappers 0.00 0.41
711 Building frame and related trades workers 0.00 0.27
712 Building finishers and related trades workers 0.00 0.38
713 Painters, building structure cleaners and related trades workers 0.00 0.31
721 Sheet and structural metal workers, moulders and welders, and related workers 0.00 0.38
722 Blacksmiths, toolmakers and related trades workers 0.00 0.32
723 Machinery mechanics and repairers 0.00 0.33
731 Handicraft workers 0.00 0.36
732 Printing trades workers 0.33 0.30
741 Electrical equipment installers and repairers 0.00 0.40
742 Electronics and telecommunications installers and repairers 0.00 0.42
751 Food processing and related trades workers 0.00 0.50
752 Wood treaters, cabinet-makers and related trades workers 0.00 0.37
753 Garment and related trades workers 0.00 0.36
754 Other craft and related workers 0.00 0.36
811 Mining and mineral processing plant operators 0.00 0.27
812 Metal processing and finishing plant operators 0.00 0.33
813 Chemical and photographic products plant and machine operators 0.00 0.30
814 Rubber, plastic and paper products machine operators 0.00 0.28
815 Textile, fur and leather products machine operators 0.25 0.31
816 Food and related products machine operators 0.00 0.33
817 Wood processing and papermaking plant operators 0.00 0.35
818 Other stationary plant and machine operators 0.00 0.29
821 Assemblers 0.00 0.26
831 Locomotive engine drivers and related workers 0.00 0.18
832 Car, van and motorcycle drivers 0.00 0.52
833 Heavy truck and bus drivers 0.00 0.18
834 Mobile plant operators 0.00 0.25
835 Ships’ deck crews and related workers 0.00 0.26
911 Domestic, hotel and office cleaners and helpers 0.00 0.32
912 Vehicle, window, laundry and other hand cleaning workers 0.00 0.45
921 Agricultural, forestry and fishery labourers 0.00 0.24
931 Mining and construction labourers 0.00 0.19
932 Manufacturing labourers 0.00 0.24
933 Transport and storage labourers 0.00 0.20
941 Food preparation assistants 0.00 0.26
951 Street and related service workers 0.00 0.43
952 Street vendors (excluding food) 0.00 0.71
961 Refuse workers 0.00 0.29
962 Other elementary workers 0.28 0.36

Variables selected for social interaction index

Variable Scale Unit Source
Selling or Influencing Others Importance (0–100) CP 5 digit ICP
Training and Teaching Others Importance (0–100) CP 5 digit ICP
Assisting and Caring for Others Importance (0–100) CP 5 digit ICP
Performing for or Working Directly with the Public Importance (0–100) CP 5 digit ICP
Coordinate the work and tasks of others Importance (0–100) CP 5 digit ICP

Variables selected for technical teleworkability index

Variable Scale reported Unit Source
Manual Dexterity Importance (0–100) CP 5 digit ICP
Finger Dexterity Importance (0–100) CP 5 digit ICP
Performing General Physical Activities Importance (0–100) CP 5 digit ICP
Handling and Moving Objects Importance (0–100) CP 5 digit ICP
Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Material Importance (0–100) CP 5 digit ICP
Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment Importance (0–100) CP 5 digit ICP
Lifting or moving people Frequency (7-point scale) ISCO 3 digit EWCS
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