The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in digitalization, with many employees being sent to work from home due to the pandemic. The IG Metall employee survey shows that the overwhelming majority of employees appreciate working from home. However, the conditions must be right. They are not always right everywhere. According to a Forsa survey commissioned by IG Metall, 48 percent of all employees working from home do not have a dedicated home office. Fifty percent of those surveyed work—at least partially—using their own devices. Only 12 percent had their costs covered by their employer.
“Work-from-Home Must Be Fair” Initiative
It’s high time to take action. It’s high time to act—and to shape remote work together. It’s high time to convince many colleagues to join and to bring them on board with IG Metall. That is the goal of the “Work-from-Home Must Be Fair” initiative.
To shape the future, it’s important to start with a thorough assessment of the current situation. A key part of this is involving employees as early as possible and asking them about their experiences working from home: what’s going well, where the problems lie, and what needs to be addressed. This is especially important given that many employers are currently eager to negotiate work-from-home policies—not least to save on office space.
Involving Employees
To conduct a detailed assessment of the situation colleagues are currently experiencing while working from home, IG Metall has now launched a survey and designed an online questionnaire for this purpose: It is important to us to reach employees working from home with this questionnaire and to involve them. We want to know employees’ experiences and expectations; we want to systematically record and evaluate them. Our questionnaire contains 13 questions; up to three of them can be customized. Of course, data protection is guaranteed. However, despite the anonymity of the survey, participants have the option to voluntarily provide their contact information.
IG Metall has launched the “Working from Home Must Be Fair” initiative to address the mass phenomenon of working from home triggered by the pandemic with a tailored engagement strategy. We want to ask our colleagues about their experiences, work with them to develop solutions for the future of work, and recruit them as new members. Because one thing remains true: only together are we strong.
