THEY tried it during the pandemic and they liked it. 

Nearly 70 percent of government workers prefer to telecommute, or to work from home, even after the lifting of the national public health emergency over the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey by the Department of Science and Technology.

The survey, called TeleWork@PH or Telecommuting Preferences of Government Workers in the Philippines, is part of the DOST’s research and development priority area that focuses on the socio-economic dimensions of the pandemic.

It is based on a survey of 16,159 online respondents who are workers in selected government agencies in 22 highly urbanized cities in the country. The data were collected from May 2021 to December 2021.

Changing definition of work 

Rowena Paz Gelvezon, University of the Philippines professor and TeleWork@PH project leader, said the survey results indicate a changing mindset about how work is viewed. More and more, it is considered as something that people Dom and not someplace that they go to, Gelvezon said.

She also said this indicates that work need not necessarily be performed in a specific physical work site or within mandated work hours.

It can be done anywhere at any time, she said. 

These were the reasons that the government workers cited when they said they want to work from home using online tools and the internet: 

• “I want to work during my most productive time and pace.”
• “I want to lessen the time spent on commuting to/from work.”
• “I want to save on my travel expenses.”
• “I want to spend more time with my family.” 

The cons 

But Gelvezon also said there is a downside to the work from home arrangement.

She said workers can experience stress due to slow internet connection when working remotely. They may also experience stress when learning new applications.

Another challenge is that workers may experience overlapping work schedules and multiple work responsibilities. 

They may also face unclear work expectations and may have less support from their co-workers.

Moreover, Gelvezon noted that not all jobs and workers may be suited for a telecommuting arrangement.  

She said there must be agency-specific policies and guidelines on telecommuting.

Training for telework 

Workers should not just be left alone to engage in teleworking; they must also be trained for it, according to De La Salle University professor Ryan Vicerra, who is also the project leader of the Government Telecommuting Infra Cost Estimator.

“Hindi talaga natin madedevelop yung telework culture kung takot tayong magsimula at takot tayong pag-usapan,” he said.

UP professor May Lim believes telework is here to stay, but it will still change as there are several aspects that need to be improved.

These include the technologies that are used and the way these are incorporated into the work, and the value given to telework, said Lim, who is behind the DOST’s Modeling Analysis of Telework Impact in the New Normal project. 

“The idea is we want a more caring [environment], we want na may community tayo, we want things to be better and telework is just one component for that to happen,” Lim said. 

Alternative work arrangements

Telecommuting is nothing new in the Philippines; it just boomed during the pandemic when government restrictions limited people’s movements and forced them to work from home.

In 2018, President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Telecommuting Act into law.

It institutionalizes the work from home set up as an alternative work arrangement for employees in the private sector and ensures that workers under this arrangement will get fair treatment. 

In June 2022, the Civil Service Commission handed down a resolution authorizing government agencies to adopt alternative work arrangements.

It seeks to institutionalize flexible work arrangements as part of the nationwide effort to transition from a state of public health emergency to the new normal.