Work from home and the effects of the pandemic between private and public
While in the United Kingdom policemen and doctors work from home, the Public Administration (not only in Italy) often seems to be an extreme case. James Hansen's diplomatic note
The COVID-19 pandemic – where "19" stands for the year the virus was identified and the abbreviation "COVID" was imposed a little after the fact to minimize its Chinese origins, whatever exactly they were – becomes a public fact around March 2020 when the first lockdown decrees and associated prohibitions begin to rain.
It is already difficult to clearly remember the panic and confusion of those months, when – among other things – the WHO initially insisted on the uselessness of masks, convinced as it was that the virus could not be transmitted by air but only through the contact. So we had to put on plastic gloves and sterilize whatever came into the house with denatured alcohol and Amuchina which – when it was found – cost as much as a good Scotch whiskey.
Governments – rightly concerned about the dire economic effects of enacted forms of isolation – have everywhere discovered the wonderful virtues of working from home, or more commonly, Work From Home (WFH). The practice, backed by countless news articles regarding hypothesized increases in personal productivity, ecological benefits from commuting abandonment, and improved work-life balance, has spread across the West in a flash. It looked like Columbus's egg.
It is now a common perception that the worst of the pandemic is largely over. The growing problem is that the same cannot always be said of WFH, especially in circumstances where employee productivity is not subject to clear scrutiny. The Public Administration in many countries often seems to be an extreme case. In fact, Western newspapers abound with news of instances of unforgivable bureaucratic delays linked to procedures that were already slow when officials and employees were still in the office.
Meanwhile, there are cases in which work from home increases rather than decreases. It has recently emerged in England that, in quite a few police departments – in Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk – officers have acquired the right to work from home … According to British newspapers, the Durham Constabulary stated in a recent report that the work from home it would have improved the "general well-being" of its agents so much that it would be made permanent.
Something similar also happens in the NHS-National Health Service, the country's health service, whose medical specialists now claim to work from home, thus avoiding annoying contact with patients. While the trend is particularly marked among British civil servants, it is not – of course – just a British phenomenon. Even in Italy, however, people complain about certificates, licenses, various renewals and permits that have now become practically impossible to obtain.
How this all fits – if it has to – is by no means clear. In the private sector, companies that fail to deal with the phenomenon will go bankrupt, thus removing the nuisance. It is difficult for the Public Administration to do the same. On the other hand, proving and reiterating one's costly uselessness is rarely a winning policy in the long run.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/work-from-home-e-gli-effetti-della-pandemia-tra-privato-e-pubblico/ on Thu, 02 Jun 2022 05:21:41 +0000.