Work-from-home to Return-to-office: Understanding the Work Transition Experiences Among the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Employees in the Philippines

Abstract

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The COVID-19 pandemic, a global health problem, resulted in global and economic disruptions.Countries imposed travel restrictions, and companies were forced to make policy changes, such as letting employees work-from-home. Although pandemic is stabilizing, companies are now urging their employees to return to office, while many employees strongly prefer continue to work-from-home or hybrid arrangements. In the Philippines, some companies mandated their employees go back to the office, and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), a government agency, issued a return-to-office order to the PEZA-registered business process outsourcing (BPO) companies to let their employees return to office last April 1, 2022. The implementation of this order presented difficulties as employees had become used to working from home, and concerns on the rise of commodity prices, and even health risks. Consequently, BPO employees experienced challenges during the transition. To help organizations and employees with the transition, a hybrid work set-up was implemented. A qualitative approach was used in this study and was guided by Schlossberg’s transition model to understand the BPO employees’ transition experiences in-depth, including their perceptions, coping processes and strategies. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and open-ended questionnaires from 25 participants, divided into two groups: 15 hybrid employees and 10 full return-to-office (RTO) employees which were composed of entry, associate and managerial positions in each group. The study found that both groups had positive and negative perceptions and coping strategies as a result of the transition. The study suggests the necessary interventions or programs to help employees handle transitions effectively. Also, the study emphasized the importance of having a strong support system in times of change or transition.