Almost half of home workers say they are working longer hours while 40 per cent described the practice as "very difficult."
The survey also found home workers reported additional fatigue, back pain and increased alcohol consumption.
Consultant Psychiatrist at the Mater Hospital, Patricia Casey, says it is very detrimental to be in "work mode" for the entire day:
“Some people have told me, not just patients but friends of mine have told me that they’re getting calls at 10 o’clock at night, from people who say ‘well you know, you’re working from home and you’ve got your computer open, you know that’s why we’re contacting you, we want you to respond to this immediately.’"
So there’s an expectation that because people are working from home that they’ll be at their computer and able to respond... when that in fact shouldn’t be the reality.
Dr Casey says the isolation of home working is also negatively impacting workers:
“Those who don’t want to work long hours should shut their computer down at 5.30pm and turn off their mobile or have a separate mobile, but the bottom line is, people are social animals, and we do need to be in the company of others.
We need to gossip, we need to give out about our bosses and about our co-workers with other people, and that’s not going to happen while people are working from home under Covid.”
