A qualitative study about employee’s perceptions of remote work due to the Covid-19 pandemic

Sammanfattning: The aim of the study is to study how the employees at a public sector organization have perceived the implementation of mediated communications during remote work, due to Covid-19. This studies the current situation of the transition in time which made it possible to include both the remote work and current state in which restrictions regarding remote work are lifted. This in relation to organizational culture and organizational communication. To study this, the theoretical framework of communicative figurations by Hepp and Hasebrink (2018) and organizational culture by Schein and Schein (2017) was used. Data from interviews with six employees at a public sector organization in Sweden and organizational documents was collected and analyzed with a qualitative content analysis. The main result of the study is based on employees' perception. The results show that organizational culture has changed in terms of changing norms and behaviors in the organization. The implementation of digital tools and mediated communication in the organization have been perceived to increase availability and a change in how to communicate in an acceptable way. This includes both employees and leaders. Employees have perceived remote work and the technological switch in some aspect’s problematic, although to a large extent interviewees have expressed a willingness to continue working from home in the future.