Beyond the storm: an exploratory survey on HR managers' representations of epidemic-induced telework

This paper sets out to provide insights into how HR managers experienced epidemic-induced telework, understood as an unprecedented form of telework due to its scale and effects on organizations and individuals. So far, scholars have mostly studied epidemic-induced telework through surveys and interviews conducted with teleworkers themselves. By contrast, the present paper investigates HR managers’ representations of epidemic-induced telework. It is argued that the question is both timely and significant, since HR managers usually play important decision-making roles in the design of teleworking policies. Following an exploratory survey addressed to HR managers of Belgian firms conducted between April and May 2021, four ideal types of managerial reactions to epidemic-induced telework are developed: entrepreneurs, preservers, adapters, and questioners. These ideal types make it possible to better characterize the wide heterogeneity of HR managers’ experiences of the pandemic and attitudes towards epidemic-induced telework.