Effectiveness of workplace interventions with digital elements to reduce sedentary behaviours in office employees: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Digital interventions are potential tools for reducing and limiting occupational sedentary behaviour (SB) in sedentary desk-based jobs. Given the harmful effects of sitting too much and sitting for too long while working, the aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine the effectiveness of workplace interventions, that incorporated digital elements, to reduce the time spent in SB in office workers. METHODS: Randomised control trials that evaluated the implementation of workplace interventions that incorporated digital elements for breaking and limiting SB among desk-based jobs were identified by literature searches in six electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL, PsycINFO and PEDro) published up to 2023. Studies were included if total and/or occupational SB were assessed. Only studies that reported pre- and postintervention mean differences and standard deviations or standard errors for both intervention arms were used for the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis was conducted using Review Manager 5 (RevMan 5; Cochrane Collaboration, Oxford, UK). Risk of bias was assessed using the Standard Quality Assessment Criteria for Evaluating Primary Research Papers from a Variety of Fields QUALSYST tool. RESULTS: Nineteen studies were included in the systematic review. The most employed digital elements were information delivery and mediated organisational support and social influences. Multicomponent, information, and counselling interventions measuring total and/or occupational/nonoccupational SB time by self-report or via device-based measures were reported. Multicomponent interventions were the most represented. Eleven studies were included in the meta-analysis, which presented a reduction of 29.9 (95% CI: -45.2, -14.5) min/8 h workday in SB (overall effect: Z = 3.81). CONCLUSIONS: Multicomponent interventions, using a wide range of digital features, have demonstrated effectiveness in reducing time spent in SB at the workplace among desk-based employees. However, due to hybrid work (i.e., work in the office and home) being a customary mode of work for many employees, it is important for future studies to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of these interventions in the evolving work landscape. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The review protocol was registered in the Prospero database (CRD42022377366).

Low impact of regular PCR testing on presence at work site during the COVID-19 pandemic: experiences during an open observational study in Lower Saxony 2020-21.

BACKGROUND: Since social distancing during the COVID-19-pandemic had a profound impact on professional life, this study investigated the effect of PCR testing on on-site work. METHODS: PCR screening, antibody testing, and questionnaires offered to 4,890 working adults in Lower Saxony were accompanied by data collection on demographics, family status, comorbidities, social situation, health-related behavior, and the number of work-related contacts. Relative risks (RR) with 95 % confidence intervals were estimated for the associations between regular PCR testing and other work and health-related variables, respectively, and working on-site. Analyses were stratified by the suitability of work tasks for mobile office. RESULTS: Between April 2020 and February 2021, 1,643 employees underwent PCR testing. Whether mobile working was possible strongly influenced the work behavior. Persons whose work was suitable for mobile office (mobile workers) had a lower probability of working on-site than persons whose work was not suitable for mobile office (RR = 0.09 (95 % CI: 0.07 - 0.12)). In mobile workers, regular PCR-testing was slightly associated with working on-site (RR = 1.19 (0.66; 2.14)). In those whose working place was unsuitable for mobile office, the corresponding RR was 0.94 (0.80; 1.09). Compared to persons without chronic diseases, chronically ill persons worked less often on-site if their workplace was suitable for mobile office (RR = 0.73 (0.40; 1.33)), but even more often if their workplace was not suitable for mobile office (RR = 1.17 (1.04; 1.33)). CONCLUSION: If work was suitable for mobile office, regular PCR-testing did not have a strong effect on presence at the work site. TRIAL REGISTRATION: An ethics vote of the responsible medical association (Lower Saxony, Germany) retrospectively approved the evaluation of the collected subject data in a pseudonymized form in the context of medical studies (No. Bo/30/2020; Bo/31/2020; Bo/32/2020).

Perceived Physical Discomfort and Its Associations With Home Office Characteristics During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and change in perception of physical discomfort, including musculoskeletal discomfort, during the COVID-19 pandemic and to determine associations of demographic factors, telework activity, and home office characteristics with the highest prevalence of discomfort. BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic forced a substantial increase in telework in many countries. The sudden change from a regular workplace to an improvised "home office" may have an impact on working conditions and physical symptoms of office workers. However, investigations in this area remain limited. METHOD: A cross-sectional study design was used to compare self-reported complaints of physical discomfort perceived from before with those during the pandemic. Associations between complaints and home office characteristics were investigated from 150 faculty and 51 administrative staff of an academic institution with an age range of 41.16 ± 10.20 (59% female). RESULTS: A significant increase of physical discomfort was found during the pandemic period for head, eyes, hand, and upper back for both staff and faculty and neck, shoulders, elbows, and lower back for faculty only. Logistic regression analyses point to associations with the lack of a laptop stand, uncomfortable desk, poor lighting, and sitting time, among others. CONCLUSION: A high prevalence of physical discomfort was reported by teleworkers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some home office characteristics were associated with these discomforts. APPLICATION: Some telework characteristics seem to be risk factors for physical discomfort. Consideration should be given to teaching best practices for workstation setup and/or conducting other preventive interventions in the work environment.

Use of Digital Technologies in Home Office Work during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: Social distancing as a preventive measure to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many people working from home, using online digital resources. Staying at home has led to the adaptation of many work activities to allow continuity of people´s jobs. It can also affect home routines and ways of working, thereby leading to changes in behavior, as the main interest of this study. Objective: The study aimed to assess the impact on human behavior of working conditions in home office format due to social distancing. Methods: Data collection was done online, using a specific computational tool (Google Forms) for this type of research, using the Home Office Work Scale (HOWS) validated and published in Mental Health and Addiction Research in 2021, with a total sample of 1,056 valid questionnaires. After the data collection, a database was created for statistical analysis of the results. Results: More women than men volunteered to answer the questionnaire, although the results were similar between women and men. Home office work has impacts on human behavior and results in changes in routines and adaptations in people´s personal and professional lives. Conclusion: Proportionally, more women participated, and there was low participation by young and elderly people. In general, people accepted home office work and the possibility of continuing to work in this format. Changes to routines and restrictive adaptations were necessary. The limitations reported for applying the scale did not compromise the results.

[Carrying out digital work situation analyses for mobile flexible work to ascertain the consequences of mental stress]. / Durchführung von digitalen Arbeitssituationsanalysen für die mobil-flexible Arbeit zur Erhebung von psychischen Belastungsfolgen: Befragung von Mitarbeiter*innen einer öffentlichen Verwaltung zu Homeoffice ­ Erfahrungen während der SARS-CoV-2-Pandemie.

Background: In the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, work in many companies was relocated to the home and the work situation of the employees changed suddenly and within a short period of time. In order to identify possible stressors and to expand health resources, a multifactorial analysis of the work situation is necessary. Objective: The goal of this work was to provide an in-depth analysis in the area of occupational health management even in times of contact restrictions. With the help of digital work situation analysis (ASITA) both stressors and strengths of the home office activity in a public administration were identified and recommendations for appropriate action were derived. Material and methods: Using digital ASITAs, 3 groups (in total 16 employees) were asked about their work situation and conditions at home. Employees who worked at least 2 days per week from home during the last 12 weeks before the survey were included in the studies. Results: Working from home places new demands on employees, which in turn lead to both positive and negative consequences. An example of a positive change can be seen with respect to the work organization. Employees reported many advantages, such as the reduction of time commuting to work, and better time management. An example of a negative outcome can be seen in terms of communication in the company, where clear structures are lacking for working in the home office. Discussion: Digital work situation analysis can be an instrumental tool to examine health burdens and benefits, even in companies with mobile flexible work models. As shown by the pandemic, a change in the work situation within companies requires a continuous process of reflection, a process in which the health of the employees must be an essential part.

Police employees working from home during COVID-19 lockdown: Those with higher score on extraversion miss their colleagues more and are more likely to socialize with colleagues outside work.

There is a general opinion that extraverted people suffer more than introverted people in home-office arrangement and the social distancing regulation imposed by the government during the Corona Virus Disease 2019 pandemic (COVID-19). However, scarce research exists concerning how extraversion is associated with satisfaction with home-office arrangement, to what extent individuals miss their colleagues, level of stress, and whether they meet colleagues outside work during lockdown. An online survey was distributed in six police districts in Norway during late May and beginning of June, right before the most stringent measures for constraining risk of COVID-infection was lifted. 1133 out of 1472 reported that their work-situation was home-office, or combined home-office and physical attendance at work. Contrary to what expected, extraversion was not related to satisfaction with home-office arrangement when controlling for other relevant variables (i.e. stress, home-office only, living alone, age, gender and civilian employment). As hypothesized, those with a higher score on extraversion missed their colleagues more than those with low scores. There was a marginal, although significant, negative association between extraversion and stress, and a significant positive relationship between stress and the extent the respondents missed their colleagues during lockdown, independent of extraversion. The results showed a dose-response relationship between extraversion and meeting colleagues outside the work during lockdown.

Decarbonizing the energy supply one pandemic at a time.

This study explores different energy consumption vectors during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal. Most of the workforce started working from home and resource consumption significantly shifted towards the domestic sector. The ensuing confinement protocols caused a shift in everyday life, which in turn significantly altered the energy supply and demand landscape. This event, although catastrophic in terms of loss of human life and economic development, can provide us with valuable data to study the potential of new strategies to achieve EU 2050 Energy goals. It was investigated whether the pandemic has opened a path and provided us with a partial answer to decarbonization in the form of home office practices as a possible energy efficiency measure. The present study shows that, in Portugal, there was a 15.7% reduction of primary energy consumption (accounting for electricity, natural gas and transport fuels) compared to 2019. The data suggest that actions targeting reduced mobility, such as home office practices and the decentralization of the workforce, could be a relevant energy efficiency measure.

Working from home is associated with changes in sleep hygiene practice.

BACKGROUND: Sleep hygiene habits and self-reported sleep quality of those who work from home have yet to be fully understood. As working from home was widely implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, the period might be a convenient model for studying the measures, as mentioned earlier. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess sleep hygiene habits and self-reported sleep quality in people working from home in March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began. METHOD: This study was designed as a cross-sectional web-based survey. An anonymous questionnaire consisted of sociodemographic variables and questions about personal habits, e.g., exercise activities and caffeine consumption. The outcome measures to assess sleep hygiene and sleep quality were the Sleep Hygiene Index (SHI) before and after the home office (HO) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). RESULTS: A total of 204 responses were received. The prevalence of significant sleep disturbance (PSQI > 5) was 51 %. The mean PSQI and SHI scores were 6.15±3.385 and 17.67±7.836, respectively. PSQI and SHI showed a significant mutual positive correlation at the level of significance p < 0.001. The total score for SHI was similar before and after working from home (p = 0.982). However, differences were observed in its components. CONCLUSION: The total score on SHI did not change when compared before and during HO. However, working from home was associated with sleep hygiene malpractice in some individual components of SHI. On the other hand, some aspects of sleep hygiene behavior improved during HO.

Ergonomics, Health, and Perceptions about Remote Domestic Workposts: Study in Areas of City of João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil.

Home office (HO) stands out as one of the most promising and popular forms of teleworking, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, many companies want to implement or maintain this working method, given its numerous advantages. However, there are adverse effects that are mainly related to physical and mental health. This article presents ergonomic analyses of HOs in neighborhoods considered heat islands. Temperature levels, extreme low-frequency non-ionizing radiation (ELF-NIR), illuminance, physical layout characteristics, and physiological parameters of teleworkers were measured. The results reveal that 92% of these professionals work 6 to 8 h daily with an ambient temperature between 25 and 30 °C, illumination levels in the range 11.20-290 Lux, and ELF-NIR > 0.4 µT. The majority of teleworkers are overweight (BMI > 24.9), and some of them have blood pressure higher than average values (129 mmHg for systolic and 84 mmHg for diastolic) in addition to a reduction in the number of red blood cells and hematocrits. Symptoms such as burning sensation, dryness, tired eyes, redness, itching, and photophobia (light sensitivity) show a 68.95% similarity. These HOs do not meet the required ergonomic and health standards.

Exploring hybrid telework: A bibliometric analysis.

Purpose: the aim of this paper is to analyze the evolution of understanding of hybrid telework, especially after the boom experienced in the global pandemic of COVID-19, which has given rise to new ways of working. Design: /methodology/approach: in this study, bibliometrics and scientific mapping were used to analyze the conceptual structure of hybrid telework based on 104 documents extracted from the Web of Science (WoS) database. Thanks to the co-word analysis performed with SciMAT, the main themes were mapped, and the evolution, importance and relevance of terms related to hybrid telework were identified. Findings: the body of research literature about hybrid telework is underdeveloped even though it is the most valued option of telework, both by organizations and employees. There is a lack of published studies in the public sphere and in such relevant fields as occupational health. Practical implications: this study is the first bibliometric analysis conducted for hybrid telework and demonstrates how hybrid telework is key for organizations to manage the emerging challenges in this field: new preferences from employment candidates, occupational health, etc, and how important it is to have a proper management of hybrid telework in organizations. Originality/value: this study explores in detail the evolution of hybrid telework, an underexplored telework modality, given its growth as a mode of work as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. It reveals critical points, dilemmas, paradoxes, and research gaps.

Social norms in digital spaces: Conflict reports and implications for technology design in the teleworking context.

With the increase of telework during the COVID-19 pandemic, employees' interactions with colleagues have shifted almost exclusively to digital channels. Hence, it is critical to understand the underpinnings of successful collaboration and individual wellbeing in digital working structures. Combining qualitative experience reports and quantitative surveys from 145 teleworkers, this study sheds light on teleworking from a psychological perspective, taking social norms as a conceptual frame. The qualitative reports revealed five types of typical conflicts related to communication in the telework context, including both (1) technical problems (e.g., a bad connection) and psychological aspects such as (2) uncertainty or a lack of social feedback, (3) norm violations, (4) a lack of rules or meta-communication about appropriate behavior, and (5) digital communication barriers. Respondents' quantitative ratings of qualities of telework versus working on-site revealed benefits of telework regarding task fulfillment and efficiency, but lower levels of motivation, conflict management, leadership, team spirit, inspiration and creativity. Participants qualitative reports on perceived challenges in remote work conditions included feelings of loneliness and increased demands related to self-management, creating boundaries between private and working life, motivation and self-regulation. This paper connects these findings with theoretical concepts from psychology and human-computer interaction and discusses implications for leadership and technology design. Practical Relevance: This article discusses practical implications for leadership and technology design, e.g., interventions against conflicts in the context of digital work.

Technostress at work during the COVID-19 lockdown phase (2020-2021): a systematic review of the literature.

Technostress is a psychosocial phenomenon associated with the use of technologies to the detriment of health, the same one that during the pandemic was accelerated in the work considering home confinement. This work aims to systematize the main research on the impact of technostress at work during the severe confinement stage of the pandemic, between the years 2020 and 2021, with the purpose of identify and evaluate its main determining factors. A systematic review of the literature was carried out during COVID-19, using the words "technostress work COVID-19." The works found focus mainly on analyzing the creators and inhibitors of technostress in workers, as well as the main consequences of the materialization of this technological risk associated with work performance during the stage of confinement by COVID-19. Techno invasion and techno overload were identified as the main techno stressors, with the main type of technostress appreciated in the literature being techno fatigue. Technostress is identified as a problem that had direct and relevant effects during the season of severe confinement and remote work at home due to COVID-19; highlighting techno fatigue as the most frequent type of stress, and techno stressors such as techno invasion and overload as the ones that presented the highest incidence.

Work fatigue during COVID-19 lockdown teleworking: the role of psychosocial, environmental, and social working conditions.

Background: During national lockdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, previously office-based workers who transitioned to home-based teleworking faced additional demands (e.g., childcare, inadequate homeworking spaces) likely resulting in poor work privacy fit. Previous office research suggests poor work privacy fit is associated with lower wellbeing and higher work fatigue. Emerging evidence suggests a relationship between childcare duties during pandemic teleworking and work fatigue. In addition to psychosocial working conditions (job demand, job control, and job change management), which are acknowledged predictors of work fatigue, this poses a significant threat to occupational health during pandemic teleworking. However, the relative effects of aspects of the psychosocial environment (job demands and resources), the home office environment (including privacy fit), and the social environment (childcare) on work fatigue as well as their interactions are under-explored. Objective: This study examined the relationships between the psychosocial, environmental, and social working conditions of teleworking during the first COVID-19 lockdown and work fatigue. Specifically, the study examined teleworkers' physical work environment (e.g., if and how home office space is shared, crowding, and noise perceptions) as predictors of privacy fit and the relationship between privacy fit, childcare, psychosocial working conditions (job demand, job control, and job change management), and work fatigue. Work privacy fit was hypothesized to mediate the relationship between childcare and work fatigue. Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted with teleworkers (n = 300) during the first COVID-19 lockdown in April and May 2020; most participants were in Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Results: Path analysis was used to examine the hypothesized relationships. Privacy fit was lower for those reporting greater levels of noise in home-working spaces and those feeling crowded at home. Work fatigue was lower amongst those with greater privacy fit and higher amongst those with high levels of job demand. An indirect relationship was observed between childcare and work fatigue with privacy fit mediating this relationship. Conclusion: The influence of privacy fit has so far been largely neglected in research on teleworking, especially during the pandemic. However, its contribution to workers' wellbeing should be acknowledged in occupational health strategies.

Future Teleworking Inclinations Post-COVID-19: Examining the Role of Teleworking Conditions and Perceived Productivity.

Organisations have implemented intensive home-based teleworking in response to global COVID-19 lockdowns and other pandemic-related restrictions. Financial pressures are driving organisations to continue intensive teleworking after the pandemic. Understanding employees' teleworking inclinations post COVID-19, and how these inclinations are influenced by different factors, is important to ensure any future, more permanent changes to teleworking policies are sustainable for both employees and organisations. This study, therefore, investigated the relationships between the context of home-based teleworking during the pandemic (pandemic-teleworking conditions), productivity perceptions during home-based teleworking, and employees' future teleworking inclinations (FTI) beyond the pandemic. Specifically, the study examined whether pandemic-teleworking conditions related to the job, and the physical and social environments at home, influenced employees' FTI, and if perceptions of improved or reduced productivity mediated these relationships. Data were collected during April and May 2020 with a cross-sectional online survey of teleworkers (n = 184) in Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and other countries during the first COVID-19 lockdowns. Reported FTI were mixed. Most participants (61%) reported wanting to telework more post-pandemic compared to before the pandemic; however, 18% wanted to telework less. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that some teleworking conditions (job demands and work privacy fit) were positively associated with FTI. Other teleworking conditions (specifically, job change, job control, home office adequacy, and childcare) were not associated with FTI. Perceived changes in productivity mediated the relationship between work privacy fit and FTI. Findings highlight the role of work privacy fit and job demands in influencing pandemic productivity perceptions and teleworking inclinations post-pandemic. Results raise questions about the suitability and sustainability of home-based teleworking for all staff. As organisations plan to increase the proportion of teleworking post-pandemic, this study suggests there is a need to support employees who perceived their productivity to be poor while home-working during the pandemic.

Digitally Savvy at the Home Office: Computer Skills of Older Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic Across Europe.

Digital skills can be a valuable resource in work life, especially in such times as the current COVID-19 pandemic, during which working from home has become new reality. Although increasing numbers of older employees (aged 50 years and above) are using digital technologies to work remotely, many of these older adults still have generally lower digital skills. Whether the pandemic will be a push factor for the acquisition of computer skills in late working life remains unclear. This study investigated the explanatory factors of the computer skills gained by older workers who were working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, using representative data for 28 countries from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The analysis of the survey responses of 11,042 employed persons aged 50 years and older revealed that, 13% worked only at home due to the pandemic, while 15% said they worked at home and in their usual workplace. The descriptives indicate that full-time homeworking is more of an option among those with tertiary education and who already have some computer skills. Of the older employees who worked only at home, 36% reported an improvement in their computer skills, whereas of the older workers who worked at home and at their usual workplaces, only 29% reported such an improvement. Our results based on logistic regressions suggest that significantly more women, younger employees, respondents with tertiary educational qualifications, and those whose work was not affected by unemployment or even business closure acquired new computer skills, regardless of whether they were working permanently or only partly from home. The study underlines the importance of investigating the possible digital skills gained from the home office situation resulting from the pandemic.

Tracking Activities of Daily Living in the Home Office.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, home-office has turned to be a common practice in many companies to limit physical contact to reduce the rate of infections in the workplace. To quantify office workers' ADLs, this work demonstrates unobtrusive monitoring of activities of daily living (ADLs) of an office worker in a home-office environment with three low-cost sensors: an accelerometer and two light sensors. We extract four elementary events: distinct and fain chair movement, monitor, and fridge usage, from which we derived seven ADLs using predefined rules. This simple system can support the quantification of ADLs of home-office workers.

Satisfaction with job and life and remote work in the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of perceived stress, self-efficacy and self-esteem.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between performing remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic and the level of job and life satisfaction, as well as the assumed, intermediary role of the level of perceived stress and such resources as self-efficacy and self-esteem. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE: The study, implemented with the use of an internet application, included 283 employees. Data were gathered using a job and life satisfaction scale, the Short Scale for Measuring General Self-Efficacy Beliefs, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Perceived Stress Scale PSS-4 and a demographic information form. RESULTS: The results showed the existence of a relationship between performing remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic and job and life satisfaction, and that the level of perceived stress, self-efficiency and self-esteem plays an intermediary role in this relationship. Remote working is associated with life and job satisfaction, and this relationship is mediated by levels of experienced stress, self-efficacy and self-esteem. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that remote working is associated with higher levels of job and work satisfaction. This relationship is mediated by levels of perceived stress, self-efficacy and self-esteem.

Working during the COVID-19 pandemic: Demands, resources, and mental wellbeing.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between working conditions at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (spring 2020) and employees' mental wellbeing. According to the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, work intensification, increased difficulty in accomplishing work tasks, heightened risk of infection by COVID-19, and increasingly working from home may detrimentally relate to irritation. However, personal and job resources (e.g., occupational self-efficacy, social support) may buffer. Data from 680 employees from four European countries were analyzed by means of path analyses and polynomial regression. Work intensification was significantly positively associated with cognitive and affective irritation; other job demands were not. However, working from home prior to as well as during the pandemic was related to higher cognitive irritation. None of the moderators was of meaningful significance. Reducing work intensification as well as enduring home office seems to be crucial for interventions.

Work Performance, Mood and Sleep Alterations in Home Office Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The sudden burst of the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the work environment in favor of remote working, affecting the perception of work quality, satisfaction and performance. This crisis has also influenced workers' mood, sleep quality and general perception of everyday life. Our main purpose in this study was to give empirical contributions about home office workers experiencing remote working during the pandemic by assessing mood spectrum variations, sleep disturbances and the general impact of pandemic in everyday life. This cross-sectional study was performed between November and December 2020 through an online questionnaire. Participants were office workers performing remote work from workstations settled at home. The questionnaire investigated sociodemographic characteristics, health factors, perception of remote working, mood spectrum, sleep quality and pandemic context perception. The sample consisted of 94 respondents: 63 women and 31 men; the mean age was 50.4 years. Study population showed great satisfaction for remote working performance and online services for video connections. Only one third of the participants reported higher levels of irritability and loneliness and 16% of women complained of nightmares. Most of participants stated that the pandemic importantly affected daily life (85.1%). Half of female subjects with children <18 years stated that children's age influenced their work performance. Since the pandemic is still an ongoing issue, the lesson learnt is that local government actions are needed to assist home office workers through tailored programs to support families. Given the central role of women in childcare, female workers would mainly benefit from social support accordingly to their parental tasks and remote work organization.

The Effectiveness of a Four-Week Online Mindfulness Training Course on Individual Mindfulness Skills and Personal Perception of Stress in Company Employees Working from Home.

Working from home comes with many benefits. However, employees are often exposed to various stressors when working outside of the traditional workplace environment. The subjective experience of these stressors is related to one's perception of the situation and the perceived resources available. As working from home has become the new normal for many during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is in the interest of companies to provide employees with tools to cope with these stressors. One such tool is online mindfulness training. This study investigates how a four-week online mindfulness training influences an individual's mindfulness skills, subjective perception, and processing of stressors. Forty participants working from home at the time of the study were examined in a pre-test using a pre-post design in which the experimental group participated in a four-week online training course in mindfulness. Since the results showed a significantly reduced subjective perception of stress in the experimental group after mindfulness training, a long-term study was conducted including 40 additional participants. The study revealed a training success of at least three months. It thus introduces new possibilities for effective stress management in all workplace settings.