An international study led by a Dalhousie Computer Science researcher has revealed the impacts of COVID-19 on those working in software professional roles.
Launched in 12 languages and completed by more than 2,000 individuals in 53 countries, the online study identified how current work environments and situations are affecting software professionals across industries.
Unprecedented remote working
As the pandemic rapidly forced employees across the globe into unplanned remote work, Paul Ralph looked to his research area of software development to find a way to help both employees and organizations in the community.
Using scales developed by the World Health Organization, the survey explored the barriers to productivity and emotional well-being for software professionals and how companies can help their employees right now, in an unprecedented work situation.
“Companies are willing to help; they want their employees to be healthy and productive, but they don’t know what to do because this situation is unprecedented,” says Dr. Ralph.
“People have been remote working for years and there are decades of research on remote work and what makes it beneficial, but this isn’t normal remote work. People are working in impromptu home offices during an unprecedented global disaster. If it turns out people are less productive that doesn’t mean remote work doesn’t work. I realized we needed to bring in concepts from disaster management, emergency planning and response to pandemics etc. and incorporate that into our research.”
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