Home working at a public university due to the COVID-19 pandemic: challenges and opportunities

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic made it necessary to rapidly adapt ways of working, forcing adoption of home working, and public higher education institutions were no exception to this trend. OBJECTIVES: To analyze the initial phase of implementation of emergency teleworking at a public university, including its ramifications and repercussions for workers. METHODS: This article constitutes a narrative account of the university’s experience with teleworking, evaluated by analysis of a report produced by the institution after a survey of the needs of workers assigned to emergency teleworking because of the health crisis. Report of the experience: The analysis identified both opportunities and challenges created by the experience, which involved 50% of the institution’s workers who were assigned to this modality of working. The most important opportunities were a perception of increased productivity compared to on-site working and improvements in quality of life and mental health. In counterpoint, barriers observed included worsening of mental health symptoms in the majority of workers who already had some type of mental disorder before the pandemic, work overload, difficulties with reconciling work routines with domestic activities, and a lack of the conditions and training needed to work from home. CONCLUSIONS: It should be emphasized that the various characteristics observed are related to the initial stages of adaptation to pandemic conditions and the new working routine. In counterpoint, some of the characteristics identified could offer important clues for continuation of teleworking and support for the university administration’s planning for the future.