Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund

DGB-Index Gute Arbeit

The results of the DGB-Good Work Index 2021 show how far-reaching the effects on the work of many employees have been. The survey of 6,407 employees took place from January to June 2021 - a period characterised by high infection figures and stricter requirements for infection protection.

A strong digitalisation push and the shift to work from home were widespread. On the other hand, the consequences for different groups of employees were very different. For the majority of respondents, telework was not possible even during the pandemic. And the use of new digital work tools was mainly observed among the more highly qualified. The question about the stress situation of employees in the context of the pandemic also reveals differences. Above all, the employees' answers to this question show that the digitalisation of work does not automatically lead to better working conditions.

Infection protection

During the peak of the pandemic in the first half of 2021, 84 percent of respondents reported that measures to protect against infection had been implemented to a (very) high degree in their busi-ness. 16 percent reported that their company had implemented measures only to a low degree or not at all. A quarter of the respondents (24 per cent) felt that they were not protected at all or only to a small extent at work.

There were also deficits in the company's implementation of the risk assessment on the corona infection risk. Only 42 per cent of the employees reported that a corresponding risk assessment had been carried out for their workplace. Where there was a risk assessment, measures were taken more often and workers felt better protected.

On the other hand, the measures often meant a higher burden for the employees: every third respondent (30 per cent) stated that the performance of their own work was made more difficult by the measures of workplace infection control.

Digitalisation boost

The requirement to avoid face-to-face contact as much as possible has triggered a surge in digitalisation in the workplace and led to changes in communication and cooperation. Almost every second respondent (46 per cent) has had to deal with new software during this time. New hardware (digital devices or machines) was used by a quarter of the respondents (24 per cent). The higher the skill level of the job, the more pronounced the digitisation push. Three quarters of employees who work with new software assume that the new technology was used because of the pandemic. A quarter (27 per cent) of employees who have worked with new software or new digital devices in recent months have not received adequate training. In case of problems with the new digital tools, 27 per cent received no or only little company support. Almost half of all employees (48 per cent) also use private devices in the work context.

In many cases, direct personal contact was replaced by exchange via video conferences or other digital tools. This applied both to internal contacts with colleagues and superiors and to external communication with customers, clients and patients. Almost 60 per cent of the respondents stated that digital communication has become more important. For 42 percent of the employees, this was true to a (very) high degree.

Every third person (35%) felt more stressed due to the digitalisation of communication. In the case of the digitalisation of communication when working with people, there was a striking correlation - similar to that for internal communication: the more personal contact with customers etc. was re-placed by digital communication, the more pronounced the increase in stress.

Working from home

41 percent of the respondents stated that they also work from home, for 31 percent this was (very) often the case. The "telework rate" of men and women has leveled off during the pandemic (men: 30 percent, women: 32 percent (very) often). More than half (57 percent) of the respondents who worked from home had a work room in their home. 96 percent of the respondents received no (91 percent) or only a small (5 percent) financial allowance from their employer for the use of their own home.

Only 15 per cent associated working at home with a decrease in their workload, a third (32 per cent) felt more burdened. The increase in workload was particularly pronounced if the home was not suitable for telework. Furthermore, it became apparent that dealing with (new) digital technology when working from home could be a problem - especially if there was no adequate training (44 per cent increase in workload) or if there was no technical support (47 per cent increase in workload).

In the survey period, only half of the employees (52 per cent) who also did their work from home had company or service agreements regulating the organisation of the telework. If company regulations were in place, the influence of employees on the organisation of working time was much more pronounced.