Transformations  in
Business & Economics

HUNGARIAN EXPERIENCES OF THE TRANSITION FROM TRADITIONAL WORK TO TELEWORK⁵
Peter Karacsony, Laszlo Vasa, Yuriy Bilan, Katalin Liptak

ABSTRACT. The global outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic has radically transformed people's daily lives since the spring of 2020. In addition to the direct health consequences of the virus, the epidemic has had a significant impact on the functioning of society, people's lifestyles and has also had a fundamental impact on the world of work. The year 2020 marked a breakthrough in the spread of telework and "home office" work in Hungary, as this form of work was one of the necessary tools in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic in order to reduce the number of personal contacts. Both employers and the masses of employees were able to experience the pros and cons of this. This period can be therefore considered as the main challenge of teleworking and working from home, which is undoubtedly caused by the COVID-19 epidemic. The research aims to answer the question of the impact of telework on the daily lives of Hungarian workers. In international comparison, the proportion of teleworkers in Hungary was low before the pandemic. As a result, a great many have experienced a drastic transition from traditional work to teleworking. The given questionnaire survey also confirmed that a significant proportion of employees had difficulties with teleworking at the beginning of the transition. These difficulties were mainly due to the fact that they were not technically prepared and that their daily routine, which they had become accustomed to in their traditional work, had been changed .

KEYWORDS:  competitiveness, COVID-19, employees, job satisfaction, Hungary, organization, telework.

JEL classification:  E24, J28, J81.

⁵Acknowledgment:  The publication of this article was funded by the Pallas Athéné Foundations.