Ideas Festival 2024: When remote work isn't always 'work from home'

Ideas Festival 2024: When remote work isn't always 'work from home'

Flexible work arrangements have gained prevalence in the post-Covid world. But the commonly used phrases "working from home" or "home-based work" do not always mean precisely that anymore, with many office workers eyeing what researchers call "third spaces" instead.

The term refers to the "liminal or interstitial space between home and work", explained Professor Audrey Yue from the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences' Department of Communications and New Mediaat the recent "Visualising Home-Based Work" workshop.

These spaces include libraries, co-working locations in community centres, and cafés, noted Prof Yue who is part of a team of four professors working on a research project "Foundations for Home-Based Work" led by Associate Professor Lilian Chee from the Department of Architectureat the NUS College of Design and Engineering.

By looking at the spatial, social and technological dimensions of "home-based" work, the team shed light on the considerations people have when they work from "third spaces", as well as when they actually work from home.

The presentations and workshop were part of the inaugural Ideas Festival 2024, which showcased the latest insights from humanities and social science researchers in Singapore.

The allure of third spaces

Third spaces are typically more appealing to younger employees, who tend to confine themselves to their bedrooms while working from home, according to the team who conducted a national survey of 983 home-based workers.

More specifically, 69 per cent of respondents aged 20 to 29 work from their bedrooms, compared with 49.3 per cent and 42.1 per cent of those aged 40 to 49 and 60 to 69 respectively.

Fellow team member, Assoc Prof Natalie Pang - also from the NUS Department of Communications and New Media - shared that this trend reflects Singapore's societal norms, where many unmarried adults live with their parents.

"They may lack the power to make certain decisions within the household," she said. "This brings importance to the topic of spaces in home-based work, and how technologies such as mobile devices are used to navigate such challenges."

The team also conducted fieldwork with 39 working adults at community centre study areas, cafés and libraries from July and November 2023 to find out what draws them to these places.

Besides push factors such as distractions at home and the commuting distance to the office, the researchers found that there were pull factors as well.

"[The third space is] nearby, [with] free air conditioning [and] Wi-Fi," one interviewee explained. "You get to at least be in a fake office environment that's much more pleasant than an actual office."

Adapting the home for work

While the allure of third spaces caught the attention of the team, they were also eager to find out how people were using their own homes for work or business. They visited the homes of 36 people and conducted in-depth interviews with them to gain a fuller picture.

"We sought to build a multi-dimensional understanding of their experience of working from home, and how the home and work life was socially and spatially assembled and adjusted to accommodate that work," noted Prof Jane Jacobs, Adjunct Professor at Monash University's Indonesian campus.

Using a 360-degree camera and Matterport, a three-dimensional spatial data platform, the professors created digital twin models of the homes they visited.

"The photo mapping allows us to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the space… as well as capture key objects that might have been obscured had we only captured a single image through photography," said Assoc Prof Chee.

Together, the digital twin models, pictures and interviews provided insights into object prioritisation of space, social dynamics, work patterns, as well as the personal aesthetics and quirks of those working from home.

Such information would benefit those designing homes, helping them better understand what is necessary for the success of home-based work. For instance, some workers prefer to use luggage instead of cupboards to store items - due to their compactness - and others prefer a yoga ball over an office chair to improve posture.

With the help of students, the team put together an exhibition with drawings and architectural models, showcasing possible home layouts for a range of jobs, from electricians to bakers.

Ms Ancilla Larasati, 21, a fresh graduate from Kaplan Singapore, attended the workshop wanting to learn about possible home layouts for her mother's home-based business.

"My house is very messy, so seeing the ideas on how to organise and arrange everything was very interesting," she said.

Better support for home-based businesses

The four professors are now working with a video production house to release a documentary film which follows a yoga instructor, young mother influencer, urban farmer and meal-prep business owner as they earn a living from home.

It aims to "convey the struggles and resilience of home-based business owners, as well as the impact their work has on their families and surrounding communities", said Assoc Prof Chee.

The goal is to present their findings to stakeholders, such as the Housing and Development Board, to help drive policy changes that better support home-based workers.

"Understanding how to visualise home-based work…is vital for enabling the recognition and legitimisation of paid work in the home and, particularly, changing entrenched perceptions that currently undervalue the role of domestic spaces in sustaining productive labour," said Assoc Prof Chee.

Check out the team's exhibition at the NUS Central Library outside the Level 4 Seminar Room till 7 May 2024.