Smart working in Italy: an opportunity not to be missed

SMART WORKING IN ITALY

The impact was overwhelming: just as the Covid-19 emergency, in the first months of 2020, had upset our lives, the sudden application, at a national level, of the smart working It marked the beginning of a significant and irreversible shift in work organization. Smart working, a solution that has so far proven essential for continuing to carry out various activities, both in the public and private sectors, and contain the infections, especially during the most critical phases of the health emergency. A true "cultural revolution," now a fundamental part of a new normal.

SMART WORKING

With the extension to December 31, 2021 with the state of emergency, a measure necessary to combat the spread of the Delta variant and carry on the vaccination campaign, the possibility has also been confirmed, for both the private and public sectors, to start or continue working activities in smart working, without individual agreement and with simplified communication procedures.

With the company Legislative Decree no. 105 of July 23, 2021, it was decided to extend the smart working, until October 31, 2021, also for the fragile workers, both in the public and private sectors.

In Public administration, following the lifting of the 50 percent quota requirement established by the previous Conte government, the organization of individual offices is currently decided by managers, taking into account the needs of workers and the company's requirements. As reiterated by Minister for Public Administration Renato Brunetta, gradually, in-office attendance will return to being the norm, while smart working It would remain an exception to be used if necessary. The key issue to resolve, at the moment, remains the extension of mandatory vaccination to public administration employees. This is a necessary tool, according to Brunetta, to further boost the country's recovery, as documented by the latest ISTAT data for the second quarter of the year, which show "sustained growth" in GDP, up 2,7% compared to the first quarter of the year.

In any case, what is certain is that the working method in smart working will not end with the end of the health emergency: it has turned out to be a real value added and brings with it important prospects for change. Going back would be a mistake.

ALSO READ: Smart working: 8 million workers could do it. They would save €1.200 a year.

DATA ON SMART WORKING IN ITALY

Before being overwhelmed by the pandemic, according to data from theSmart Working Observatory at the Milan Polytechnic they were about 570mila people in Italy who were working remotely. This number has grown enormously with the lockdown, reaching approximately 8 million peopleThe Observatory's estimates also show that, in 2019 and until February 2020, smart working was primarily implemented by large companies. This working method was adopted in very limited numbers by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and public administrations.

The Smart Working Observatory of the Milan Polytechnic estimates that in the “new normal”, the number of people who will continue to work in agile mode will stabilize around 5,3 million.

Meanwhile, according to Istat, 14,8 percent of employed people in Italy worked from home at least one day a week during 2021.

SMART WORKING IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

And it is precisely in the sector of Italian public administrations that it smart working It was a real novelty. As emerged from the survey, "Individual and organizational emergency response strategies” carried out between 17 April and 15 May 2020 by Fpa (a company of the Digital360 group) and to which over 4 thousand public employees responded, before the emergency Covid-19Smart working was a standard practice in only 8,6% of public administrations. A limited pilot program for a select group of employees was active in 45,8%. For the remaining 39,2% of workers, their organizations did not offer smart working at all. By March 2020, this work arrangement had been implemented in 98,8% of the administrations where the interviewees worked. It was a true experiment with excellent results: 88% of employees rated the smart working experience positively, and 93% wanted to continue working remotely.

For the Public Administration the biggest problem has turned out to be the one related to the instrumentation and the computer securityIn Italy, less than 40% of workers use company PCs, posing a high risk of data loss or theft.

The from the survey promoted by CGIL and the Di Vittorio Foundation in 2020 and in which 6.170 people participated, it emerged that 60% of workers would have preferred to continue working from home even once the coronavirus emergency was over, perhaps alternating this modality with being present in the office.

And this is precisely why it is essential to further and effectively regulate it. smart working (already regulated by Law 22 May 2017, n. 81), starting from employee training up to right to disconnect.

SMART WORKING: THE RIGHT TO DISCONNECT

From the data of a research conducted by LinkedIn on a sample of over 2 thousand workers, it emerged that 48% of the interviewees, during the period between March and May 2020, worked at least one more hour a day, so about three more days per monthThe survey also revealed that, during the lockdown, 22% of workers made themselves available online earlier than scheduled. Twenty-four percent of those interviewed finished their workday well beyond the standard eight-hour working day. This can, of course, also cause stress and anxiety.

What many found themselves experiencing was not true "smart working" but telework, a model in which employees are restricted to working the same hours they would in the office. This form of remote working has, of course, brought with it some challenges, from a sense of isolation (even greater during the lockdown) to the difficulty of disconnecting and thus maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

Smart working, on the other hand, is characterized by a certain flexibility in working hours and times, focusing more on achieving objectives and results.

TO KNOW MORE: Work less, work all, where it works

LAW 81/217 ON SMART WORKING

La Law n. 81/2017 which regulates agile workingArticle 19, paragraph 1, requires identifying "worker rest periods as well as the technical and organizational measures necessary to ensure the worker's disconnection from work-related technology." What was considered an extraordinary, or at least limited, working arrangement in 2017 has now become a daily routine for many people. Furthermore, being available at all hours, even outside of established hours, prevents workers from achieving a perfect and healthy work-life balance.

Smart working is therefore a significant opportunity: it has the merit of breaking down barriers and prejudices, starting with the widespread belief that staying at home means working less, but it can easily become a risk for the worker. The fear is, in fact, that it could lead to a new phase of precarization ed outsourcing of some roles.There is still a lot of work to do, it is necessary to plan a new smart working and to achieve this goal it will be fundamental collective bargaining.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TELEWORKING AND SMART WORKING

As mentioned, during the lockdown and the immediate aftermath, it wasn't always clear whether workers were teleworking or smart working, two working methods regulated differently from a workplace safety perspective. In the case of telework, the company is required to provide the employee with the technological equipment necessary to carry out the activities and also an ergonomic workstation. This measure is not required in the case of smart working. In Switzerland, last year, as reported on SonntagsZeitung, A federal court ruling ruled in favor of an employee who had sought reimbursement from her company for expenses incurred in working from home during the most critical phase of the health emergency.

Many workers, in order to continue working from home, have had to pay for a new PC, tablet, or smartphone. Not to mention that setting up a fully equipped home workstation, from a desk to a printer, can cost anywhere from €700 to €1500. In many cases, working remotely has imposed a veritable revolution of domestic spaces and therefore, consequently, costs that had not been budgeted for.

Meanwhile, with the Support decree, has been extended for the whole of 2021 €516,46 bonus, the tool that allows employers to provide their employees with an amount to spend on ergonomic chairs, desks, and lighting products necessary to work adequately even from home.

To promote working from home and make it safe and productive, Google has offered its employees $1000 to purchase computers, desks, ergonomic chairs, and other tools to make working from home more comfortable. The Mountain View company has decided to reopen only a few offices around the world and will allow its employees to continue working remotely until at least January 2022. The same policy will also be followed by Facebook. Twitter Instead, it will allow employees who wish to do so to continue working from home indefinitelyWorkers will choose whether to return to their desks or continue working remotely.

TO LEARN MORE: How to organize your home office for smart working. And how to work remotely.

BENEFITS OF SMART WORKING

A new way of working, smart working, which, if carried out correctly, involves a whole series of innumerable advantages, starting fromincreased productivity of the employees themselves. Working from home saves time spent commuting, freeing up hours of free time for themselves and their families. Getting the right amount of rest and eliminating some daily stressors, such as using public transportation, allows for better work. This translates, of course, into increased efficiency and a sense of responsibility for one's work, with productivity benefits for the entire company organization. A survey conducted in 2019 bySmart Working Observatory of the School of Management of the Milan Polytechnic he estimated that the increase in productivity is around 15%, with a lower rate of absenteeism from work.

A fact, that of the increase in productivity, also confirmed by the results of an international research conducted by Microsoft on Remote Working and the Future of Work and made public last October 2020. The study involving over 600 managers and employees revealed that the number of Italian companies that have adopted flexible working models has increased from 15% in 2019 to 77% in 2020Respondents reported significant benefits from smart working, both in terms of productivity and work efficiency: 87% of research participants reported productivity equal to or higher than before the lockdown.

Added to this is also a certain savings For example, the cost of parking, using public transportation, or lunch for those unable to use the company cafeteria has increased. For many, eating lunch at home has also proven to be an important way to rethink their diet and eat healthier.

An important solution, smart working, for employees with children, forced to divide their time between home, school and office and a possibility for spend more time with family. Not to mention that thousands of fewer kilometres travelled by car also equate to a reduction in the number of accidents, with a huge benefit for the environment: decrease the carbon dioxide emissionsAccording to data from the Inrix Global Traffic Scorecard, Rome is the second city in the world for hours lost in traffic: 254 each year. Worse than the capital is Bogota with 226 hours. Milan is seventh with 226 hours. Less traffic also means less noise pollution.

Many advantages that workers have also confirmed in the survey conducted by Infojobs, the online job search portal, on a sample of 189 companies and over a thousand candidates, and from which it also emerged that, in light of the appreciation of the opportunities offered by smart working, a third of the interviewees feel the lack of daily interaction with colleagues and the social moments that characterized the workday, from coffee breaks to lunch. And it's precisely for this reason that 71% of those interviewed said they favor smart working, but only for one or two days a week.

A situation also confirmed by Microsoft's research "Remote Working and the Future of Work": it revealed how remote working can inhibit the sharing of ideas among colleagues and lead to a decline in the rate of innovation.

ALSO READ: Smart working can't be a prison. And technology isn't a club for spying on employees.

SMART WORKING: BENEFITS FOR COMPANIES

The health emergency is leading to a rethinking of the role of officesCompanies that prioritize smart working can achieve significant savings in terms of rental and management costs of the physical spaces of offices and any branches. A situation which, as explained by the New York Times, could bring significant changes to some cities, starting with New York, and particularly to neighborhoods like Manhattan, where most offices, investment firms, and banks are concentrated. Barclays, JP Morgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley intend not to send all their employees back to work. The three banks have a combined workforce of approximately 20, and their offices occupy 930 million square feet of office space in New York.

Even the 3 employees of the research firm Nielsen will no longer be fully in the office, but will alternate their presence on-site with remote working. The plan is also to convert part of the space into meeting rooms.

Important decisions that could greatly influence not only the real estate sector but also the presence of bar, restaurants e shops In many neighborhoods, offices are their very survival. Many businesses, including throughout Italy, have suffered a decline in revenue, partly due to smart working. It remains to be seen, as the New York Times notes, what impact this situation will have on the entire economy and whether it will actually be possible to continue operating remotely. Many different work activities could be impacted by the prolonged lack of interaction and direct discussion within the team.

SMART WORKING: WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

One thing seems certain: it is about a perspective full of potential, an opportunity not to be missed to launch a corporate transformation journey based on technological investments and shared goals, capable of redefining the working day, transforming it into a sustainable choice for everyone. Wasting smart working would also mean wasting the crisis we've been through and from which, with great difficulty, we're trying to find a way out.

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