Remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic: A study on the emotional and relational experience and on the well-being of Italian university scholars and clerks

The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant effects on people's well-being and also on their ordinary work activities. This study aims to investigate the emotions, relational experience and well-being of academic personnel who continued their activities in remote working, during the Italian lockdown period in the months of March and April 2020. For this purpose, 87 workers (55 % scholars and 45 % university clerks) filled out an online quali-quantitative questionnaire about their experiences of being in lockdown and doing their work remotely. Qualitative data were analyzed through Grounded Theory Methodology using the ATLAS.ti 8.4 software. From the coding process, the following macro-categories emerged: remote working, affects and interpersonal relationships in lockdown. Then cross-tabs intertwined the code groups emerged with work role and gender of participants. In the end, the frequencies in the cross-tabs were analyzed by Chi square test. Quantitative data were analyzed through Univariate Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using SPSS 22 software. The results showed that scholars consider remote working mainly as a critical issue, while clerks see it more as a resource. Moreover, clerks more frequently report negative feelings of anxiety, fear and anger, while scholars more frequently report loneliness. Regarding interpersonal relationships, no significant differences between scholars and clerks were observed. Neither affects nor interpersonal relationships were associated with gender differences. Moreover, clerks reported lower economic and overall well-being compared to scholars. Finally, results highlighted the importance of the mattering role of human relations in work activities; this core category gives some practical implications that will be discussed extensively.