“Now everything is urgent”; “There is no schedule”; “My children interrupt me”; “They think you are watching TV”: six testimonies of Chileans teleworking

There was no time to plan. Neither space to meet the minimum conditions for it to be a job in good condition. The option to work at home was precipitated by the pandemic of the coronavirus, and today almost two months ago, the impact of that change is already appreciated.

“Management is not capturing what is happening,” says Matías Chaparro, general manager of Criteria, company that studied that reality through focus group online carried out to men and women of different ages and communes of the socioeconomic segment BC1, since the telework modality is concentrated in the highest socioeconomic levels (51%), according to the Tracking Covid-19 from Criteria.

The general perception, Chaparro comments, is that Companies are far from understanding the reality of their workers in the context of the pandemic.

The organizations faced with this unforeseen modality focused on initiatives such as giving more comfortable chairs, conducting surveys, giving relaxation guides and preventing infections. Although human resource managers have tried to monitor the phenomenon, they may not be adequate to reflect what is lived on a daily basis. “They are surveying their workers, they are asking them how they are leading the telework experience, but something happens with those instruments that maybe they are not capturing people’s real experiences“He maintains.

It is the current context, he clarifies, that is not allowed to collect information. Basically, due to the feeling of crisis, people can show solidarity with their employers and, therefore, they understand that the situation they are experiencing is circumstantial, “And they can endure situations that they would not endure in another context”, Chaparro says.

But there is also fear. Fear of unemployment and they think that if they generate a lot of noise with those complaints, that will trigger a layoff.

The feeling is that companies they have failed to understand the new reality of their workers. “It is understood that it was something sudden and that they were not prepared, but we have already been 2 months and nothing has progressed in this regard.”

Where do you work at home? When asked how the spaces that have been enabled to fulfill their functions are, the presence of double screens, hand creams, cigarettes, headphones, all on tables in the living room, stands out. Others have set up a multifunctional space for children and adults. There are also those who work with a notebook on a tray in bed. And those who are looking for a space of silence inside a car.

The current conditions are not strictly speaking telework, but a specific condition of telework that is the homeoffice, clarifies. Teleworking basically defines it as the ‘no office’, but the person can work from a café, from an office that he leased or he can work from a coworking. “The homeoffice it is a specific version of teleworking, and that is what we are experiencing now ”, He says.

A confusion that reflects that the special conditions of this particular conjuncture are not being considered, “progress is only being made in one dimension of homeoffice and also in very unfavorable conditions, because I have the children at home, and I cannot have domestic help that many people have access to under normal conditions, “says Chaparro.

“Now everything is urgent,” says H.R., 36, a civil engineer. “If before they gave me 5 days to solve something, now they are 2-3”, J.B. 35 years, architect.

There is a pressure for quick and creative solutions. “They are all burdened because there are no certainties and the problems increase every day. My boss does not know what to do and pressures me to solve what his boss asked him, who also does not know what to do. Anxiety is being transferred, ”explains H.R.

A consequences of emergencies is the increase in working hours. “These are situations that did not exist before and accumulate with other responsibilities that I already had before,” says F.V., 46, a chemical engineer.

But not only emergencies affect. Those with children feel that their level of concentration and productivity has decreased “Drastically”, forcing “overtime” to work. “It is impossible to do everything that is asked of me during working hours. My children interrupt me every 5 minutes. I have nowhere to hide in the house. At night I am dead tired and that’s when I really start working, “says M.P. 38 years old, journalist and mother of 3 children between 7 and 2 years old.

The impossibility of reconciling home and work made E.P., 45 years old, 2 children between 7 and 3 years old, ask for a month without pay: “I had to leave because of my mental health and that of my family. We were connected all day and the children alone. One day the smallest fell, broke his forehead, was a sea of ​​blood. I said: ‘Enough’. Now we are with the belt well tightened with a less salary ”.

The study reveals “silent” conflicts between peers, mainly between tworkers with and without children.

“My partner is single, has no children and is now working 24/7. It is pure efficiency. I have no way to produce the same as her. I have to clean, study with the children, cook, play. She realized that and tries to be more and more efficient. It is unbearable, ”claims F.V.

The bosses are not aware of the different circumstances that people have in their contexts of normal life, and that in an office context they are neutralized, says Chaparro, “because when everyone comes to the office, those who have children and those who they don’t have children more or less on equal terms, but when they are at home it is completely different ”.

There is a sense of disadvantage for those who have children compared to their peers who do not have children, and who can work 24/7 without any problem. “The bosses finally do not recognize and do not take into account that distinction, and establish logics of monetary or symbolic prizes, which are super hurt by those who do not have the advantages that this level of performance allows, that the peer dynamics intensifies, that in the long term probably threatens the constitution of teams“

“I feel that there is concern that people are lazy in the house, it is something that is not discussed, but there is the unspoken feeling. There is an urgency to return, in fact, my boss is asking me, and everyone, that next week there will be a series of shifts, of people in person, because it seems that they have the feeling in the stomach that when people are in person, it produces more. So it is something that is transmitted to you from the gut but not from the mouth, ”says H.R.

The consequence of that is the need to “demonstrate work”, which ends up distressing some: “If they send me an email, I answer the shot. I’m always aware of that because if not … They think that because you are in the house, you are literally watching TV, smoking or sucking all day. Many send a couple of emails to see that they are alive and doing something, period. Everyone believes that, “says J.B.

What fuels guilt is the fear of losing a job. Isolation and lack of communication enhance the feeling of uncertainty: “You are not there, you do not know what is happening, nor do they communicate anything to you. I know there is uncertainty, but at least I would like to have more information about what they are planning for the company or to be part of these decisions ”, says J.B.

Video call meetings, chat conversations, and phone calls They have increased more than 50% during the pandemic, as revealed by Criteria Tracking Covid-19.

Everything that affects “fatigue with hyperconnection”. Agobio generated by the multiple platforms connected all day. “Before, if you weren’t at your job, it was understood that you were having coffee, smoking and they didn’t bother you. Now you have to be connected all the time, everywhere: Whatsapp, Teams, email, phone. You have no way to escape“Says I.A. 35 years old, journalist.

Beyond leaving the house, meeting friends and family, the loneliness raised by this study refers to teamwork. “I miss the exchange of ideas, the part of thinking, crawling, discussing, negotiating, building something together. Doing it for a conference, at least it does not work for me, I need us to interrupt ourselves, to speak up, to throw out many ideas, to scratch a blackboard. I think technology is still not up to it to do that, “says H.R.

The study reveals that the considered cases of “Abuse” that diminish the trust and commitment of the collaborator with the company.

In the company of F.V. collective vacations were decreed in April. Beyond the hassle of going on vacation in a period when you cannot enjoy rest, F.V. you have a son with epilepsy who needs treatment abroad and you had a trip planned for your vacation: “I cannot go on vacation in April because the treatment is at the end of the year and I need these days,” he alleges.

Already in a return plan, the company of I.A. He sent a questionnaire to all the collaborators to indicate whether or not they pose a car. Those who had a car would start face-to-face work sooner. “I lied to them. I said I didn’t have a car. I don’t think that having a car means less risk, period, ”he says.

The biggest challenge for workers with children is finding a quiet work space in houses that were not previously prepared for it.

“The company says where and how to work, but that is a joke. TI have to go down to the concierge to be in a video conference. The other days I lock myself in a dark room so that the children don’t see me and I have to be silent so they don’t listen to me, ”says one interviewee.

T.H., 37, an illustrator, chose his car: “I have to work inside my car to be able to participate in a video conference. My windows are fogging, my battery is running out and I don’t have space for the computer, ”he says.

Not all companies are taking over basic inputs for teleworking, which finally ends up being one more burden on their workers. “All my accounts increased, electricity, water, internet. Today I pay to do my job ”, C.G.

Meals prepared also increase household expenses: “Sometimes I don’t have the time or desire to cook and I ask for food. And now that is becoming more frequent … I spend more on that than before, ”acknowledges M.P.

Despite this reality, most of these workers still bet on a “flexible” modality of telecommuting in a post pandemic context, with some days at home.

The return and the re-adaptation can be hard, so the expectation is “to come out of the rigidity and empathize”, they agree.

“I think life works well in a slightly more flexible version. When we come back we will miss being with our children and loved ones, so it is important that we all be flexible and have the freedom to choose, “says T.H.

For other study participants, the experience has been traumatic and they no longer believe in teleworking: “I know the situation is going to be different, with the children at school, But I can’t take it anymore I don’t want that anymore. I want to go out, I’m tired, “says I.A.

“Before, I had the experience of closing my computer at 5 in the afternoon and it was over. With teleworking, even in a normal situation, I think there will continue to be abuse, “concludes J.B.