ArticlePloS one2021
Working from home and productivity under the COVID-19 pandemic: Using survey data of four manufacturing firms.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A systematic review of the research on telework and organizational economic performance indicators.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Pooled it
- A review of my history of research on ultrasound tissue characterization of chronic liver disease for developing ultrasound clinical technology.Journal of medical ultrasonics (2001) · 2026Review
- Mental health outcomes among United States remote-eligible working adults post COVID-19: national evidence.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Self-Perceived Psychological, Social, Academic and Personal Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Chiropractic Students in South Africa.Journal of chiropractic humanities · 2025Article
- Article
- Cracks in the JD-R model? The failure of strengths use, job crafting, and home-work spillover to support wellbeing during COVID-19.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Home indoor air quality and cognitive function over one year for people working remotely during COVID-19.Building and environment · 2024Article
- Association of COVID-19 preventive behavior and job-related stress with the sleep quality of healthcare workers one year into the COVID-19 outbreak: a Japanese cross-sectional survey.BioPsychoSocial medicine · 2024Article
- Article
- Identifying key mental health and improvement factors in hospital administrators working from home using a DEMATEL-based network analysis model.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Impact of the SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination Program on Presenteeism and Absenteeism among Healthcare Workers in Poland.Vaccines · 2023Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Productivity of Workers in the Health Sector between Working in a Hospital and from Home.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Remote work and well-being in the post-COVID-19 era.Industrial health · 2023Article
- Comparison of work efficiency in factory workers: pre & post covid lockdown - a cross sectional study.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Benefits of Working from Home During the COVID-19 Pandemic for Undiagnosed Workers with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2023Article
- Satisfaction with one's job and working at home in the COVID-19 pandemic: A two-wave study.Applied psychology = Psychologie appliquee · 2022Article
- Work from Home during the COVID-19 Pandemic-The Impact on Employees' Self-Assessed Job Performance.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted the world economy in various ways. In particular, the drastic shift to telework has dramatically changed how people work. Whether the new style of working from home (WFH) will remain in our society highly depends on its effects on workers' productivity. However, to the best of our knowledge, the effects of WFH on productivity are still unclear. By leveraging unique surveys conducted at four manufacturing firms in Japan, we assess within-company productivity differences between those who work from home and those who do not, along with identifying possible factors of productivity changes due to WFH. Our main findings are as follows. First, after ruling out the time-invariant component of individual productivity and separate trends specific to employee attributes, we find that workers who worked from home experienced productivity declines more than those who did not. Second, our analysis shows that poor WFH setups and communication difficulties are the major reasons for productivity losses. Third, we find that the mental health of workers who work from home is better than that of workers who are unable to work from home. Our result suggests that if appropriate investments in upgrading WFH setups and facilitating communication can be made, WFH may improve productivity by improving employees' health and well-being.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.