”Jag jobbar inte hemma, men jag svarar ju på mail” : En kvalitativ studie om det gränslösa arbetets påverkan på arbetstagaren

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study is to examine how white-collar workers are affected by working borderless, that is, work that is flexible in relation to time, space, and organizational borders. The research questions address the workers experience of the boundless work, how it affects their relationship between working life and private life, and how it affects their organizational and social work environment. The study is qualitative. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with eight individuals working in white collar work with the possibility to work in other spatial forms than at their specific workplace. The theoretical framework chosen as a tool for analyzing the results is; Sennetts (2000) theory about flexibility, Karasek and Theorells (1990) Demand-Control-Support-model and parts of Goffmans (2014[1959]) dramaturgical perspective. The results show that the borderless work has both pros and cons for the employee, the benefits being that it can contribute to a better balance between working life and private life for the employee. The disadvantages mainly concern the prolongation of working hours and the fact that, with the new information and communication technology development, it may be difficult for the employee to distance himself from work. The results also show that within the borderless work there may be lack of clear requirements as well as control of the employee. When combined with a borderless working time, that can lead to a pressured situation for the employee.