The COVID-19 crisis has heralded a major shift in working patterns for many employees across most of the developed world. Working at home is now not so much as choice as a public health intervention aimed at preventing the spread of the virus and keeping business going. But for the millions of workers now working at home for the first time the challenges of working remotely are matched by the challenges of maintaining their physical and emotional wellbeing.

The Institute for Employment Studies (IES) in the UK has been the first organisation to mobilise a survey to check on the wellbeing of people working at home and its interim results have already been published and widely disseminated. The Global Centre for Healthy Workplaces is partnering with IES to generate and coordinate a global response.

Interim findings from the initial 500 respondents show:

– a significant increase in musculoskeletal complaints

– poor sleep and fatigue is a concern, increased alcohol consumption

– healthy diet and exercise declining for many and

– emotional concerns over worklife balance, isolation, job security and finances

See: https://www.employment-studies.co.uk/resource/ies-working-home-wellbeing-survey

To access the survey go to: https://wh1.snapsurveys.com/s.asp?k=158514663787

GCHW will host a webinar on the Working at Home Wellbeing Survey featuring Stephen Bevan from IES on May 5 at 11am EDT / 4pm BST / 5pm CET. More details to follow shortly.