The challenge of making the work smarter: a Systematic Review of remote working demands and resources

The recent Covid-19 pandemic changed working landscape to a great extent: in this situation remote working has become an essential work-practice. Nevertheless, remote working could be a weapon with two edges: on one hand, it has various benefits such as a better work-life balance, providing more flexibility to work, increase in job satisfaction, and employee engagement. On the other hand, several studies indicated that remote work could be challenging for many employees compared to working at the office (e.g., social isolation and technostress). Considering the growing use of technology and flexibility at the workplace, there is a need to systematize the evidence from studies conducted before, during and after the pandemic to support employers, policy makers and OSH professionals. The aim of this systematic literature review is to explore the existing knowledge about remote working to identify potential risk factors (demands) and protection factors (resources), and their impact on employees’ wellbeing. Following PRISMA guidelines, we performed a literature search and we decided to include one hundred and four studies, published between 2012 and 2022, using quantitative designs. We have identified a wide range of risk factors (e.g., isolation, work overload and technology intrusion) and resources (e.g., social support, autonomy, and flexibility). Moreover, the most investigated aspects of well-being are burnout, work engagement, and musculoskeletal symptoms. Increasing knowledge of remote working will help identify effective implementation strategies for companies, capable of making work smarter for both employees and organizations.