REMOTE WORK ADAPTATION AS A RESULT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN LATVIA

Abstract

The author researches the situation of remote work in Latvia both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as compares such work arrangements in context with global tendencies. The study analyses how COVID 19 global pandemic effects telework adaptation of employees in the private and public sectors. The goal of this publication is to research the introduction of telework in Latvia under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research reveals that remote and telework is not a novelty on a global scale but has been largely regarded as the white-collar employee privilege, however, in Latvia this work model have been rarely used in the pre-pandemic time with an exception of the IT sector. Moreover, such arrangements in Latvia have been previously overlooked due to lack of digitalization among the company's processes, reluctance to implement innovative management solutions, deficient legislation, as well as low level of trust in employees by management. According to professionals of the field, the lately gained popularity of telework arrangement will be kept for 20%-30% of the employees in Latvia after lifting the physical distancing rules.