Effects of Working from Home on Meaningful Work and Psychological Safety

Due to technological advances and rapidly changing trends in the work environment, working from home is coming to the fore. Although the possibility of working from home has existed for a long time, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has brought the topic into sharp focus in recent years. At the same time, employees' needs for psychological safety at work and meaningful work are increasing. The aim of this paper is to analyze what influence working from home has on the work-related factors meaningful work and psychological safety. The role of the quality of interpersonal relationships is also investigated. To answer these questions, a survey was conducted in a large company in Switzerland. The survey participants were 808 employees from different departments. The results show that the percentage of time spent working from home has no effect on the meaningfulness of work or on psychological safety. Furthermore, the quality of interpersonal relationships does not affect these relationships. Based on these results, it is concluded that how often someone works on site or from home does not impact negatively on these factors. It is significant to discover what online and on site measures and frameworks can ensure that the quality of interpersonal relationships remains at a sufficient level and is not detrimental to the meaningfulness of work or employees’ psychological safety.